A Clark County Sheriff’s deputy checking on a stolen car was dragged through a Wal-Mart parking lot Sunday night at the start of a police chase through Vancouver, court records say.
Around 9:45 that night, Deputy Thomas Maxfield found a Honda Accord, which had been reported stolen, in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart at 14500 N.E. Fourth Plain Blvd., according to a probable cause declaration filed in Clark County Superior Court.
Maxfield approached the car on foot and watched as another man, Aaron Michael Smith, 36, also started walking to the car, according to court records. Smith got inside, and Maxfield told him three times to stop, the court records said.
Smith started the car, and Maxfield tried to open the driver-side door. Smith pulled back, catching Maxfield’s arm in the door, court records said.
Maxfield continued telling Smith to stop and struck Smith with his flashlight several times, but Smith kept driving, court records said. Deputies said Smith continued to accelerate and dragged Maxfield along for about 35 feet until the deputy was able to dislodge himself and get away, according to court records.
Law enforcement pursued the Honda onto Fourth Plain Boulevard. Smith drove into incoming traffic and ran several red lights as sheriff’s deputies and Vancouver police officers gave chase, according to court records.
Police followed Smith into the Cascade Park area. A Vancouver police officer rammed Smith’s car around Southeast 15th Street and 104th Avenue. Officers tried ramming the fleeing vehicle twice to stop it and ultimately forced Smith to crash around Southeast 104th and St. Helens avenues, according to court records.
After Smith was ordered to raise his hands, officers said, they saw him “reaching down quickly and repeatedly to an area between the seats,” and they saw ammunition strewn about the car, according to court records.
A sheriff’s deputy deployed police dog Jango into the car, where he bit Smith. Smith was then pulled from the car though the passenger side window. After Smith resisted for a time, officers placed him in handcuffs, and brought him to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center for his injuries, court records said.
According to court records, Smith, after he was informed of his rights, told a deputy he was “high as hell” and had used methamphetamine, alcohol and marijuana that day.
Smith was being held on $250,000 bail on suspicion of first-degree assault, attempting to elude officers, possession of a stolen vehicle, resisting arrest and a community custody violation.
His arraignment hearing is scheduled for July 22.
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Correction appended: This article originally misstated Smith’s age.
