Battle Ground Police Officer Chris Crouch walks with armed robbery suspect Adam D. West
on Wednesday after Crouch and his tracking dog, Haulf, captured West in a swamp near the Westfield Vancouver mall.
A tracking dog named Haulf sniffed out a fugitive who was fleeing through a swampy area near Westfield Vancouver mall late Wednesday afternoon, more than an hour after the man allegedly robbed an Arby’s at gunpoint and fled on foot.
The suspect, a 27-year-old Vancouver man, offered no resistance when found partially submerged in a swamp by Officer Chris Crouch and Haulf, who work for the Battle Ground Police Department.
“We were covered in mud,” Crouch said later. “Every time we’d take a step, we’d sink up to my knees. It was ugly.”
When captured at gunpoint in the water and handcuffed, the suspect was suffering from hypothermia, said Officer Ilia Botvinnik with the Vancouver Police Department. Paramedics warmed the suspect with blankets, which he was wearing when taken in the back of a patrol car from the parking lot of the Heathman Lodge, 7801 N.E. Greenwood Drive.
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Held up at gunpoint
At 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, the suspect allegedly used a gun to hold up employees at Arby’s Roast Beef Restaurant at 7117 N.E. Fourth Plain Blvd., near Andresen Road.
He allegedly ran north, to the north side of state Highway 500, and then fled east through the strip of marshes, brush and trees along the highway.
A large number of police officers converged on the area, and some arrived very quickly.
Witnesses initially said the robber, wearing a red-and-black plaid jacket, ran north toward the Shell station across Fourth Plain. As a result, 911 dispatchers immediately called car dealerships along Auto Mall Drive and the Target Store on nearby Vancouver Plaza Drive, asking employees to watch for the gunman.
Officers and state troopers took positions around the area, including north of Highway 500.
The robber was described as a white man about 25 years old and 5 feet 11 inches tall, with a medium build. He was unshaven and had a goatee. He wore a black hooded sweatshirt underneath a checkered coat, and blue jeans.
Several minutes after the holdup, an officer found a similar jacket discarded on Northeast 44th Street, north of Highway 500, according to preliminary reports.
Minutes later, an officer arrived at the Heathman and saw a man run into the woods.
“We definitely have a man crashing through the woods,” the officer radioed.
Crouch and Haulf drove east to cut the fugitive off, parked near Thurston Way and entered the swamp westbound, heading back toward the Heathman.
“It was tough for him (Haulf) to get through some of the marshy areas,” Crouch said. “It was definitely the toughest terrain we’ve had to go through.”
They spent about an hour going back and forth in the cold muck. Haulf is trained to look for disturbances in the terrain from a fleeing person as well as sniffing, and the air above the water provided good conditions.
“I’m sure (the suspect’s) odor was on top of that water,” Crouch said.
Standing in water
Suddenly, Haulf began pulling harder on his leash, and they saw the suspect submerged up to his shoulders.
As Crouch controlled his excited dog, Vancouver police Cpl. Duane Boynton, who was walking with the K-9 team, confronted the suspect at gunpoint.
“Once he saw us, he was compliant,” Crouch said.
Adam D. West was taken to the Clark County Jail, where he was being held without bail on suspicion of first-degree armed robbery Wednesday night. West also is being held for a previously issued felony warrant alleging he violated probation terms, Botvinnik said. Bail was not allowed.
The suspect had pointed a semiautomatic handgun at an employee during the Arby’s holdup; however, the gun wasn’t recovered when he was captured, said Officer Botvinnik with the Vancouver Police Department.
Police found an older white Toyota that doesn’t belong to West parked at the Heathman. They said it may be connected to the robbery, and that aspect was under investigation, as well as whether an accomplice was involved.
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As for Haulf, Crouch took him home to Battle Ground
for a much-needed bath. Both were back on duty Wednesday night.
As a reward for the German shepherd’s good work, “I think I’m going to slip something into his dinner tonight,” Crouch said.
Since Haulf has a sensitive stomach and is on a strict diet, it’ll probably be a commercial dog treat, Crouch said.
