Three drive-by shootings linked, documents say

Court documents surrounding four arrests made outside a burning Spokane Valley home on Valentine’s Day piece together a boiled gun, an ex-girlfriend, a bizarre coincidence and three drive-by shootings from a Chrysler LeBaron two weeks ago.

Around midnight Feb. 9, several people called 911 to report gunshots on the usually quiet 13000 block of 32nd Avenue in Spokane Valley.

Robert Garwood, 22, said he emptied the clip of a .22-caliber pistol into the house while Jessie Starchman, 17, drove the Chrysler convertible and Sean Smith, 19, rode in the back seat, court documents state.

The gun was reloaded, and they drove to the 15000 block of East 12th Avenue, where five minutes later, “Starchman emptied the clip of the .22-cal pistol into a residence as he was driving the car,” according to documents.

No one was hurt, but police found three bullets in the house on 12th.

Renai Durst’s house on 32nd was hit at least four times, and one of the bullets that zipped through her living room barely missed her daughter sleeping on the couch, she said.

The motive for the first shootings wasn’t specified in court documents, and Durst said Wednesday she remains “completely at a loss as to why they shot at my house.”

Court documents indicate adrenaline and a bad breakup could have played a part in a third drive-by that weekend.

Garwood told officers that Smith was “hot and bothered to go on another drive-by shooting,” according to documents.

Late on Feb. 11, Garwood and Smith got in the same car, and Nicole “Crispy” Crispino, 19, drove to a house on Barker Road belonging to the father of Garwood’s ex-girlfriend, according to a statement from an officer who interviewed Smith.

Garwood unloaded another clip from the .22 into that residence, documents say; no one was hurt, but police found bullet holes in the front of the house.

At the time, Starchman, Smith and Garwood were all staying at the house on the 12000 block of East Alki Avenue, police said.

The suspects boiled the gun, took it apart, wrapped the pieces in a pink towel and dumped them in a trash bin, according to affidavits.

On Feb. 14, as police were piecing together the events of the week before, officers noticed that firefighters had been dispatched to the residence on Alki.

A fire gutted the house and sent at least nine people out into the 20-degree weather, including suspects in the shootings.

Fire officials, though, said the fire and the drive-bys were unrelated.

“It was definitely caused by some type of heating appliance,” said Bill Clifford, a spokesman for the Spokane Valley Fire Department.

Nearby, police found a .22-caliber pistol in a trash bin behind an office building, according to the documents. In the car that police believe was involved in the shootings, investigators also found a .22 shell casing, documents show.

Garwood and Smith were charged with three counts of drive-by shooting, a class B felony. Starchman was charged with two counts of drive-by shooting, and Crispino with one count of the same offense.