A Vancouver man was sentenced Thursday to nine months in jail in connection with an assault on family members and subsequent 15-hour standoff with police on Oct. 17. During the incident, he held his 7-year-old grandson inside the garage at his home.
In an agreement with prosecutors, Michael D. Wright Sr., 46, pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court on Thursday to third-degree assault, two counts of unlawful imprisonment, obstructing a law enforcement officer and fourth-degree assault domestic violence.
In exchange, Deputy Prosecutor John Farra dismissed several other charges. If Wright had been convicted of the original charges at trial, he would have faced up to seven years in prison, said Wright’s attorney, Jeff Barrar.
Farra said the Oct. 17 confrontation between Wright and his family — and later between Wright and police — was prompted by allegations that someone had sexually abused children in his family.
“The defendant felt that wasn’t being properly addressed,” Farra told Judge Scott Collier.
“The state took all of this into consideration in how we resolved this case,” Farra added.
In addition to jail time, Wright is required to undergo mental health and anger control treatment. Collier said that until Wright finishes his jail sentence and enrolls and participates in those treatment programs, he will not be allowed to see his wife, who was assaulted during the confrontation.
“I want to go home and try to make things better,” Wright said Thursday. “I love my wife and family.
The standoff between Wright and law enforcement began at 5:15 p.m. Oct. 17 and ended at about 8 a.m. Oct. 18. Vancouver police said Wright and his grandson were holed up in the garage at Wright’s ranch-style home in the 3700 block of Northeast 143rd Avenue, in Vancouver’s Parkside neighborhood.
Police said they were contacted at 5 p.m. Oct. 17 by a woman who came to the police station to say Wright had threatened and assaulted family members earlier in the day. She said he was not allowing them to leave the home.
Wright allegedly struck his wife, Tina Trevino, in the side of her head and chest, leaving a mark on the left side of her face under her eye. He also slapped their daughter and held a knife to her throat, according to a court affidavit by Vancouver police Officer Missy Skeeter.
He told the daughter that “if something happened to him, she would be the first to die,” Skeeter wrote.
After the woman visited the precinct station, patrol officers responded to the residence north of Evergreen High School. They were able to make verbal contact with Wright, who refused to come out and talk with officers. Instead, he remained in his garage along with the grandson, whom he would not release, and the family’s three pit bulls, according to court documents.
A patrol officer summoned the Southwest Washington Regional SWAT team, which surrounded the property, and the standoff continued all night before Wright eventually surrendered.
More than 30 officers were reported to be involved, including officers from Portland.
The boy and the dogs were not harmed, police said.
