The Vancouver Police Department is asking the public to watch out for a pistol investigators think a suspect tossed from his vehicle during a Sunday night pursuit that started with him allegedly dragging a deputy beside his car.
On Sunday night, a Clark County sheriff’s deputy located an occupied stolen car in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart at 14500 N.E. Fourth Plain Blvd., according to police.
The suspect inside fled — dragging the responding deputy about 35 feet through the parking lot, according to court records — and headed to Vancouver, police said.
After police drove him off the road, Aaron Michael Smith, 36, was stopped and arrested near Southeast 104th Avenue and St. Helens Avenue, police said.
Smith faces allegations of theft of a motor vehicle, second-degree theft, first-degree possession of stolen property, attempting to elude police and third-degree driving with a suspended or revoked license, court records said.
Police said detectives searched the vehicle and found a .40-caliber magazine and several .40-caliber rounds. Investigators think the suspect may have thrown a .40-caliber pistol from the vehicle during the pursuit, which stretched across parts of the county near the northeast edge of the city of limits and on through sections of northeast Vancouver.
The vehicle pulled away from pursuing officers several times during the incident, police said, obscuring the route.
The department asked anyone who comes across a firearm while out and about to call 911.
