Yakima council candidate arrested on suspicion of assault

YAKIMA — A Yakima City Council candidate has been arrested on suspicion of assault, harassment, and malicious mischief.

Garth McKinney is accused of striking a 26-year-old woman, throwing his motorcycle helmet through her parents’ apartment window and pointing a gun at them, the Yakima Herald-Republic reported.

McKinney, 28, is scheduled to appear Monday in Yakima County Superior Court. He remained in the Yakima County jail Monday morning, according to the jail’s log.

McKinney is seeking a District 6 seat on the City Council. It wasn’t immediately known if he has an attorney to comment on his case.

Police were called Sunday afternoon and found his girlfriend sitting outside an apartment with a dark bruise on her face, according to a Yakima police probable cause affidavit.

McKinney also was there. McKinney’s girlfriend told police the bruise was acne but her parents said she had returned to their house with the bruise after one night away, the affidavit said.

They said McKinney and their daughter had been having problems and had left their toddler with her grandparents while they worked things out, the affidavit said.

When McKinney arrived to pick up the woman and their child, the woman’s mother tried to block her daughter from leaving because she feared for her daughter, the affidavit said.

McKinney said he didn’t point the gun at the woman’s parents.