Four men accused of first-degree assault in connection to a road-rage incident in Vancouver made their first appearance Monday morning in Clark County Superior Court.
Judge Rich Melnick set bail at $75,000 for defendants Fredrick R. Bolds, 17, Kenneth G. Kirkland, 21, and Tylor M. Myers, 18, all of Vancouver. Bail was set at $100,000 for suspected shooter Ted W. Washington, 17, a transient.
The two juveniles, Bolds and Washington, were automatically remanded to adult court because first-degree assault is a violent offense.
The four men were arrested early Friday morning after the driver of another car, Raymond Grendahl, reported to police that the rear passenger of a white Ford Explorer fired five to eight shots at his car. No one was hurt.
Incident described
Grendahl said the shooting came after he was cut off by the Explorer in the area of East 18th Street and Stapleton Road. Police said Grendahl and the occupants of the other car exchanged words, and Grendahl or a passenger in his vehicle “threw or struck, possibly a glass bottle or bat, at the windshield of the Explorer and drove off,” according to court documents.
However, Grendahl denies damaging the other car and said something was thrown at him.
Grendahl said he drove off and thought the confrontation was over. But, he said, he later noticed the car following him in the same area. That’s when the alleged shooting occurred, according to court documents.
Grendahl called 911 and dispatchers traced the Explorer’s license plate to an apartment at the Cedar Ridge Apartment Complex in the 4200 block of East 18th Street. Responding officers called Kirkland, Bolds and Myers out of the apartment. All three men said Washington was the shooter and had used a blue steel semiautomatic handgun, according to court documents. Washington later surrendered to police.
All four defendants will be arraigned Aug. 31.
Laura McVicker: www.twitter.com/col_courts; www.facebook.com/reportermcvicker; laura.mcvicker@columbian.com; 360-735-4516.
