Third defendant in Spokane drive-by shooting sentenced

Garrett Cabeza, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
·2 min read

May 10—A 19-year-old man was sentenced last week to 4 1/2 years in prison for a robbery and drive-by shooting that occurred within nine days of each other last summer in Millwood and Spokane, respectively.

Spokane police were called to two drive-by shootings the morning of June 24 near North Dakota Street and Carlisle Avenue in the Logan Neighborhood, according to police.

In the second shooting, multiple rounds struck a residence with people inside, according to court documents. One of the bullets entered the wall of the house, and debris from the wall cut one of the residents' cheeks.

A witness told police he saw a red Hyundai Sonata, later identified as stolen, with two or three males in the car driving east on Carlisle toward Dakota. He said he saw the male in the front passenger seat shoot about 10 rounds from a handgun toward the northeast corner of the intersection. The vehicle then fled.

Officers were then dispatched to a car crash later that morning near East Francis Avenue and North Crestline Street.

Police contacted three suspects: Joshua Gould, Ozzy Tarter and Dezmen Belgarde. Officers recovered two firearms at the scene.

Gould was in the front passenger seat of the crashed vehicle, and a black handgun was found in his sweatshirt, court records show.

Police believe Belgarde was the driver of the stolen vehicle.

The Sonata matched the description of the vehicle involved in both shootings, police said in documents.

Gould pleaded guilty May 3 to drive-by shooting and first-degree robbery. Spokane County Superior Court Judge Timothy Fennessy sentenced Gould to 34 months in prison for the drive-by shooting and 54 months for the robbery of Millwood Grocery & Spirits on June 15.

Spokane County deputy prosecutor Jonathan Degen said the two sentences will run at the same time for a total of 54 months.

Gould will spend 18 months in community custody when he's released from prison.

Belgarde, 17, was sentenced earlier this year to 8 1/2 years of incarceration after pleading guilty to drive-by shooting, two counts of second-degree assault and one count of custodial assault for the drive-by shooting.

Tarter, 20, was sentenced in October to 15 months in prison for the drive-by shooting and the Millwood robbery.