A Vancouver woman appeared in Clark County Superior Court on Monday on first-degree robbery allegations.
On the evening of Feb. 20, Tashawna S. Thomas, 21, allegedly approached a woman walking in the Rose Village area and sprayed her face with pepper spray, according to documents filed in Superior Court. The woman dropped her purse and cellphone; Thomas picked up the cellphone and began to walk away. When the victim called after Thomas, saying that she would go to jail for the attack, Thomas came back and struck the woman several times in the head, according to court documents. She then picked up the victim’s white purse and walked away.
Vancouver police Officer Sean Dumas went to the victim’s house to interview her. The woman had a red face, red watery eyes, a swollen nose and was holding a towel to her face, Dumas said. She told him she couldn’t fight back because her eyes were burning, so she covered up her face to block the punches. It felt as though she was being hit with an object — possibly the can of pepper spray, according to court documents.
Dumas then interviewed Thomas, who denied the entire incident but acknowledged that she had been walking in the area. When asked if her fingerprints were on the can of pepper spray that Dumas found in the street where the incident allegedly occurred, she allegedly said “I don’t know.”
