A judge on Thursday agreed to hold a Camas man without bail after he was rearrested last week for allegedly violating a court order directing him not to return to his estranged wife’s house.
Patrick Wetzel, 42, is charged in Clark County Superior Court with first-degree burglary, second-degree assault, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, protection order violation, third-degree malicious mischief, aiming or discharging a firearm and resisting arrest. Deputy Prosecutor Anna Joy told the judge she is doing more research before filing new charges but that she will likely add charges of resisting arrest and violating a no-contact order.
Judge Christine Hayes said that while the new charges may be low-level offenses, Wetzel has shown that court-ordered protections, such as GPS monitoring and a no-contact order, have not been enough to ensure the community’s safety.
“I cannot find that bail continues to be appropriate,” Hayes said.
Wetzel was out on bail after law enforcement responded Nov. 13 to reports of gunshots coming from behind the Camas home in the 2300 block of Northeast Everett Street. Camas police responded, hearing intermittent gunshots as they waited for more law enforcement officers to arrive.
Wetzel began yelling at officers to get off his property. At some point, Wetzel got inside his car in the house’s driveway, and he allegedly pointed a gun at officers inside an armored SWAT vehicle, court records state. A Clark County sheriff’s deputy subsequently shot him.
In Joy’s motion to hold Wetzel without bail, she noted that investigators recovered shell casings Wetzel allegedly fired Nov. 13 that traveled beyond the Wetzel property, including bullets embedded in two vehicles.
One of the vehicles that had been struck was parked in front of the nearby Camas Montessori School, which has 75 students. In an email to the prosecutor, a school employee said the casing was found feet away from the school’s nap room, and some parents were so worried for their children’s safety they were keeping them home.
The judge said when she previously set Wetzel’s bail at $500,000, she did not have the information about the gunshots traveling beyond the property, endangering the densely populated neighborhood.
Camas police officers again responded to the house at 10:18 p.m. Feb. 27 for a protection order violation, triggered by the GPS monitor with which Wetzel was fitted after he posted bail, according to a police news release.
Police found Wetzel’s vehicle in the driveway of his estranged wife’s house, before locating him in a nearby recycling 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.
Once officers had Wetzel in handcuffs, they said he went limp, and police had to carry him to the patrol car and from the car into the Clark County Jail, court records state.
His estranged wife was unharmed inside the residence.
Wetzel’s attorney, Rene Alsept, said during Thursday’s hearing that Wetzel hid in the recycling bin because he was afraid of police shooting him again. She said Wetzel has told her he feels he’s been treated unfairly.
Wetzel’s estranged wife told the judge she is not afraid of Wetzel and does not feel threatened by him.
