Two Held In Firebombing, Shooting Incident Mayhem At Apartment Complex Apparent Retaliation For Brawl

Two Spokane men are being held on attempted murder and arson charges for their alleged roles in retaliating for a Sunday night brawl.

The men, Lamont A. Brooks and Freddie L. Darrough, are each being held on $250,000 bail for allegedly firebombing and firing semiautomatic rifles Tuesday at an apartment where the weekend fight took place.

Police said Brooks, 20, and Darrough, 19, were among six or seven men who tossed beer bottles filled with gasoline and shot at an apartment in the 1500 block of East Seventh.

The fire was quickly doused and no one was injured by the bullets. At least three children were in an adjoining apartment.

A third man was being interrogated by police Wednesday evening. His identity was not released. Police expect more arrests in the case, Police Lt. Gill Moberly said.

“It was a miracle that no one was hurt,” he said.

Brooks is well-known to police for his alleged role in a December 1998 drive-by shooting at a downtown Spokane Jack-in-the-Box restaurant.

The charges were dismissed last August when a Spokane judge ruled that key prosecution witnesses were tainted by a flawed police photo line-up.

Police and neighbors said the fire-bombing was payback for the Sunday night brawl in which one man was beaten by five or six men. The fight was over a woman, a resident of the East Seventh apartments, said neighbors, who declined to give their names.

The concrete outside the apartment remained splattered with blood from the fight.

“This makes me want to get the hell out of here,” said Chris Smizaski, who also lives in the apartment building.

The Spokane Police Department’s gang unit was told the fight would result in “retaliation,” according to an affidavit of probable cause filed Wednesday against Brooks and Darrough.

Smizaski said he was at a neighbor’s house Tuesday when he heard five quick “pops” outside his apartment, then saw the apartment complex on fire.

Witnesses told police they saw a group of men armed with rifles toss bottles at the apartment complex, then flee. Brooks and Darrough were arrested about 9:15 p.m. Tuesday in nearby Liberty Park.

Witnesses identified the two men as participants in the firebombing and shooting.

Darrough has no criminal record, although he and Brooks were arrested in January for allegedly breaking into a North Side home and assaulting a man. That case is pending.

Brooks’ criminal record dates to 1996, when he was convicted of riot and assault. He twice broke probation during a two-year sentence, once for associating with a gang member.

He also was convicted of illegally having a gun.

“Mr. Brooks has been associated with the Folk gang in Spokane and is extremely well-known to local law enforcement,” his probation officer wrote after one probation violation.

He was charged in January 1999 with attempted first-degree murder and assault for allegedly shooting 14 rounds at people in the Jack-in-theBox drive-through lane.

Brooks’ first trial on the charges was declared a mistrial when Spokane Superior Court Judge Robert Austin ruled that Brooks’ attorney, Brad Plumb, was incompetent.

His second trial, three months later with a new attorney, ended abruptly when Austin ruled that a flawed photo line-up used by police likely tainted the testimony of three eyewitnesses.

Out of six mug shots of African-American men, Brooks’ photo was centered and most prominent, Austin said. Charges against Brooks were dismissed.

“It’s frustrating when we see someone that should have been incarcerated out hurting other people,” Moberly said.