A 40-year-old Onalaska man is facing a felony charge in Lewis County Superior Court after allegedly brandishing a firearm and threatening to kill a fellow motorist during a road rage incident on U.S. Highway 12 last April.
Mickey Anthony Ancheta made his first appearance in Lewis County Superior Court on Wednesday, Oct. 28, after being arrested on a warrant. He is charged with felony harassment, a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He’s also charged with unlawful display of a weapon and reckless endangerment, both gross misdemeanors punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.
As he appeared before Judge Joely Yeager via a video feed from the Lewis County Jail, the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office asked for bail to be maintained at $50,000, the same amount as the arrest warrant.
Defense attorney Rachael Tiller, who represents most defendants during their initial appearances in superior court, asked for Ancheta to be released with unsecured bail. She noted that Ancheta considers himself the victim and not the aggressor in the incident. Tiller said Ancheta is a student and single father. He does not have a previous criminal history.
Yeager set bail at $50,000, noting the seriousness of the allegations and the threat to community safety.
Don Blair was assigned to represent Ancheta as his defense attorney.
According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by prosecutors, on April 20, a Washington State Patrol trooper was advised that multiple witnesses had reported a male had exited his vehicle and started yelling in the area of Mary’s Corner on U.S. Highway 12, with one witness saying the man had a firearm. Two other witnesses later provided video of the incident, with one of them also reporting the man had a firearm.
The trooper was provided with a description of the suspect and the vehicle, including the suspect’s license plate number.
The victim, a Lewis County man, told troopers he was driving to the Lewis County Courthouse and “didn’t want to be late” when the suspect’s vehicle closed in on him at a high rate of speed on U.S. Highway 12, passed him and then cut him off. Both vehicles stopped. That’s when the suspect, believed to be Ancheta, exited his vehicle with a gun and approached the victim’s car.
“The victim said that when he saw the gun, he ducked behind this dash and began reversing his vehicle away from the aggressor,” the affidavit of probable cause states. “The victim said the suspect yelled, ‘I'll fu ... ing shoot you, I'll fu ... ing kill you.’ (The victim) said the suspect was pointing the gun at him while yelling. (The victim) said he was afraid for his life. He was able to extricate himself from the altercation.”
A witness who recorded video of the altercation said he yelled “he’s got a gun” at the victim. The video also shows the suspect's vehicle and license plate, according to the affidavit.
A trooper later took a statement from Ancheta.
“Ancheta said the other guy was the one that rushed him, but that he (Ancheta) ‘went overboard,’” the affidavit states. “Ancheta said that after putting his gun away, he attempted to apologize to the victim.”
The trooper noted in his report that instead of apologizing, Ancheta is heard in the video yelling threats at the victim and placing his gun on the roof of the vehicle.
Ancheta was scheduled to be back in court Thursday for an arraignment and trial setting hearing.
