Man allegedly points gun at another at Bellingham Winco and tries to run him over 3 times
Bellingham Police arrested a man suspected of pointing a gun at another man he had a disagreement with, then attempting to hit him with his truck three times in the Winco parking lot Saturday night.
John Moshe Ashton, 43, was booked into Whatcom County Jail Sunday, April 18, on suspicion of brandishing a weapon and three counts of attempted second-degree assault, and jail records show he was released Monday on $15,000 bail.
Officers were called at 11:23 p.m. Saturday, April 17, to the Winco Foods on Bellis Fair Parkway for the report that a man in a red Chevrolet pickup was attempting to run over another man on foot, Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
As officers arrived, they found the red Chevrolet heading south of Meridian near the Interstate 5 overpass, Murphy reported, adding that Ashton was the driver.
The victim told officers he was standing near his own vehicle at the south end of the parking lot when Ashton’s truck rolled up. While the victim and Ashton do not know each other, Murphy reported, they had had a dispute a couple of weeks earlier in another parking lot.
The victim reported that during Saturday’s incident Ashton pointed what the victim believed to be an assault rifle at him, according to Murphy, prompting the victim to attempt to run away.
Video surveillance from the parking lot showed the victim pulled out a knife and punctured one of the tires on Ashton’s truck after the rifle was pointed at him, Murphy reported.
Video footage also showed Ashton reportedly drove after the victim and swerved in an apparent effort to hit the victim — an effort he turned around and repeated two more times, according to Murphy.
Officers located what Murphy called a “realistic-looking pellet gun (rifle),” in Ashton’s truck, and though it was not an assault rifle, the warning label on the gun stated “Misuse or careless use may cause serious injury or death.”
