Suspect said victim owed him money
Robert C. Webb was in the Clark County Jail on Wednesday night after he allegedly confronted an acquaintance about a debt, displayed a handgun, forced the man into his own car and ordered him to withdraw the money.
The victim later jumped out of his older Jeep on East Fourth Plain Boulevard, ran off and called 911 shortly before 3 p.m. Richard Turner, 51, was in fear for his life during the ordeal, said Cpl. Duane Boynton with the Vancouver Police Department.
Turner told police the incident began about 2 p.m. Wednesday as he was playing video poker in a bar at Jantzen Beach.
He said Webb, an acquaintance whom he hadn’t seen for a long time, showed up with a gun and demanded his money.
Webb, 55, allegedly forced Turner into Turner’s Jeep and ordered Turner to drive to an ATM in Vancouver and withdraw the cash. As Turner drove, Webb punched him in the head, Boynton said.
In Vancouver, Turner told police, he stopped and tried unsuccessfully to get the money from an ATM.
On Fourth Plain at Caples Avenue, not far from Bagley Park, Turner stopped at a red light, jumped out of his Jeep and called 911 with his cell phone, Boynton said.
Webb allegedly drove off in Turner’s Jeep.
Minutes later, an officer radioed that he was behind the Jeep, which was stopped for allegedly running a red light on state Highway 500 at Falk Road. Webb offered no resistance and was arrested.
Police recovered the handgun, according to emergency radio traffic monitored at The Columbian.
Wednesday evening, Webb was being held without bail on suspicion of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree robbery of Turner’s Jeep and first-degree assault, a jail employee said. Webb also was held for an arrest warrant charging that he drove with a suspended license.
Webb is to make a first appearance in Clark County Superior Court on Thursday.
Turner wasn’t seriously injured, Boynton said. The men’s hometowns weren’t immediately available.
Sprinkler system proves valuable in fire
A sprinkler system is credited for stopping a widespread and potentially fatal fire Wednesday morning at a Vancouver apartment, firefighters said.
Crews were dispatched at 2:48 a.m. to the Fort Vancouver Terrace Apartments, 4710 Plomondon St., in the Bagley Downs neighborhood. All the smoke detectors in the complex’s building 14 had been activated.
Arriving eight minutes later, a firefighter saw fire coming from an upstairs window. Moments later, the sprinkler system inside the smoky apartment turned on, quickly quelling the flames, said Vancouver Firefighter-spokesman Jim Flaherty.
A sleeping tenant inside the apartment awoke when the sprinkler system activated and he exited safely, Flaherty said.
Damage was estimated at $20,000. The fire was caused by unattended cooking on a kitchen stove.
Flaherty said he thought the tenant wouldn’t have survived the fire without the sprinkler system.
“I think we probably would have had a fatality and a good amount of damage had that sprinkler not activated and extinguished the fire,” he said.
