By Donald W. Meyers
Yakima Herald-Republic
YAKIMA, Wash. — A 25-year-old Yakima man pleaded innocent today to charges that he tried to kill three law enforcement officers attempting to arrest him earlier this month.
Erick Romero, his bushy hair mostly shaved off except for a patch in the back that was tied in a ponytail, was arraigned today in Yakima County Superior Court on three counts each of attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault, and a single count of unlawful firearms possession. The charges stem from a shooting that wounded a state corrections officer and triggered a 90-minute standoff.
Members of the Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force went to the home at 1210 S. Ninth Ave. around 1:15 p.m. Sept. 3 to arrest Romero on suspicion of violating parole and participating in a drive-by shooting earlier that day. Officers say Romero fired from inside the house, grazing state Community Corrections Officer Lisa Tavarez’s hip. She was treated and released from the hospital later that day.
Two other officers, a Yakima police detective and a Yakima County sheriff’s deputy, were with Tavarez when the shots were fired but were not hurt.
Police cordoned off the area around the house, and Romero surrendered 90 minutes later.
Romero has also been charged with two counts of first-degree assault and one count each of drive-by shooting and unlawful firearms possession in connection with the earlier incident. Two men say they were sitting in a car at the intersection of South Seventh and La Salle streets when a car pulled behind them and Romero got out and fired at them, according to a police affidavit.
He is being held in the Yakima County jail on $5 million bail.