Three men arrested for Sunnyside drive-by shooting

SUNNYSIDE, Wash., -- Police have arrested three men after a drive-by shooting and a high-speed chase in the Lower Valley on Saturday night.

Ignacio Cardenas, 19, Sunnyside, was injured in the shooting. He remained in serious condition in the intensive care unit at Harborview Medical Center on Monday afternoon.

He suffered a bullet wound to his lower torso, said Charlotte Hinderlider, a police spokeswoman.

Three suspects, meanwhile, are being held in the Sunnyside jail while the investigation continues. Sunnyside police say they plan to seek charges of first-degree assault and eluding.

The suspects and the victim have ties to different gangs, but it’s unclear if they are actually members, Hinderlider said. Two of the suspects are from Prosser, ages 29 and 31. The other, 23, is from Grandview.

Witnesses helped police catch the suspects, Hinderlider said.

“That’s the difference between us having them in custody and not having them in custody right now,” she said.

About 11 p.m. Saturday, witnesses called police to report that somebody in a tan Ford Taurus shot several times at a home in the 1100 block of Tacoma Avenue, near Sunnyside Community Hospital.

The driver led officers on a chase through town and onto Interstate 82, heading east speeding at more than 100 mph at times. The driver left the freeway in Prosser, then returned heading west.

Within a few miles, the car hit a Washington State Patrol spike strip and stopped. Officers arrested the driver and two passengers there.

Police recovered nine .22-caliber shell casings but no gun, Hinderlider said. Investigators don’t know which of the three suspects may have fired the gun.

If anyone has information about the shooting, Sunnyside police ask that they call Detective Jim Ortiz at 509-836-6200.