A Portland man was sentenced Monday to 12 years in prison for shooting at his girlfriend of 11 years and two of her friends at a Vancouver apartment May 31. He reportedly shot at her because he suspected she was cheating on him. He drove another girlfriend’s car to the crime scene.
In an agreement with prosecutors, McQuay Postol, 31, pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court on Monday to first-degree assault — domestic violence — with a deadly weapon.
Postol’s attorney, Bob Yoseph, negotiated the deal with Deputy Prosecutor Dustin Richardson. It included dismissing charges of two counts of first-degree attempted murder, two counts of first-degree assault and one count of first-degree assault of a child.
If convicted of attempted murder, Postol could have faced more than 25 years in prison.
In addition to his prison term, Postol will be required to serve three years on community supervision.
Postol and his 31-year-old girlfriend, who lives in Portland, had argued throughout the day about accusations that she was cheating on him, according to a court affidavit by Vancouver police Officer Sandra Aldridge.
He dropped her off at a friend’s apartment near downtown, but returned that night, shouting at her from the apartment’s parking lot to come outside, the affidavit says. In addition to Postol’s girlfriend, the apartment was occupied by another woman, that woman’s boyfriend and their toddler son.
When the shouting started, the man in the apartment went to the door and attempted to calm Postol. But Postol pulled out a firearm, according to court records. Afraid he would be shot, the man ran inside the apartment, where the two women and the toddler were. They heard two gunshots and dropped to the floor, Aldridge wrote. They then heard Postol drive away in a 2003 Ford Crown Victoria belonging to Postol’s other girlfriend.
Court records indicate that Postol and the victim have a child together.
Postol’s only previous criminal history was methamphetamine possession in 2013, according to court records.
