A Vancouver man appeared in Clark County Superior Court on Monday on suspicion of robbing an east Vancouver convenience store and then ramming at least one police vehicle in order to evade police, prompting an hours-long search.
Judge David Gregerson held Thomas J. Keys III in lieu of $250,000 bail and appointed Vancouver attorney Heather Carroll to defend him.
Keys, 41, is scheduled to be arraigned Friday on charges of first-degree robbery, five counts of first-degree assault, first-degree possession of stolen property, attempt to elude, first-degree possession of a firearm, first-degree malicious mischief, hit-and-run injury and theft of a motor vehicle.
Officers responded to a call at 10:18 p.m. Thursday at the AM/PM convenience store at 2714 N.E. 112th Ave. They were told a man had threatened a clerk with a revolver and robbed the store of an undisclosed amount of cash.
The robber allegedly pointed the black revolver directly at the clerk and told him to hand over the cash or be killed, according to a court affidavit submitted by sheriff’s Detective Kevin Harper.
Officers obtained a description of the suspect’s getaway car, a Honda CRX, and learned it was reported stolen on Sept. 18, court documents say.
A few minutes later, Vancouver police officers Tim Lear and Missy Skeeter spotted the Honda in the 2400 block of Northeast 114th Court, which is a dead end road, and attempted to make a traffic stop.
Meanwhile, Vancouver police Officer Ryan Starbuck was getting out of his police vehicle with his police dog, Ivar, to assist when he saw the suspect driving directly toward him and Ivar.
“Officer Starbuck said he grabbed K-9 Ivar’s harness and was barely able to get out of the way before the suspect vehicle struck both the driver’s side door and driver’s side passenger door” of the police vehicle, Harper wrote.
Starbuck attempted to get back in his patrol car and pursue the suspect, but it was disabled. The air bag had deployed, and the doors were damaged, Harper wrote.
The suspect vehicle also drove directly at Skeeter and Officer Jamie Harke, missing Skeeter by about four feet, Harper wrote. Harke then fired shots at the vehicle, but the vehicle drove out of the area, police said.
Harke, 34, a patrol officer since March 2012, has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard department protocol after an officer-involved shooting, police announced Monday.
The vehicle pursuit ended when the stolen vehicle crashed into a tree in the 12400 block of Northeast 28th Street and its driver fled on foot, police said.
Officers from the Southwest Washington Regional SWAT team responded to assist with a search of the area, which included the area around Endeavour Elementary School and the Madison Park Apartments.
Police searched until about 2 a.m. but did not locate the suspect. They did put out a bulletin with Keys’ photograph and said he was a suspect.
Around 5:30 a.m. Friday, a different convenience store clerk called 911, saying that Keys had just been in his store and asked for change for the bus. The clerk recognized him from the morning TV news, said Sgt. Mike Chylack.
A patrol officer went to that convenience store, a Chevron at Northeast 18th Street and 162nd Avenue, and found Keys across the street at a C-Tran bus stop. He was taken into custody before he got on the bus, Chylack said.
Earlier that day, before the robbery, the Honda CRX was allegedly involved in an accident in the Sunnyside neighborhood. Josh Ramsey told police the Honda had crashed in his front yard at Northeast 105th Street and 94th Avenue. When Ramsey went to check on the driver, the driver drove over Ramsey’s left foot and sped south down Northeast 94th Avenue, which eventually turns into Northeast 112th Avenue.
Ramsey went to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center to have his foot treated and learned from an officer about the robbery that later occurred nearly four miles down the street.
Court records indicate Keys is homeless and has an extensive criminal history, including first-degree criminal impersonation earlier this year, taking a motor vehicle without permission, violating a no-contact order, burglary, forgery, domestic violence assault and attempted unlawful imprisonment.
Emily Gillespie contributed to this report.
