Two people were taken into custody Thursday after a driver allegedly tried to run over a Clark County sheriff's deputy. The deputy fired one shot during the incident and major crimes detectives are investigating. (Clark County Sheriff's Office)
The driver and passenger who allegedly tried to hit a deputy with their vehicle were identified as a Vancouver man and Battle Ground woman. The deputy involved fired his weapon during the incident, prompting an officer-involved shooting investigation.
The driver, Drew Patrick Lodahl, 30, of Vancouver, and passenger, Alena Timonen, 30, of Battle Ground, were identified Friday by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office as the pair arrested for the incident on Sunset Falls Road on Thursday morning.
A deputy spotted a suspicious vehicle parked in a turnout in the 33800 block of Northeast Sunset Falls Road at about 9:30 a.m. and made contact with the two occupants inside.
The driver ignored the deputy’s commands, put the car in gear and tried to hit the deputy with his car, the sheriff’s office said. The agency said that the deputy fired one shot from his service handgun during the altercation.
The driver fled in the vehicle heading east toward Sunset Falls Campground, and deputies swarmed the area to search. About 90 minutes later, the car was spotted heading west on the road before it crashed into a westbound commercial flatbed truck, the sheriff’s office said.
A deputy maneuvered behind the suspect vehicle, pinning it in, according to the sheriff’s office. No one was injured in the incident.
Lodahl and Timonen were taken into custody for outstanding warrants and have not yet been charged in Thursday’s incident.
Cmdr. Rusty Warren said charges have not been filed because the deputy involved in the shooting has not been interviewed. It is standard in law enforcement officials to wait a few days after an officer-involved shooting to interview the involved officer or deputy to let them decompress, Warren said.
That deputy, whose name has not been released, was placed on critical incident leave, a standard practice after officer-involved shootings.
Detectives with the sheriff’s office major crimes unit are continuing the investigation into the incident.
