By Donald W. Meyers
Yakima Herald-Republic
YAKIMA — A Yakima man accused of shooting at a state corrections officer has been charged in connection with a drive-by shooting that led to a standoff with law enforcement Sept. 3.
Erick Romero, 25, was charged Wednesday with two counts of first-degree assault and one count each of drive-by shooting and first-degree unlawful firearms possession.
Three other people who were at the South Ninth Avenue home where Romero was arrested following a 90-minute standoff have also been charged with interfering with police.
Romero is being held in the Yakima County jail on the charges, as well as suspicion of three counts of attempted first-degree murder for shooting at officers who came to arrest him. His bail is $5 million.
Court records did not show any charges filed in connection with the wounding of the corrections officer as of Thursday afternoon.
Romero is charged with shooting at two men as they sat in a car at the intersection of South Seventh and La Salle streets in the early morning hours of Sept. 3. Police say Romero got into an argument with one of the men earlier, and later Romero, who was riding in a car that pulled up behind the men, got out and started firing at their car.
Guadalupe Cordova, 24, of Yakima, was charged with two counts of first-degree assault and a count of drive-by shooting in connection with the case. Cordova, according to a police affidavit, is Romero’s sister and is accused of driving the car Romero was in.
Around 1:15 p.m. Sept. 3, members of the Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force went to 1210 S. Ninth Ave. on a tip that Romero was at the house. Two of the house’s occupants, Fernanda Brewer, 21, and Cristino Tejeda, 20, told officers that Romero was not inside the house, the affidavit said.
At that point, police say Romero fired shots from the house, wounding state Community Corrections Officer Lisa Tavarez in the hip. Officers cordoned off the neighborhood and the Yakima SWAT team took up positions around the house.
Romero, who police say threatened to kill an officer, eventually surrendered to police.
Brewer and Tejeda have been charged with rendering criminal assistance. A 17-year-old boy who was also at the house was charged with two counts of obstructing police.