Court documents say three family members were inside when a car hit the home near a gas line.
PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — A Pierce County man has been charged after prosecutors said he threatened family members and drove a car into their home near a gas line while three people were inside the house.
Juan Daniel Munoz Flores was charged Friday in Pierce County Superior Court with attempted first-degree arson, first-degree malicious mischief, harassment and two counts of third-degree malicious mischief. The charges were filed as domestic violence-related counts because prosecutors said the alleged victims were family or household members.
The most serious charges stem from an April 30 crash at a home on 99th Street East.
According to court documents, a family member told deputies Munoz Flores had left threatening voicemail messages, including one saying he knew where the home’s gas line was and was going to drive into it.
Deputies said Munoz Flores drove a car into the front of the home before they arrived. The car caused significant damage and came within inches of the gas main, according to a sheriff’s report.
Three family members were inside the home at the time, separated from the crash by one wall, deputies wrote.
Fire crews checked the gas line and found it had not leaked or caught fire. Fire personnel told deputies the situation could have caused a “flame thrower” event and become much worse if the gas line had been breached.
Deputies said Munoz Flores was taken out of the car and arrested at the scene.
According to the sheriff’s report, Munoz Flores later said through an interpreter that he intentionally crashed into the home because he was upset with his family. The report said he also told deputies he had used marijuana shortly before the crash, and meth about three hours prior.
Prosecutors said the crash followed another incident at the same home four days earlier.
On April 26, deputies were called after family members reported Munoz Flores threw a rock at a Ford F-250 windshield, then later returned and threw rocks at front windows of the home. Court documents said he also sent threatening messages to his brother.
The charging document accuses Munoz Flores of damaging the home on April 30 and damaging the vehicle windshield and home windows on April 26. Prosecutors said the damage to the home from the crash was more than $5,000.
The Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office requested bail be set at $250,000, citing safety concerns for the family and what prosecutors described as repeated attempts to set the home on fire and violent damage to property.
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