The Longview man accused of pistol-whipping his ex-girlfriend and possibly firing at Cowlitz County sheriff’s deputies early Monday morning has a long criminal record sheet that includes several allegedly racially motivated attacks on black men.
Brent Ward Luyster’s 32-year-old ex-girlfriend called police at 3 am. Monday to report that she’d awakened to Luyster hitting her in the head and face with a pistol at his house at 123 Solo Drive. According to the woman, he grabbed her hair and dragged her down the hallway.
Deputies found her bleeding from the head. She was treated and released from St. John Medical Center.
When they approached Luyster’s house, deputies heard shots fired from the woods nearby and believed Luyster was shooting at them, according to a press release. He eventually surrendered.
According to archives of The Columbian, Luyster has been involved in a drive-by shooting and taking a motor vehicle without permission. He’s been convicted of assault, malicious harassment, malicious mischief and theft.
In 2001, Luyster and his brother Robert A. Luyster punched, kicked and beat a 45-year-old black man from Vancouver with boards. Police called the crime racially motivated.
In 2005, Luyster and two other men were accused of yelling racial slurs at a black man before a fight ensued among two of the men. The victim was shot in the leg by one of the men with Luyster.
Luyster pleaded guilty in October 2014 for rioting with a weapon after he was accused of racially motivated threats at a Vancouver tavern in March 2013. He allegedly threatened to kill an interracial couple cuddling at the tavern and threatened another black man with a pistol outside the bar. He got 90 days in jail.
The Anti-Defamation League, which combats anti-Semitism and other bigotry, identified Luyster and his brother Robert as white supremacists.
Luyster is lodged in the Cowlitz County Jail on suspicion of second-degree assault, nine counts of unlawful possession of firearms and reckless endangerment, all felonies. His bail is set at $150,000.
His arraignment is scheduled for 9 a.m. May 24.
