Transient man pleads guilty to assault

A transient man who chased after another transient man with a knife in the Esther Short neighborhood was sentenced Wednesday to 13 months in prison.

Timothy J. Griffith, 22, pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to second-degree assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the altercation outside the Share House, the men’s homeless shelter at West 13th Street and Lincoln Avenue in Vancouver.

A Share House employee saw Griffith begin to chase Jermaine Campbell following a disturbance outside the shelter shortly after 9 p.m. Sept. 3, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Griffith chased Campbell to Lincoln Place, where an employee there saw Griffith approach Campbell with the knife in front of him. She said Campbell looked terrified and yelled at her to let him inside the building, court records state.

Campbell told police that Griffith pulled out a large knife with an 8-inch blade and chased him from the south side of the Share House to the foyer of Lincoln Place. Griffith threatened to kill Campbell, he said, and approached him with the knife out, the affidavit said.

On Wednesday, Judge Robert Lewis followed the attorneys’ previously agreed-upon sentencing recommendation and also sentenced Griffith to 18 months of community custody. He was given credit for 35 days in custody.