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Man accused of brandishing gun appears in court

By Jessica Prokop, Columbian Local News Editor
Published: July 29, 2015, 5:00pm

A man who allegedly brandished a gun during a confrontation with a group of dirt bikers last weekend north of Washougal made a first appearance in Clark County Superior Court on Thursday.

Darrin K. Diegel, 47, appeared on suspicion of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the Sunday incident. Diegel was arrested Wednesday following an investigation by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

The incident was captured on video, which contains explicit language, and was posted to Facebook on Monday morning. The footage shows a man, later identified by police as Diegel, holding a pistol and warning the riders to leave his property Sunday afternoon. The riders said the man fired off several shots from a distance before approaching the group.

Police have not said whether the shots were targeted at anyone. No one was injured in the incident.

The video was recorded with a GoPro strapped to the top of one of the riders’ helmets. The footage shows Jered Parker of Vancouver riding his dirt bike on a trail near the Jones Creek off-road-vehicle area in the Yacolt Burn State Forest. Parker skids to a halt and dismounts his bike after hearing several quick pops, which he said were gunshots.

Diegel is then seen approaching the riders with a chrome-top pistol in hand, accusing Parker of trespassing and demanding that he and the others get off his property.

Parker quickly left and called police. In the call, Parker can be heard saying that he feared he’d be shot if he returned to his truck.

During his hearing, Judge Robert Lewis said Diegel does not qualify for a court-appointed attorney and must hire his own.

Deputy Prosecutor Rebecca Ward said Diegel does not have any known felony history. However, his bail was set at $100,000, based on the nature of the alleged crime.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 13.

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