A Camas man shot by a Clark County sheriff’s deputy in November, after investigators say he pointed a gun at officers, was arrested for allegedly violating a protection order Thursday night while out on bail.
Patrick Wetzel, 42, was booked into the Clark County Jail on suspicion of violating a protection order and resisting arrest. Camas police say they found him hiding in a large trash bin on the protected person’s property, according to a police news release.
Camas police officers responded at 10:18 p.m. to a protection order violation, triggered by a court-ordered electronic monitoring system, in the 2300 block of Northeast Everett Street, according to the news release.
Police found Wetzel’s vehicle in the driveway of his estranged wife’s house, before locating him in a nearby trash bin.
He refused to come out, police said, prompting officers to use a pepper-spray projectile and “minimal amount of physical force” to take him into custody, the news release states.
His estranged wife was unharmed inside the residence.
Wetzel was out on bail after law enforcement responded Nov. 13 to reports of gunshots coming from behind the Camas home. Camas police responded, hearing intermittent gunshots as they waited for more law enforcement officers to arrive.
A drone captured a man, later identified as Wetzel, on a unicycle leaving the property and heading toward a market down the street. Wetzel returned to the house on the unicycle a few minutes later, according to court records.
Wetzel began yelling at officers to get off his property, and he allegedly pointed a gun at officers inside an armored SWAT vehicle, court records state.
At some point, Wetzel got inside his car in the house’s driveway, and a deputy subsequently shot him, court records state.
Investigators said Wetzel’s behavior over the weeks leading up to the incident was erratic, including staging guns at entry points to the house and breaking into his own gun safe. Camas police said Wetzel was texting his estranged wife things like “next step corner and kill” and a picture of a gun saying it was “talking to him.” She said he also sent her messages threatening to die by police, according to court records.
Wetzel was charged with first-degree burglary with a deadly weapon; second-degree assault with a deadly weapon; second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm; protection order violation and third-degree malicious mischief resulting in physical damage less than $750, both domestic violence related; aiming or discharging a firearm; and resisting arrest.
Wetzel posted bond and was fitted with a court-ordered GPS monitor.
“There has been a high level of community concern after this subject was released on bail after the previous arrest when he fired several rounds from a firearm into the residential neighborhood. … I am relieved we were able to coordinate to make an arrest and maintain safety in the neighborhood,” Camas Police Chief Tina Jones said in the news release.
