One of two people accused of driving a woman to Larch Mountain and then robbing and assaulting her appeared in court Monday.
Summer Elizabeth Long, 35, of Brush Prairie was arrested on Friday on suspicion of first-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping and intimidating a witness. A man accused of participating in the crime has a warrant out for his arrest but has not been found by Clark County Sheriff’s Office detectives. The Columbian is not publishing the man’s name because he is wanted by police.
A probable cause affidavit outlining investigators’ rationale behind the arrest was filed in Clark County Superior Court and gives this sequence of events:
The woman accepted a ride from Long and the man, both of whom she knew, on or around the afternoon of Aug. 24. Court documents do not say where she was going.
Long and the man, however, prolonged the ride, driving to the top of Larch Mountain despite the woman’s requests to be returned. They told the woman they were going to purchase narcotics.
Once at the top of the mountain, the two forcibly took the woman’s cellphone, assaulted her and accused her of being a police informant. They told her they had taken her to a secluded area so “nobody could hear her scream.”
The woman was able to flee and hide in the woods until daylight, when she walked 9.3 miles to a residence. She provided detectives with a description of the vehicle, which detectives matched to one seen at Long’s residence that was registered to Long’s current boyfriend.
While incarcerated on another matter, Long was interviewed by detectives. She said that she was often called upon to do a “man’s job.” When detectives asked what she meant, she replied: “Go drag a (expletive) up Larch Mountain, beat ’em up for being a rat.”
Detectives indicated in the document that they served search warrants on Long, the woman’s and the man’s phones and are continuing to review the records.
Judge John Nichols set Long’s bail at $75,000, which was posted Monday morning. The release agreement states that Long is ordered to have no contact with the alleged victim and the co-defendant.
“I don’t even know who he is,” Long said during the hearing.
Long is expected to formally face charges during an arraignment scheduled for Friday.
