The soldier staggered, wounded and bloody, into an Apple Valley mini-mart last weekend claiming to be a victim, shot and robbed while on leave from Iraq.
Now investigators say it was all a ploy: They believe that Army Pfc. Matthew Myers, 20, of Apple Valley arranged for a friend to shoot him so he could avoid returning to Iraq.
Myers first called 911 about 9:30 p.m. Sunday from the AM/PM convenience store at 15333 Rancherias Road, said San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Arden Wiltshire.
Myers, home on an emergency family leave while serving with the 101st Airborne Division based at Ft. Campbell, Ky., told sheriff's investigators that he was walking at the Apple Valley Country Club golf course when he was attacked by an unknown man. He said the assailant took his wallet and military identification before shooting him in his right-front thigh, Wiltshire said.
Myers was taken to St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley, where doctors chose not to remove the bullet from his thigh because it would have caused further injury, said sheriff's spokeswoman Trish Hill.
Investigators began to suspect something was fishy when Myers said he could not describe the suspect or where he fled because it was too dark, Wiltshire said.
They searched unsuccessfully for Myers' assailant on foot and by helicopter. They found two sets of footprints at the golf course, Hill said, but, "They were walking parallel, like they were together. Things just weren't adding up."
Suspecting a cover-up, investigators questioned Myers at the hospital, Hill said, and "the truth came out."
Before he was released from the hospital that night, Myers admitted to plotting with his friend Daniel Dotterrer, 20, also of Apple Valley to shoot him and fake the robbery, Hill said.
Investigators then went to Dotterrer's house, Hill said, questioned him and confirmed the story. They now believe that Dotterrer used a .32-caliber handgun to shoot Myers, Wiltshire said.
Sheriff's officials said Tuesday that they have asked San Bernardino County prosecutors to charge Dotterrer with conspiracy and assault with a deadly weapon and Myers with conspiracy. They also notified Army officials that they are seeking criminal charges against Myers.
Prosecutors said they had not received the Sheriff's Department's paperwork and have not yet determined whether to file charges, said Susan Mickey, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office.
