Man in court in theft of security guard’s vehicle at Vancouver Walmart

A 20-year-old Beaverton, Ore., man is accused of stealing a security guard’s vehicle while fleeing the scene of an alleged shoplifting in June 2018 at a Vancouver Walmart.

Brandon David Rivera Castro made a first appearance Friday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree robbery and vehicle theft. Castro was recently transferred to the Clark County Jail from the Snake River Correctional Institution in Oregon, where he is being held on a nearly six-year prison sentence for a second-degree robbery conviction.

Judge Bernard Veljacic did not set bail in Castro’s case because the defendant is already incarcerated elsewhere. An arraignment hearing was set for July 26.

The alleged robbery and car theft in Vancouver happened June 4, 2018. Vancouver police were dispatched to Walmart at 221 N.E. 104th Ave., for a report of a woman who tried to steal alcohol, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

The woman, Marisela Calderon, grabbed several bottles and ran to a vehicle with Oregon license plates in the parking lot. The driver backed up into a Securitas vehicle, which was pushed into another vehicle, the affidavit states.

The security guard “attempted to contact the male driver who then assaulted him, and (he) fell to the ground. The suspect then stole the Securitas security vehicle and drove away from the scene,” the affidavit says.

Court records do not say whether the stolen vehicle was recovered.

A Beaverton Police Department detective reached out to Vancouver police with information about the driver’s identity. The affidavit says Calderon, who is also imprisoned in Oregon, was interviewed, and she admitted their involvement.

Castro was subsequently interviewed and admitted to being the driver of the getaway vehicle, according to the affidavit.