Police search for wanted man in north Clark County

After spending hours looking for a handcuffed man who escaped police custody Thursday afternoon in Woodland, deputies came up empty-handed.

A deputy first attempted to pull over a man later identified as Cameron Peterson, 26, near Northeast Pup Creek Road and Glory Trail Road in north Clark County around 1:30 p.m. after noticing the motorcycle he was riding didn’t have a license plate, said Clark County sheriff’s Sgt. Fred Neiman.

Peterson drove up a driveway to a house off Glory Trail Road, where he stopped. When the name he gave the deputy turned out to be false and the motorcycle came up as stolen, the deputy took him into custody, handcuffed him and put him in the back of his patrol car, Neiman said.

The deputy talked with another man on the property, who apparently knew Peterson. He ran away as the deputy attempted to take him into custody for also providing a false name, Neiman said.

But while the deputy chased down the man and used his Taser to subdue him, a woman opened the rear door of the patrol car and unbuckled Peterson, who fled into the forest still wearing handcuffs, Neiman said.

The sheriff’s office called for assistance from Vancouver police and the U.S. Marshals Service, and notified nearby Green Mountain Elementary School that they were searching for Peterson.

As additional units arrived, the man who had been subdued by the deputy was identified as Bradley R. Sigmund, 35, of Longview. He was taken into custody on suspicion of resisting arrest, obstructing justice and attempted escape.

The woman, identified as Ashlyn J. Dodds, 22, of La Center, was taken into custody on suspicion of rendering criminal assistance. After police scoured the wooded area and exhausted two police dogs in an attempt to find Peterson, they called off the search.

Through further investigation, the sheriff’s office learned that Peterson is wanted on suspicion of second-degree assault and kidnapping.

“There’s a litany of charges that can be added, but we have to find him first,” Neiman said.

Peterson, who’s described as 5 feet 8 inches tall and 170 pounds with brown hair and hazel eyes, was last seen wearing a red sleeveless shirt, blue jeans and camouflage boots. He reportedly ran through his property and possibly got bit by a dog. Peterson’s whereabouts are unknown, and officials asked that anyone seeing Peterson or with knowledge of his location call 911.