The mother of a man shot by a Vancouver police officer during an altercation in Uptown Village appeared Monday in court on a drug allegation related to the incident.
Tavi Tovar, 39, of Vancouver appeared in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance. Detectives investigating the Feb. 25 officer-involved shooting — in which the suspect allegedly tried to run over the officer — later found suspected methamphetamine in Tovar’s purse. She was a passenger in the suspect’s vehicle.
Her son, 23-year-old Dominic Tovar, the driver, appeared in court last week on allegations of first-degree assault, first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, attempting to elude, possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver and hit-and-run injury.
He was shot multiple times by Vancouver police Officer Ken Suvada and suffered wounds to his right arm, right shoulder and the right side of his back. Suvada fired five shots through the back window of Tovar’s Crown Victoria as he backed into the officer’s leg, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Dominic Tovar was reportedly armed with a loaded .40 caliber handgun, but court records do not say whether he returned fire. Police later found the weapon in the waistband of his pants.
A warrant was issued for Tovar’s arrest after he failed to report to the Washington Department of Corrections in December. An off-duty corrections officer spotted Tovar about 11:15 a.m. Feb. 25 in a vehicle parked at Walgreens, 2521 Main St. The officer requested assistance, and Suvada, who was on patrol, responded, the affidavit states.
When Suvada tried to contact Tovar in the vehicle, Tovar ignored his commands to shut off the vehicle and instead backed into the officer. That’s when Suvada took out his handgun and shot through the back window, court records said. Suvada, who jumped out of the backing vehicle’s way, was not seriously injured.
The vehicle sped off but crashed into a silver Pontiac Grand Am near the intersection of East 16th Street and Broadway, according to court documents. Tovar’s vehicle also struck the Not Too Shabby boutique, a business at the corner, police said.
Tovar and his mother ran from the crash scene and were taken into custody near the intersection of East 15th and C streets. In addition to the handgun, police also found a dozen oxycodone pills in Tovar’s jacket pocket, the affidavit states. He allegedly told police he was in the store parking lot to sell the pills, court records said.
Police obtained a search warrant for Tavi Tovar’s purse and found a glass pipe with white residue. The substance field-tested positive for methamphetamine, according to a separate probable cause affidavit.
Court records show that Tavi Tovar was appointed an attorney Monday, and her bail was set at $5,000. She will be arraigned March 17.
