In what will effectively be life sentences, two Portland men were each given 62 years and four months in prison Friday for trying to kill a Vancouver police sergeant following a home-invasion robbery.
Clark County Superior Court Judge Robert Lewis gave Daylan E. Berg, 24, and Jeffery S. Reed, 29, an exceptional sentence of 748 months in prison, taking into account that the victim was Vancouver police Sgt. Jay Alie, an officer just doing his job, when he stopped their fleeing car April 13, 2009.
“Mr. Berg and Mr. Reed made a conscious and deliberate decision” to shoot Alie, “so they could make a getaway,” Lewis said. “The circumstances under which Sgt. Alie was put in peril” are “incomprehensible.”
The judge called the men — who didn’t appear fazed about the punishment and were laughing and smirking — “equally culpable.”
Alie was wearing a ballistic vest and was only mildly injured when he was shot once in the chest in Vancouver’s McLoughlin Heights area.
On June 1, the two were convicted by a panel of eight men and four women of first-degree attempted murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, first-degree kidnapping and intimidating a witness.
Three of the charges came with five-year firearm enhancements. The jurors also returned a special finding that since the victim was a law enforcement officer, the judge could impose a sentence higher than the sentencing range.
In arguing for a sentence longer than the 40 years requested by the defense, Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Denny Hunter implored the judge to use the punishment as a deterrent to others who commit violence against police officers.
Police “are the last line of defense between civil society and criminal elements,” Hunter said. “Send a clear, loud message: ‘Don’t do it. It’s absolutely not worth it.’”
“In its own way,” a longer sentence “protects those who have protected us,” he added.
Reed’s attorney, Mike Foister, disagreed with Hunter’s argument. “I don’t think people on the street reflect on anything,” he said. “That’s just part of the human nature we deal with.”
When it was his turn to speak, Alie struck the same tone as Hunter, saying he didn’t want to case to be about him, but about all officers who daily put their lives in danger.
“I have no need for vengeance,” Alie said, pausing to control his emotions. “I’m just asking that the community give the same level of commitment to its police officers as I gave that night.”
That night, Alie had responded to a report of a robbery on Delaware Lane. The men had targeted a home after they learned the resident, Albert Watts, was growing medical marijuana for a back disability. They kicked in the door of the garage and ordered Watts to the ground with a .40-caliber pistol. Then, they fled.
In the area, Alie saw a white Kia Spectra — which matched the description of the suspects’ vehicle — whiz past. He followed, stopping their car on Carolina Lane.
When he approached the Spectra, the driver, Reed, lunged forward as Berg, seated in the front seat, turned and pointed a semiautomatic pistol and fired one round at the officer, jurors heard at trial. The bullet hit his ballistic vest.
Alie said they’d chosen a dangerous lifestyle and simply had made a desperate choice. He was matter-of-fact about what happened to him.
“When we accept the badge, we accept the risk.”
Laura McVicker: 360-735-4516 or laura.mcvicker@columbian.com.
