Brad Lee Reeves made an initial appearance in Clark County Superior Court on Friday morning, more than a day after he prompted an intense hourslong search in which two Vancouver police officers fired their weapons.
Reeves, 30, was booked into the Clark County Jail early Thursday morning on an outstanding warrant, and on suspicion of two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of attempting to elude police and a single count of driving with a suspended license.
He appeared in court Friday on the new allegations and to face charges of failing to appear for older cases.
Judge Scott Collier called Reeves a danger to the community and set his bail at $1.7 million.
Senior Deputy Prosecutor James Smith said the cases will likely be combined into one. Smith noted that Reeves has no co-defendants, and that he is accused of carrying out numerous crimes with no help from others.
“Mr. Reeves has been able to elude law enforcement over a half-dozen times” over the years, Smith said. “He is an extraordinary flight risk and dangerous.”
Reeves said little else than “Yes, sir.” He will be arraigned April 20.
Here’s a rundown of what led to Reeves’ most recent arrest:
On March 29, Reeves fired five to six shots at a man who went to the end of Erwin O. Rieger Memorial Highway, near Vancouver Lake, to go off-roading. The victim was trying to report a suspicious circumstance; he saw a woman exit and then run back to a Kia sedan occupied by Reeves on the secluded road, according to a probable cause affidavit.
On Tuesday, Vancouver police tried to stop Reeves, who was driving a stolen white Ford F-250 pickup, but he fled down Interstate 5. Reeves rammed a pursuing patrol vehicle before the chase was called off near Jantzen Beach in Portland due to safety concerns.
The officer who wrote the probable cause affidavit, charging Reeves with first-degree assault for his actions during the pursuit, said Reeves could have avoided the police vehicle but chose not to.
The next day, police say Reeves was spotted driving another stolen pickup, a blue Ford F-350. He allegedly sped off and avoided arrest once more.
Those three incidents led up to the search overnight Wednesday in the Rose Village neighborhood.
Police were dispatched about 8:50 p.m. to the 2100 block of East 26th Street on a report of a suspicious vehicle, according to a Vancouver Police Department press release.
Arriving officers determined the vehicle had been stolen and Reeves was inside. As they approached, he ran into the neighborhood, police said.
Police and a SWAT team combed the neighborhood for hours before finding Reeves hiding in a yard several blocks away. Two officers fired their weapons at Reeves during the event. No one was injured.
The two officers were identified Friday afternoon as Katie Endresen, 26, and Christopher Simmons, 38. Both were placed on critical incident leave, standard procedure in officer-involved shootings. Endresen was hired by the Vancouver Police Department in December 2013. She is assigned to West Precinct Patrol and has a collateral duty assignment as a department firearms instructor, according to a police press release. Simmons was hired by the Vancouver Police Department in June 2017. He previously worked as a deputy for the Riverside County, Calif. Sheriff’s Office from August 2010 to June 2017. Simmons is assigned to East Precinct Patrol, the press release states.
The Regional Major Crimes Team is investigating the shooting.
Residents in the neighborhood said they were unable to enter or leave their homes for hours during the manhunt.
Reeves has convictions dating back more than a decade, some in other Washington counties. According to Smith, Reeves has 48 prior cases.
One of the more notable cases resulted in a conspiracy to commit arson conviction in Skamania County in 2007. Reeves was one of three people charged with starting a fire that destroyed the Stevenson Co-Ply mill west of Stevenson.
Reeves was 19 when he was charged in connection with the fire.
Reporter Jessica Prokop contributed to this story.
