A second suspect was arrested early Sunday morning for his alleged involvement in a burglary on Christmas Eve at an Amboy home that ended in a shootout with the homeowner. No one was injured in the shootout.
At about 6 a.m. Sunday, Clark County sheriff’s deputies and members of the Southwest Washington Regional SWAT Team searched a home at 10617 N.E. 11th St. in east Vancouver, according to a news release from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office. At the home, they arrested Brandon W. March, a 32-year-old transient, on suspicion of attempted murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary and first-degree theft.
On the afternoon of Dec. 24, police were called to the 37000 block of Northeast 216th Avenue in Amboy to respond to a confrontation between burglars and homeowner Thomas Schenk.
Schenk, a retired U.S. Customs senior special agent, returned to the residence at 1:45 p.m. and noticed that the garage door was unlocked. Inside the house, it appeared as if the home had been ransacked. Schenk drew his concealed handgun from its holster and walked through the kitchen to the living room.
As he turned the corner, he saw an unknown man loading a bag with Schenk’s belongings, according to court documents regarding the alleged burglary. Schenk confronted the man, and gunfire was exchanged, according to court documents.
Schenk then backed out of the house and took cover behind a woodpile to call 911. The burglars fled, according to police.
Sheriff’s deputies used a police dog to track one suspect back to a pickup truck, which they then traced back to Brian J. Slay, 32, of Woodland.
Late last month, police arrested Slay on suspicion of first-degree attempted murder, first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm.
They also arrested Slay’s girlfriend, Rachelle Ward, on suspicion of first-degree rendering criminal assistance. She is accused of concealing the identity of a second suspect in the burglary from investigators, according to court documents.
It was unclear on Sunday whether the charges Slay faces would change in light of March’s arrest.
“Information had been developed which led investigators to Brandon March as the suspect who had tried to kill a homeowner during the original burglary,” according to the news release sent out Sunday by the sheriff’s office.
Slay and Ward have arraignment hearings scheduled for Friday in Clark County Superior Court. March is expected to appear in court Monday.
On Sunday morning, deputies also arrested a woman at the east Vancouver home they searched. Kristine K. Nelson, 25, was arrested on a misdemeanor warrant that was not related to the burglary, according to the sheriff’s office.
