Man allegedly shot at girlfriend in his pickup

GRANITE FALLS — She wanted a commitment.

He opened fire.

A Granite Falls-area man, 58, was arrested early Wednesday morning after reportedly shooting up his own pickup truck while his ladyfriend was at the wheel.

The pair spent Tuesday night drinking at the man’s home off the Mountain Loop Highway, a few miles outside of town. They’d been seeing each other about five months and apparently got into an argument about where the relationship was going, according to the arrest report.

The woman, 55, was upset that the man still was married to his wife. She was also frustrated because he kept refusing to tell his family about her, court papers show.

At some point, the man left the house and crossed a nearby creek to go work on the neighbor’s tractor.

The woman apparently followed him and climbed into the driver’s seat of his red Ford F150 pickup.

Their versions of what happened differ after that.

The man said he was working on the tractor when the woman began driving the truck toward him. He said he yelled “stop” or “woah” but feared for his life and fired his .22-caliber revolver four times at the pickup.

The woman told police she climbed into the truck and began backing up when the man pulled out his gun. He then yelled “Die, (expletive)!” and began shooting, she said.

The woman told police she then “drove like crazy to get out of there.” The truck got stuck, and she ran away. She wasn’t seriously injured.

The man called 911 and told them he’d just shot at a woman.

Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies arrived to investigate.

Evidence at the scene indicated the truck had “peeled out” in reverse, hitting trees and a shed before getting stuck.

Damage to the truck and the property, including “extensive tire tracks,” appeared to fit the woman’s description of what happened, deputies wrote.

The man reportedly could not account for any of the damage except for the bullet holes in his pickup.

He was booked into Snohomish County Jail for investigation of second-degree domestic-violence assault.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com