A third suspect has been identified in a case involving a group of men who allegedly lured a man to a Vancouver home before assaulting and robbing him.
Scott William Thomas, a 25-year-old transient, made a first appearance Monday on charges of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree robbery, second-degree theft and second-degree assault related to the Dec. 26 incident.
Raymond J. Femling, 31, and Jason E. Stinson, 31, were arrested shortly after the incident on suspicion of similar charges.
The men are all accused of helping lure the victim, James Braithwaite, to 2108 N.E. 40th Circle, a residence in the city’s Image neighborhood, because he was assumed to be “a snitch.”
Stinson invited Braithwaite to his residence, and when Braithwaite arrived, Femling and Thomas punched and kicked Braithwaite multiple times “because they thought he was a snitch,” Vancouver police Officer Adam Millard wrote in a probable cause affidavit.
After Raymond burned Braithwaite’s arm with a methamphetamine pipe, causing second degree burns, Stinson retrieved a pillowcase and a rope, and the men threatened to kill him, the officer wrote.
The suspects robbed Braithwaite of $2,600, all of his possessions and all of his clothing, the affidavit said.
Femling told Braithwaite that he would kill him if he “talked to anybody,” Millard wrote. Stinson then followed Braithwaite “to ensure he drove home and to keep him in fear,” Millard wrote.
Investigators recently learned that Thomas was a suspect in the case and interviewed him in the Clark County Jail on Feb. 27.
He was already in jail on suspicion of being involved in a high-speed hit-and-run vehicle crash in Battle Ground in early February.
Judge Scott Collier set Thomas’ bail at $215,000, increasing his existing bail by $200,000. Thomas is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges related to the Braithwaite case on March 13.
