Police closed Leverich Park in Vancouver for about an hour Sunday afternoon to search for a man who allegedly choked his girlfriend and pointed a gun at a bystander.
The Vancouver Police Department was dispatched at about 2:30 p.m. to the park, which is just east of Interstate 5 and north of East 39th Street. A man told police that he tried to intervene when he saw another man choking a woman at the park, Vancouver police Officer Brian Schaffer said. The suspect then allegedly pointed a gun at the man who was trying to intervene, Schaffer said.
No shots were fired, Schaffer said. The suspect and woman reportedly disappeared on foot into the park.
Police called in a K-9 unit and searched for the couple. Within the hour, they apprehended 31-year-old Joseph White, a convicted felon who had a state Department of Corrections warrant for violating his community custody agreement, Schaffer said. Police also arrested the woman White allegedly assaulted, who is White’s girlfriend, on a felony warrant for possession of heroin, Schaffer said.
