UPDATE: The Clark County Superior Court case was dismissed without prejudice in February 2017, because Matthew Raney instead pleaded guilty and was sentenced in juvenile court.
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A 16-year-old transient boy appeared Tuesday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree robbery for allegedly brandishing a knife during a shoplifting incident at a Vancouver Walgreens on Friday night.
Matthew D. Raney was in Superior Court due to the boy’s age and the nature of the allegation.
Vancouver police responded shortly before 6:30 p.m. to the Walgreens at 6105 N.E. 114th Ave., for a report of a robbery during which a shoplifter displayed a folding knife and slashed it toward the store manager, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Officers with the Vancouver Police Department and Clark County Sheriff’s Office located the suspect, later identified as Raney, near the 10800 block of Northeast 67th Street, based on the camouflage pants he was wearing, the affidavit states.
The manager told officers that he saw the teen enter and leave the store several times in the last few days and earlier that day, while the anti-shoplifting sensor went off. The manager said he believed Raney had stolen from the store in the past, so he began watching him, court records said.
He said he saw Raney grab a bottle of liquor off the shelf and head toward the exit. He stepped in between Raney and the exit to confront him, but Raney pulled out the knife and began stabbing and slicing at the air. The manager was worried for his safety, he said, so he moved out of the way, and Raney left the store with the unpaid merchandise, according to court documents.
On Tuesday, Judge Gregory Gonzales appointed Raney an attorney and set his bail at $20,000. He will be arraigned Jan. 13.
