Wash. Repossession Shooting Suspect Arrested
MEDICAL LAKE, Wash. — Deputies have arrested a man for shooting at two repossession agents who tried to take his car.
According to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, two men arrived at a home in Medical Lake Tuesday night, planning to find a repossess a car.
They said they were confronted by a man, later identified as 51-year-old Robert W. Edens, in the driveway. When they tried to identify him as the vehicle owner they were looking for, Edens said there was no one there with that name. The two repossession agents returned to their truck, when they heard gunshots and the passenger-side window shattered.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, they sped off, but lost control on the icy road, crashing into a wooden post at another driveway.
The driver’s airbag went off, but he kept driving until Deputies found them near North Christensen and Tracy Lane. The victims told Deputies that they were being pursued by a man in a Dodge pickup truck.
They then saw headlights approaching them, and heard the sound of a diesel engine.
Deputies took cover as the truck passed, pulling it over and detaining the two suspects in the car. One of them was Edens, who they interviewed.
Edens explained that he was notified that someone was prowling his garage, so he went out with a shotgun to protect himself. He saw a truck parked at the end of his driveway, which he found suspicious, so he fired warning shots in the air and ground. Edens attributed the shattered window to rocks kicked up by his warning shot.
Deputies searched Edens house and found the shotgun, and when they asked him why he shot at the truck in the first place, Edens explained that he has had some “squirrely people” come by his house lately, and he was protecting his property.
Deputies told him that in Washington, he cannot use deadly force to protect property. Edens said he should move to Idaho.
A further investigation revealed shotgun pellets did shatter the repossession agent’s car window, but Edens explained it was loaded with birdshot. No one was shot, but the passenger received medical attention for back pain from the crash.
Edens was booked into the Spokane County Jail for two counts of first-degree assault.
