Suspect accused of mixing alcohol, driving and shooting

An allegedly intoxicated man admitted to firing a gun from his vehicle just before midnight last night, claiming that a transient man stood in the middle of a downtown intersection and threatened his car, according to his recorded interview with Olympia police. 

From the driver's seat of his car, he allegedly fired a shot in the direction of the transient man and sped away, only to be pulled over by Olympia police four minutes later on suspicion of driving under the influence. The events happened on Tue., June 8 starting at about 11:37 p.m.

The suspect, identified as Mark K. Sura, 27, of Lacey, told OPD that he was driving down Franklin St SE toward the intersection of Franklin and 7^th Avenue SE, when he claimed that he had stopped a stoplight and the homeless man crossed the road in front of him. The homeless man remained stopped in the middle of the road when the light turned green.

Sura told police that he said, “Excuse me sir, could you go?” to the homeless man, but the homeless man yelled back, “acting crazy” and then started hitting the front bumper and hood of Sura’s white Honda Accord, according to Sura.

Sura admitted to using his brother’s .40 caliber handgun, put a bullet in the gun, and said he fired in the air, but not at the homeless man. He called it a “warning shot” because “he was attacking my car.”

The gun that Sura used was in his backpack, along with two cans of beer, and an open can of Coors Light beer in the center console.,

Sura blew a .199 on the Draeger. The legal blood alcohol limit in Washington is .08.

OPD did attempt to have several contacts with the homeless man, Marty Bacon, including video recordings, but Bacon was rambling unintelligible things and was highly agitated after the incident.

Sylvester Park security camera footage from across the park shows Sura’s white Honda Accord stopped, and then either a muzzle flash from gunfire or the flashlight mounted toward the front of the pistol. See video, above, at :28.

Sura later gave a different account in a second interview after OPD said that his identification did not match his description or the photo of the ID. Sura said that it was “legit” but then admitted to having been “dishonest” with OPD during the first interview. Sura told OPD that he had witnessed Bacon yelling at “an old lady” as he drove past the park and that Bacon had never blocked his car at an intersection. Both recorded interviews are available below this story.

Sura was booked into the Thurston County Jail for driving under the influence and felony assault.