Couple allegedly threatened by man painting Ukraine flag

A husband and wife who confronted a group of men allegedly spray painting a Ukrainian flag with a heart symbol in the middle of Forest Road 23 say a man from the group threatened them with a gun.

Reuben and Leila Bashans were driving down West Govey Road, known as Forest Service Road 23, near Browns Creek on April 14 when they came upon a group of men “actively spray painting something in the road,” according to a Mason County Sheriff probable cause document.

Reuben Bashans said the men “were not moving out of the way, and he told them they cannot be spray painting. The subject said something about how he doesn’t own the property and continued painting. Reuben took photographs of the subject as he went to pass them. After they loaded into the vehicle, the other driver opened the driver’s door and pulled a black handgun out, pointing it directly at Reuben,” MCSO Sergeant H. Anderson wrote in the document.

The Bashans parked down a side road out of view and called police. When Anderson arrived, “both Leila and Reuben appeared flustered and nervous,” he wrote.

Anderson said Reuben Bashans told him “he felt scared and he thought he would get shot by the suspect while he pointed a gun at his head. He stated that the suspect was only a few feet in front of him when he pulled the gun. He indicated that he had his own firearm but didn’t pull it out or ever get out of his vehicle.”

The couple showed Anderson photographs of the suspect, pointing him out in the group. As they were talking, another car drove up and told the deputy the suspects drove in the direction of High Steel Bridge.

“They then showed me a photo of the graffiti. I observed what appeared to be the Ukrainian flag with a red heart over the top,” according to Anderson.

The deputy located the suspects’ car parked at the Vance Creek Trestle. It was unoccupied and the vehicle was registered to Andrii Matrunchyk, 21.

Another deputy arrived.

“While waiting with the vehicle, we observed four males walking up from the trestle. We contacted the males, who had an obvious Ukrainian accent and stated they were Ukrainian,” according to the probable cause document.

The four men were returning to their car parked farther down the road, they said, and none of the men were Matrunchyk.

Anderson said he looked at a photograph of the suspects and compared it with the four men, concluding they were not the ones pictured.

A short time later, another group of five men began walking up from the trail.

“From a distance I noted that the clothing descriptions were consistent with the photographs. As they approached, I advised the subjects to remove their hands from their pockets and asked them if it was their car. Abdrii then stated it was his car,” according to the document.

Anderson said Matrunchyk had blue paint on his hands and shoes. He was also the only member of the group who could speak English, according to Anderson.

The deputy asked him about pointing a gun and Matrunchyk said “it was just a baby gun,” according to Anderson.

Matrunchyk gave the deputy permission to retrieve the gun and “upon picking up the firearm, I noted that it was a heavy, black pistol with a metal slide. It was printed with Glock logos. The firearm appeared real, however upon dropping the magazine I noted that the magazine was a BB holder,” the document states.

Matrunchyk was arrested for second-degree assault and third-degree malicious mischief.

He has not been charged and has an initial arraignment in Mason County Superior Court April 29 before Judge Daniel Goodell.