PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The deputy-involved shooting of a 30-year-old man in Hazel Dell on February 4 began with a 911 call from a resident in the area complaining about a “drug house” and a “constant barrage of issues” in the neighborhood, the Vancouver Police Department said late Wednesday afternoon.
Vancouver Police is the lead agency investigating the shooting involving 3 Clark County deputies that left Jenoah Donald on life support.
In a narrative, investigators laid out this sequence of events that include Deputy Sean Boyle, Deputy Holly Troupe and Deputy Greg Agar:
The 911 call came in around 7:37 p.m. about suspicious vehicles circling the area in the 6500 block of NW Jordan Way.
All 3 deputies began responding. Boyle spotted a bronze Mercedes with a modified exhaust and a defective rear light. He pulled the Mercedes over near NE 2nd and 68th.
Donald was driving the Mercedes but couldn’t show insurance or registation to Boyle. Troupe arrived and went to the passenger side of the Mercedes and spotted a “‘ball-handled” object with a three to four inch sharpened ‘stake’ on the end” near the center console.
Troupe told Donald to keep his hands visible, but instead he put his hands out of view and brought out a cell phone and pair of pliers.
Boyle, who had been checking Donald’s record, got out of his patrol car and noticed Agar had also arrived at the scene. As Troupe moved around the back of the car, Boyle opened the door of the Mercedes and told Donald to get out. But he didn’t.
Troupe tried to get Donald out but he resisted and began to struggle, then she tried to gain “pain compliance,” to no effect.
Boyle kept struggling with Donald and used his fist to hit Donald in the nose — again to no effect. That’s when Donald began pulling on Boyle’s ballistic vest and into the Mercedes.
Donald’s right hand was free and Boyle’s left hand was free but on the floorboard of the car. Boyle ordered him to let go, but Donald didn’t.
Donald restarted the car, revved the engine and got the wheels spinning. Boyle — who is left-handed — felt the car began to move. He pulled out his gun, told Donald to stop or he would shoot. Troupe, who was still involved in the struggle, feared for her life and for Boyle’s.
Donald did not let go and Boyle fired twice. One hit Donald. Boyle was able to push away from Donald as the car moved to a neighboring yard and hit a fence.
All 3 deputies went to the car, pulled Donald out, began rendering aid and called for an ambulance. He was rushed to the hospital, where he remains at this time.
A search warrant for the Mercedes is signed and will be completed within days. The investigation by the SW Washington Independent Investigative Response Team, led by the Vancouver Police Department, will continue.