Docs: Convicted felon accused of shooting through floor, bullet grazed 3-year-old in apartment below
Docs: Convicted felon accused of shooting through floor, bullet grazed 3-year-old in apartment below
A man remains behind bars on $250,000 bail after he allegedly fired a gun through the floor of a Federal Way second-story apartment, which hit a 3-year-old in the apartment below.
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - A man remains behind bars on $250,000 bail after he allegedly fired a gun through the floor of a Federal Way second-story apartment, which hit a 3-year-old in the apartment below.
On April 2, police were called to the Miro apartment complex off SW 309th St. around 10 p.m. for reports of a shooting. Fortunately, the bullet only grazed the 3-year-old's head, which required stitches, according to court documents. The child is recovering.
According to court documents, Cleatis Ford, of Tacoma, is accused of firing the weapon into the floor.
A day after the shooting, a woman who was in the upstairs apartment when the shooting occurred said it was a careless act, and that Ford had brought a gun over while visiting and was apparently "checking it" when it went off.
Court documents say "…she observed Cleatis with the firearm and heard him talk about stashing it in her vehicle."
"Speaking generally, we see crimes involving guns and children far too often than we’d like to," said Casey McNerthney, a spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. "It’s a reminder of how quickly things can change.
After a search, "A Masterpiece Arms 9mm with the serial number partially scraped off was recovered and seized," according to court documents.
Court documents also stated that: "Federal Way Records conducted a criminal history check on Cleatis, which revealed him as a five-time convicted felon, violating the uniformed firearms act."
"In the last seven months, we’ve charged more than 300 unlawful gun possession charges, because those crimes need to have clear accountability. That’s in addition to armed robberies and armed assaults and murder cases involving guns," said McNerthney. "As we see gun crimes increasing across the nation, people want to know that the King County prosecutors are taking gun crimes seriously and working on the action of police to file charges, and we are. We are going to keep doing that."
Prosecutors asked that bail be set at $300,000, but a judge agreed to $250,000.
"Whenever you see a case like this, what people want to know is if prosecutors are acting on it quickly upon referrals from police, and we certainly are," said McNerthney.
McNerthney says the prosecutor's office is reviewing the case that they received from police Tuesday and could have a charging decision on the shooting as early as Wednesday.