Tacoma drive-by shooting, pursuit left bullets in 2 houses on Christmas Eve, charges say
Two Pierce County men have been charged in a drive-by shooting on Christmas Eve that left two Tacoma homes with bullet holes and the subsequent high-speed pursuit that ended with a crash in Parkland.
Tacoma police began searching the Hilltop neighborhood for a Blue Nissan SUV around 2 p.m. Saturday following a report of a passenger firing a gun more than 20 times near South M and South 13th streets, according to charging documents. Two homes on the 1300 block of South 13th Street were each hit by a bullet; three people at one house were unharmed, and the other residence was unoccupied.
Police recovered 16 .40-caliber bullet casings in the area, according to charging documents. Surveillance footage at a nearby U-Haul retailer showed a passenger firing a black handgun from the suspect SUV.
Meanwhile, a patrol officer spotted a blue Nissan SUV about half a mile away in the 1000 block of South Sprague Avenue and began tailing it, according to charging documents. The officer followed the SUV onto Highway 16 and then to the 2300 block of South Union Avenue before initiating a pursuit once more police arrived to assist.
The SUV accelerated and weaved through heavy traffic as it drove back near the Hilltop area on 19th and South 23rd streets, according to charging documents. On the 1100 block of South 23rd Street, the SUV reportedly abandoned a blood-stained bag with four loaded handguns, three of them .40-caliber Glocks and two reported stolen.
The SUV reached speeds of nearly 100 mph during the pursuit and eventually crashed into a GMC SUV in the 11000 block of Pacific Avenue, more than 8 miles from where the chase began, according to charging documents. A family of four in the victim SUV was unharmed.
The passenger of the car and alleged gunman, 20-year-old Harden M. Keys IV of Puyallup, began walking away from the crash but was detained by police, according to charging documents. Keys initially told officers he had been walking in the area and was not in the SUV, but a witness of the crash had followed him until police arrived.
Keys is being held in the Pierce County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail after pleading not guilty on Tuesday to drive-by shooting and three counts of first-degree assault, according to court documents.
Police listed 18-year-old Tyler E. Morris of Tacoma as the driver of the SUV in charging documents. He was jailed in lieu of $50,000 bail after pleading not guilty to drive-by shooting, attempting to elude police and three counts of first-degree assault.
Both remained under investigation for possessing stolen firearms and hit and run, according to jail records.
Neither suspect has prior criminal convictions, according to court documents.
