Wy’east robbery suspect in court

A Vancouver man appeared Monday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of violently robbing an 18-year-old man on Vancouver’s Wy’east Middle School campus in the middle of the night.

Brian C. Mickel, 24, faces a charge of first-degree robbery. Judge Robert Lewis held him on $40,000 bail and appointed Vancouver attorney Gregg Schile to defend him. He is scheduled to be arraigned March 14.

Vancouver police were called at 1:22 a.m. Friday to the campus, 1112 S.E. 136th Ave., where they found the 18-year-old bleeding from the nose and mouth, according to a court affidavit.

The man told Vancouver police that he was with four other people at the middle school campus when a man attacked him from behind, the affidavit states.

“‘He put a rag or something over my mouth, and I could not breathe,'” the victim said, according to the affidavit. “‘I almost passed out, but then he started punching me in the face.'”

Mickel allegedly stole the young man’s wallet, containing $700, during the attack. A witness identified the attacker as Mickel, as did the 18-year-old when he was presented with a photo array at a local hospital emergency room, according to the affidavit.