Whatcom man arrested for allegedly shooting gun in fight on Memorial Day
A 61-year-old Maple Falls man was arrested for allegedly shooting a handgun during a fight with two other men over Memorial Day weekend, according to the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.
Anthony Arnold Griego was booked into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of assault in the first degree, where he remained Tuesday, June 1, according to spokeswoman Deb Slater.
Slater said deputies responded about 6 p.m. Memorial Day, Monday, May 31, to a reported fight in the 1400 block of Green Valley Court in Maple Falls in which three men were punching each other.
The person reporting the fight believed that one of the men was armed with a handgun. Soon after, others called to say multiple shots were being fired in the neighborhood.
When deputies arrived, they saw a man — later identified as Griego — allegedly standing in his front yard, yelling at neighbors and waving a handgun.
Neighbors said he had fired numerous times from his front yard, according to Slater.
When contacted by deputies, he allegedly refused to put down the gun.
“After several minutes of de-escalation techniques, Mr. Griego put the gun down and was safely detained,” Slater said to The Bellingham Herald. “One neighbor reported hiding in a vehicle that Mr. Griego was shooting at, damaging two of the vehicle’s windows.”
Slater said numerous 9 mm shell casings were in the grass in front of Griego’s house, and a 9 mm handgun was found at the scene.
No one was hurt in the incident.
