Two arrested after drive-by shooting

A $2.5 million lottery winner is in jail on charges of participating in a drive-by shooting Tuesday night. Albert J. Reeves, 36, who scored the state’s Lotto jackpot last April, is being held on a $500,000 bond in the Spokane County Jail. A juvenile was also arrested in connection with the shootout at 413 S. Greene St. A Spokane Police Department spokesman did not provide the youth’s age or say whether other suspects are being sought. No one was injured during the attack, and Police Capt. Steve Braun did not say what sparked the confrontation. Neighbors said gunfire started shortly after 8 p.m. They said it was sprayed from a white limousine that is believed to be associated with a car club called Mafia 4 Life. One neighbor, who asked that his name not be used, spotted the white car with gold rims on his block earlier in the day. “I heard the first shot, and I told my wife and kids to hit the floor,” the neighbor said. “Then I saw it turn around and open fire again.” On the second go-round, police said, the targets of the attack fired back from within the house and one bullet bored into the neighbor’s home, near the window from where he watched the shootout. Another neighbor said a bullet pierced the tire of his Subaru. The wheel was confiscated by police as evidence. A police sergeant at the scene late Tuesday night said a man and woman were inside the targeted house with their young daughter during the attack. Four other men were also in the home. All had fled by the time police arrived. About two dozen rounds were fired at the home, a police spokesman said, including a blast from a shotgun. Officers found 9mm shell casings littering the street. Court documents made public Wednesday say one witness told officers that the white limo used in the attack was associated with the Mafia 4 Life car club at 8006 E. Sprague Ave. An Internet site names “Bayron AKA Baynut” as the president of the Mafia 4 Life chapter in Spokane. The local branch of the California group was started in 1999 “when he (Baynut) moved to the chilly state of Washington,” the site says. “His fetishes are for Cadillacs instead of the traditional ‘64 Chevy’s.” Immediately after Tuesday’s shooting, sheriff’s deputies raided the car club and found the white limo; its engine was warm. Additionally, a back and side window were broken out and there were scrape marks across the top, court papers say. An hour later, sheriff’s deputies spotted a black limo near the car club at East Sprague and Coleman Road. It was stopped in a convenience store parking lot. Officers brought a witness to the scene who identified Reeves as a person riding in the white limo during the drive-by shooting. When they searched the black limo, officers found shell casings and a .22-caliber handgun. Reeves, who had keys to the Mafia 4 Life club on his key chain, claimed to own the business, though no record exists at the secretary of state’s office. Both limos have been impounded. A request for a jail interview with Reeves went unanswered Thursday. Reeves has had prior scrapes with police. In 1997, he pleaded guilty to drug-selling conspiracy charges and was sentenced to six months in jail. During the early 1980s, he was a standout athlete at Lewis and Clark High School, chosen to the all-city basketball team.