Man accused of shooting 23 rounds during a drive by shooting released without bail by judge

BONNEY LAKE, Wash. - Imagine yourself stopped at the intersection of 192nd and State Route 410 in Bonney Lake. Then imagine as the light turns green, you hear gunshots, a lot of them, at least 23 rounds coming out of a minivan.

Sunday night’s drive-by shooting isn’t just another case for Bonney Lake Police Chief Bryan Jeter. It’s personal.

Bonney Lake Police Officer Buddy Mahlum just happened to be right behind the minivan at the intersection in an unmarked squad car.

"He noticed the passenger window had rolled down and he saw a muzzle flash followed by popping sounds in rapid succession and obviously he knew it was gunfire. Being that he is a police officer, figured it was directed at him so he took evasive action and tried to get out of the path of gunfire," Bonney Lake Police Chief Bryan Jeter said.

Officer Mahlum turned on his sirens amid the chaos and the minivan stopped nearby. But police say 24 year-old Juan Carlos Martinez jumped out of the passenger side and took off into the woods.

 "I saw five cops pull into the main intersection," witness Cannon Close said.

Close witnessed the commotion eventually leading into his apartment complex.

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 Police eventually caught Martinez hiding at the Renwood Apartments nearly an hour later.

"That’s intense, wouldn’t expect something like that to come around," Close said.

Close says it’s a relief no one was shot during the drive-by.

But it took a lot of resources including K9 Maverick and the help of the Puyallup Police to hunt Martinez down.

Court documents state that Martinez is homeless and the gun he used to fire all those shots was a stolen one.

"You train for that but you never expect it and hope you never experience it, I thought he did an incredible job of keeping his composure," Jeter said.

Court records do not clearly name the officer as the target of the drive by shooting but Chief Jeter says it’s hard for them to think otherwise considering what happened. Jeter says regardless of who the target was, the situation was dangerous with almost two dozen shots fired.

A woman was driving the minivan that Martinez jumped out from. Police say the woman was drunk and uncooperative with the investigation.

The details leading up to Martinez’s arrest are bizarre but what happens after is concerning too.

When Martinez faced a judge, the defendant was released on personal recognizance, which means no bail.

 "It’s very concerning that we have a person who chose to shoot at a police officer and is now released and is released on no bail, is back out on the streets, it’s certainly concerning from a safety aspect," Jeter said.

It’s hard to know why Pierce County Superior Court Judge Stanley Rumbaugh made the decision he did. The prosecution requested a $30,000 bond.

His judicial assistant on Wednesday said the case is under adjudication so the judge was unable to comment.

With no explanation, Bonney Lake residents are left even more concerned saying a man who acted dangerously was let go too easily.

 "How can you feel safe knowing that there is someone out there that can get away with whatever and the judge is going to let him go," Bonney Lake resident Sierrah Cram said.

Judge Rumbaugh imposed several conditions when he released Martinez including the requirement that he show up to a pre-trial service in person on Wednesday.

Q13 News has confirmed that Martinez did show up to the pre-trial service program.

His next court appearance is March 1.