Oregon man gets 26 years for shooting at Clark County sheriff’s deputy

An Oregon man was sentenced Monday to more than 26 years in prison for shooting at a pursuing Clark County sheriff’s deputy in March 2022 while fleeing the scene of a robbery at a Hazel Dell store.

In January, a Clark County Superior Court jury found Joshua Tyler Young, 33, of St. Helens, Ore., guilty of second-degree assault, drive-by shooting, first-degree robbery, attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen vehicle. The jury also found the aggravating factors that the victim of the assault was a law enforcement officer, and Young used a firearm in commission of the crimes, court records show.

Judge John Fairgrieve ordered the 321-month sentence, which was at the top of the standard sentencing range. Fairgrieve also sentenced Young to 22 months on a 2021 case in which a jury convicted him of second-degree malicious mischief, court records indicate. The sentences will run concurrently.

Deputies were dispatched at about 5:40 p.m. March 19, 2022, for a reported robbery at Kohl’s, 9312 N.E. Fifth Ave. While en route, deputies learned two men, later identified as Young and Rashawn Laray Anderson, 41, of Portland, had taken merchandise, including shoes and clothing, from the store, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Kohl’s employees tried to stop the two, but Young told one employee that if he came any closer, Young would pull out a gun, the affidavit says. No employees saw a gun.

Young and Anderson ran from the store to a black Ford F-150 pickup in the parking lot. Investigators said they later learned the pickup was stolen. Young got into the driver’s seat, and Anderson got into the front passenger’s seat. There was also a 30-year-old woman already inside the pickup, court records state.

As the suspects fled, Deputy Greg Agar pulled behind the pickup. Young sped away, driving through red lights and stop signs and reaching speeds up to 130 mph. Agar pursued the pickup with his emergency lights and sirens on, the affidavit says. The pursuit went into Vancouver and made its way to the area of East 33rd Street and Fairmount Avenue in the Fourth Plain Village neighborhood.

During the pursuit, Agar said, he heard two gunshots come from the pickup, but he didn’t see anything, according to the affidavit. He was not wounded.

Young crashed the pickup a few blocks from there, near 33rd Street and Watson Avenue. All of the occupants were taken into custody and then Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center for treatment.

Vancouver police secured the area and located two 9 mm shell casings and a Smith & Wesson 9 mm pistol, court records state.

The woman told investigators that as Young sped away from the pursuing deputy, he pulled out a gun. Anderson told Young not to shoot, the woman said, but Young started shooting at the deputy. She said he fired two or three times and then threw the gun out the driver’s window, court records state.

Anderson is charged with second-degree robbery and third-degree retail theft with special circumstances. Court records state at an April hearing the prosecutor and defense attorney were working on an agreement in his case, and they agreed to place Anderson on supervised release.

Anderson failed to appear at his readiness hearing in January, and court records show he was in custody in an Oregon prison. A judge issued a bench warrant for him with a no-bail hold.