Assault convictions draw seven-year sentence

YAKIMA -- A Sunnyside man was sentenced Friday to more than seven years in prison for separate assault cases in the Sunnyside area.

Javier Mendoza pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree assault and one count of second-degree assault in Yakima County Superior Court.

In December 2008, Mendoza was accused of shooting at two men as they sat in a car in an apartment parking lot in the 200 block of Southwest Crescent Avenue.

The men told police Mendoza had called them to come to his house before the shooting, which damaged their car. He threatened to shoot them if they did not leave afterward.

Police found the gun concealed inside a diaper stored in a freezer at the apartment where Mendoza was arrested.

In the May 2009 case, Mendoza was accused of beating the victim over the head with a large piece of wood.

Mendoza was upset because he had to serve three months in jail over assault charges pressed by the victim's brother in a Sunnyside case, according to the report from the Yakima County Sheriff's Office.

The victim's nose was broken, as well an eye bone and his palate. Several teeth were also chipped.