'I over shot': Neighbor who shot trooper's home with sling shot said he'd been up for 3 weeks



TACOMA, Wash. -- The man who's charged with shooting marbles and rocks into his neighbor's home and camper told Tacoma police officers he'd been awake for three weeks and took a "fighting stance" against his cat when it rubbed against his leg.

According to court documents, the story only gets wilder.

Police responded about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday (Sept. 27) to a Washington State Patrol trooper's home in east Tacoma. The trooper and his wife were inside their home when they heard a loud, popping noise.

The trooper went to the back of the house and found multiple holes in the home's rear windows. He initially thought they were bullet holes, but then he found marbles, bolts and rocks near the broken windows. The back door also had holes, and two windows in the couple's camper had been shattered.

Police say there was more than $5,500 worth of damage.

One of the officers on scene noticed a spotlight shining in the back of the trooper's home, then noticed a neighbor walking out of the house where the spotlight was shining. When the officer asked if the man had heard any commotion, he said, "I haven't slept in three weeks."

The officer walked over to talk to the man more through his fence, then noticed that the man was only wearing sweatpants. His face, arms and torso were covered in gold glitter.

When the man's cat walked over and rubbed against his leg, he moved into a "fighting stance" toward the cat.

"You know about that 5G, right?" he asked the officer. "You can hear it. I know you can. You guys get the 5G interference, too."

The officer asked the man if he noticed any damage to his property, to which he replied, "I do target practice."

The man agreed to let police into his house, where they found there was no furniture and some of the windows and appliances had been spray-painted black.

When officers asked about a severed chicken foot lying on a piece of plywood, he said, "You know, trying the voodoo." He said the rest of the chicken was on the roof of his house.

He showed officers where he did his target practice, eventually admitting that he "probably over shot" when he hit his neighbor's home. He also told police when asked that he had firearms in the house. He surrendered the three guns to police.

The 48-year-old man was charged with first-degree malicious mischief and harassment. He's being held without bail pending a competency hearing.