A 32-year-old Vancouver man who threatened a police officer while holding an assault rifle was sentenced Thursday to nearly four years in prison.
Daniel J. Langu pleaded guilty Wednesday in Clark County Superior Court to amended charges of second-degree assault, felony bail jumping and felony harassment involving a threat to a law enforcement officer, court records show.
Langu was originally arrested on suspicion of first-degree assault in connection with the April 2016 confrontation. The bail-jumping charge was added to the case after he was released pending trial but stopped checking in weekly with a corrections officer in March 2017, according to court records.
Judge Suzan Clark handed down a 45-month sentence. Clark also imposed 18 months of community custody once Langu is released.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Vancouver police Officer Bennie Taylor was dispatched about 1:10 a.m. to the 9000 block of Northeast 54th Street for a noise complaint. Taylor drove through a housing complex and saw an open garage door with multiple people inside. He said he suspected they were the source of the complaint.
Taylor approached the group to talk and determined the noise wasn’t excessive. He was leaving the property when a man, identified as Langu, came from the back of the garage carrying an assault rifle, according to Vancouver police.
Langu told the officer to “get the (expletive) off my property. I’m going to shoot you,” the affidavit said. He locked the gun’s slide back, then forward, and positioned the weapon as if he was ready to shoot. Langu then said, “I just got back from Afghanistan. I’ll (expletive) shoot you right now,” court records state.
Langu’s wife confirmed that Langu had served in the special forces and had recently been in Afghanistan. She said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, which was later confirmed by a medical exam.
Court records show 18 months were added to Langu’s prison term due to a firearm enhancement. He is barred from owning firearms once he’s released because of his conviction.
