Dawson Marcil makes an appearance in Lewis County Superior Court via Zoom on Monday.
Paul Masiello sports a mask as he prepares to distribute papers during Superior Court on Monday in Chehalis.
Judge James W. Lawler presides over a Lewis County Superior Court hearing in November.
A Toledo man is facing assault and drive-by shooting charges after he allegedly shot at a vehicle with a hunting rifle on Saturday.
Dawson C. Marcil, 20, was charged with second-degree assault and drive-by shooting at his preliminary appearance in Lewis County Superior Court on Monday.
The affidavit of probable cause gives the following account of the drive-by shooting:
On Saturday, Nov. 14, a Lewis County Sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to Bethel Church in Napavine to speak with a man who said his vehicle had been shot at.
When the officer arrived, the victim showed him the rear of his vehicle which appeared to have a bullet hole on the right passenger side of the trunk. Inside the trunk, the officer retrieved bullet fragments.
The victim told police he was driving on Rhodes Road near Winlock and saw a vehicle that he knew belonged to an acquaintance of his. He also knew that the car’s owner was friends with Marcil, who had reportedly previously made threats about fighting him.
After the victim passed the car, it turned around and began to chase him.
As they got closer to the city limits of Winlock, the victim said the car trailing him began to slow and then he heard a loud boom. Initially, the man said he did not know what the boom was because they were too far away to have thrown anything.
But fearing he would continue to be followed to his house, the victim decided to go to his father’s house. When he arrived, he realized there was a bullet hole in his vehicle and subsequently called police.
The victim also told police he knew the man who he believed was the owner of the vehicle kept hunting rifles in his car.
When police contacted the man that the victim believed to be the owner of the vehicle, he reportedly began to cry and admitted to chasing the victim’s vehicle.
The driver alleged that the victim’s car began to outrun his own vehicle, so Marcil, sitting in the passenger seat, grabbed a 30-30 hunting rifle and shot it at the car they were pursuing.
The driver added that he did not think Marcil would actually shoot.
When Marcil was contacted by police, he reportedly gave the same account as the driver, except in his telling, the driver was the one who shot the rifle and not him.
Marcil was subsequently arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail.
At Marcil’s preliminary appearance, Deputy Prosecutor Paul Masiello requested bail be set at $100,000, based on the severity of the allegations.
Marcil’s defense attorney, Don Blair, highlighted the fact his client had no criminal history and requested bail to be set at $10,000.
“I don’t dispute that these are serious charges, but unlike the prior two individuals, Dawson has zero criminal history,” Blair said, referencing two separate cases that had hearings prior to Marcil’s.
“Well, the difference between this defendant and the other defendants are that the allegations here are that a firearm was used, a rifle used, to shoot and hit another vehicle that had somebody in it, so I think the state’s request is reasonable,” Superior Court Judge James Lawler said.
Lawler set bail at $100,000 and scheduled Marcil’s arraignment for Nov. 19.
