A Washougal man is accused of participating in a home invasion in Camas where a 51-year-old man was held hostage in an attempt to force payment for a debt.
Court records say Nathan D. Benson, 35, was one of three suspects who entered a home in the 3400 block of Southeast Second Street Aug. 12 and held a resident against his will.
Benson is accused of threatening the resident with a machete and striking him in the face with the resident’s cellphone. The resident told police he was able to wrestle the machete away from Benson and scare away the assailants, court records say.
Benson appeared Tuesday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of second-degree assault, unlawful imprisonment, first-degree robbery and residential burglary.
Judge Suzan Clark held him in lieu of $100,000 bail and appointed Vancouver attorney Nick Wood to defend him.
He is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 29 on the charges.
According to court documents, Benson admitted to participating in the attack.
The resident owed money to two people named “Vince” and “Nicole Bryden,” who also are suspects in the case, court documents say.
“Vince” and “Nicole Bryden” allegedly forced the resident to the back of his bed and threatened and intimated him for about 90 minutes. Benson took a machete from the wall and threatened the resident with it, court documents say.
He “admitted to becoming frustrated” and throwing a cellphone at the resident’s face, causing minor injury, Camas police Officer Henry Scott wrote in a court affidavit.
The group decided to gather some of the resident’s belongings without his consent as payment for the debt, Scott wrote. They took a bag of DVDs and a laptop computer, court records say.
Court records indicate Benson has a substance abuse problem.
