Convicted felon arrested at Walmart after reach for gun

Man accused of trying to pull gun on deputies in Spanaway

A routine shoplifting call at a Spanaway Walmart escalated Tuesday evening when 26-year-old convicted felon, Zachary Jon Quichocho, allegedly attempted to reach for a firearm during a confrontation with Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies.

SPANAWAY, Wash. - A routine shoplifting call at a Spanaway Walmart escalated Tuesday evening when 26-year-old convicted felon, Zachary Jon Quichocho, allegedly attempted to reach for a firearm during a confrontation with Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies.

According to court documents, Quichocho, a four-time convicted felon, was approached by deputies after Walmart’s security reported him for allegedly cutting tags off clothes. While deputies were attempting to escort him out, Quichocho made a sudden move toward his backpack, raising concerns that he was trying to access a firearm.

"He grabs the backpack from his back and maneuvers it to his chest and starts trying to open the zipper," Pierce County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Darren Moss explained. "He makes a motion toward his bag really quickly again, and that's when the deputies have had enough, and they detain him and handcuff him."

Body camera footage captured the tense moment as Quichocho struggled with deputies, who quickly subdued him to prevent him from accessing the bag. "He wouldn't put his hands behind his back. They had to take him to the ground. He still possibly was trying to get to his bag," Sgt. Moss added.

When deputies searched the bag, they discovered a large two-handed pistol with a high-capacity magazine. "It’s basically a two-handed pistol, almost like a carbine, but it doesn't have a butt stock, so it's classified as a pistol," Moss explained. Quichocho was also found to have a 31-round magazine, a concerning discovery given his criminal history and current probation status.

"There’s no other reason for him to maneuver the bag to the front of his body, to start messing with the zipper, to try to open it, to access that firearm," Moss said, emphasizing the dangerous situation the deputies had faced. "He was thinking of how he was going to shoot both of our deputies to get out of that situation."

Court documents say Quichocho claimed the bag, and the gun belonged to his sister, but security footage showed him entering the store with the bag. The firearm was found to be unregistered, and Quichocho was booked into Pierce County Jail.

Quichocho, who is on probation and had an outstanding warrant for failing to contact his parole officer, has a lengthy criminal record that includes convictions for possession of a firearm, burglary, and assault. He has been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, obstruction of law enforcement, and shoplifting. He is currently being held on $25,000 bail.

Sgt. Moss also highlighted growing concerns about the prevalence of high-capacity magazines and illegal firearms in the region. Sgt. Moss remarked, "I'm seeing way more than I've ever seen in my entire career, including San Diego... we’re seeing high-capacity magazines in a lot of our shootings, and the majority of the time, these people are not legally allowed to possess the firearms in the first place."

Moss concluded, "In the end, it's going to be the same result. He’s going to go in handcuffs and he's going to go to jail. Something worse could have happened had he been able to pull that gun."