Man exonerated in Superior Court in hit-and-run

A man who served jail time for crashing a stolen pickup into the front door of a Camas house last year and fleeing the scene has been exonerated in Clark County Superior Court in a separate hit-and-run case.

Shayn M. Kaz, 28, of Vancouver faced allegations of second-degree malicious mischief, third-degree driving with a suspended or revoked license and hit-and-run stemming from the May 31 crash in Washougal.

According to Clark County Deputy Prosecutor Mike Vaughn, the case was referred to the Washougal City Attorney’s Office for review because there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prove damage to the vehicle rose to the felony threshold. To be charged with felony malicious mischief, damage must exceed $750.

Washougal police were dispatched to a residence at 3380 K St. for a report of a hit-and-run with a vehicle. When police arrived, they observed extensive front-end damage to a GMC sport-utility vehicle, court records show. The owner of the damaged vehicle, Jodie La Fleur, told police that Kaz purposely drove his Dodge Durango into her SUV while she was inside it, according to a probable cause affidavit.

La Fleur said Kaz became angry when she threatened to call police on him, because she believed the vehicle he was driving was stolen. He rammed her vehicle in an attempt to move it out of his way, the affidavit said. A second witness corroborated La Fleur’s statement to police.

The Dodge Durango is registered to Kaz, court records said.

Kaz admitted to police that he was involved in a collision but said he was only trying to leave and La Fleur drove into him, court records said.

In August, he was sentenced to six months in jail for last year’s crash after pleading guilty to hit-and-run, driving under the influence and first-degree malicious mischief. In that case, he crashed a Nissan pickup into the front door of a house in Camas and ran from the scene.