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September a busy month for investigators

Shootings, car wrecks, Storro, Bittner cases stretch police resources

By Bob Albrecht
Published: October 17, 2010, 12:00am

A furious stretch of violent and tragic deaths — and near-deaths — in Clark County have turned to meticulous, enduring investigations.

In September alone, police shot and killed an Iraq War veteran during an early morning confrontation; the 3-year-old son of a Clark County Sheriff’s Deputy accidentally shot himself in the head with his dad’s weapon; and, separate crashes involving teenage drivers left one dead and another critically injured.

Last month, though, wasn’t an unsuccessful one for area law enforcement agencies; rather, it was especially busy. Among others, police have cracked the case of Bethany Storro’s claim she was attacked by a woman wielding a cup of acid and busted the crime ring of which former state House of Representatives candidate, Anthony Bittner, 18, was allegedly a member.

The close proximity of several attention-getting incidents strained the resources of area law enforcement agencies, which are conducting joint investigations into two September fatalities. That said, boiling the time all the investigations have taken down to a lack of resources, in some cases, is too simple.

Battle Ground Police Lt. Roy Butler is leading the investigation into the death of Ryan Owens, the 3-year-old who shot himself with his father’s gun at about 10 p.m. on Sept. 14 while both his parents were at home. His dad, Det. Ed Owens, has been with the sheriff’s department since 2004.

“We’re still actively working on it,” Butler said. “We’re still pursuing the forensics side of it. That takes time.”

The gun was not Owens’ service weapon, but a personal handgun. It remains unclear just how exactly Ryan Owens obtained it.

Also still under investigation is the circumstances that led Vancouver Police officers to shoot Nikkolas Lookabill, a 22-year-old member of the Oregon National Guard.

Police described Lookabill as “armed and threatening” and said he failed to follow commands when they responded to reports he’d been causing a disturbance. Lookabill was shot at about 3:30 a.m. Sept. 7 in the 3000 block of Fruit Valley Road, just north of West Fourth Plain Boulevard.

The Clark County Regional Crimes Team, which is made up of detectives from the sheriff’s office and the Vancouver Police Department, is investigating. The three officers involved in the shooting are on paid administrative leave.

“The case is still going on,” said Kim Kapp, a police department spokeswoman.

As for the traffic investigations, they’ve created a bit of a slowdown.

The police department’s traffic unit is investigating two serious crashes concurrently.

“There’s a lot of intricate investigative reconstruction that takes place,” Kapp said. “It’s not unusual for an investigation to take weeks.”

On Sept. 12, four teenagers were injured, one critically, in a 3:40 a.m. accident in the 17400 block of Southeast 25th Street.

Police described that accident as two couples on a double-date, and are investigating speed and alcohol use as the causes. Three of the teens were released from the hospital while the most seriously injured, Jon Allaire, a 17-year-old boy, has been moved from Southwest Washington Medical Center to Portland’s Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, where he’s undergoing physical therapy. The Columbian found an update on the boy’s condition on the online journal CaringBridge.org.

Vancouver police identified one of the teens as Klaus Stump, 18, but would not give the names of others.

On Sept. 28, Robert A. Gonzalez II, 15, died when the truck he was a passenger in rolled over on Southeast French Road, along the north side of state Highway 14 west of Ellsworth Road in Vancouver. The truck came to a rest on its top in the middle of the road.

Gonzalez and two others in the vehicle were 15 and unlicensed.

Police haven’t yet answered questions as to whether the driver has a learner’s permit to drive, who owns the truck, or how the boys obtained access to the truck before crashing.

Kapp said the traffic unit has been stretched by the investigations, as well as providing traffic patrol in school zones.

Additionally, the accidental death of a 23-month-old, struck Sept. 15 by a Clark Public Utilities pickup, required investigative resources, Kapp said. “Even though it was an accident,” Kapp said, “it still takes time.”

In each case: stay tuned.

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