Arrest Made Following Chaos at Moses Lake Homeless Encampment

25-year-old Jonathan Pray faces stiff charges following a frenetic flare-up that reportedly roiled the Hiawatha Lake homeless encampment early Friday afternoon.

The situation escalated "just past noon," deputies say, when Pray's alleged victim overheard the cries of a distressed female. The unnamed victim then saw a man, later identified as Pray, perched atop a trailer and wielding a tarp, according to the Grant County Sheriff's Office.

Pray could be seen "covering the chimney smokestack." It looked to the victim as though Pray was trying to forcibly uproot the trailer's occupants.

Get our free mobile app

Pray allegedly discharged a rifle not once but three times, chasing his victim up a "sandy hill" near the encampment. According to the Sheriff's Office, this camp is located near the 1000 block of North Frontage Rd. East in Moses Lake.

The suspect then "barricaded" himself inside a trailer, which before long was encircled by Moses Lake police and Grant County deputies. Officers from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife were also called to assist. (Other attending agencies included Grant County Fire District #5, LifeLine Ambulances, Inc. and Renew Crisis Responders.)

Having fallen short of a negotiated surrender, deputies obtained a search warrant and found Pray hiding under the trailer shortly after 3:00 p.m.

But Pray was taken into custody without incident. The arresting officers confiscated a BB gun - the same BB gun, authorities believe, that Pray used in the commission of his crimes.

Pray is under investigation for first-degree assault and second-degree attempted murder, both class A felonies under Washington law. The victim was unharmed.