UPDATE: The case against Jamie Dean Graff was dismissed without prejudice, meaning it could be re-filed at a later date, July 13, 2018, after he was found not competent to stand trial, according to court documents filed in Clark County Superior Court.
A transient man who was reportedly panhandling outside of a downtown Vancouver bar Friday night allegedly slammed a responding police officer into a glass plate window of the business, knocking him unconscious, court records show.
Jamie Dean Graff, 38, appeared Monday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree assault and third-degree assault of an officer.
Graff is accused of assaulting Vancouver police officer James Porter, 27. Porter was hired by the Vancouver Police Department in March 2016 and was the recipient of a Lifesaving Award for an incident in December 2016.
Both of the men’s identities were released Monday by police.
Witnesses called 911 at about 8:35 p.m. Friday complaining of an aggressive transient panhandling at the corner of Sixth and Main streets. Other reports indicated that the man was threatening patrons of a nearby bar, Vancouver police reported.
Porter arrived and contacted Graff, who allegedly slapped Porter’s hand away and pushed him, according to an affidavit of probable cause in support of the allegations.
The two men began to struggle, and Graff grabbed Porter and spun him around causing his head to smash into a plate glass window. The impact broke the window, the affidavit states.
Porter suffered cuts to his head and a severe laceration to his arm, which was squirting blood. He lost consciousness and had to be revived by other responding officers, court documents said.
Both men were injured and transported via ambulance to a local hospital, where they were treated and released. Graff was subsequently booked into the Clark County Jail, according to Vancouver police.
During his court appearance, Judge Scott Collier set Graff’s bail at $100,000. Records show that he will be back in court today to order a mental health evaluation.
Detectives with the agency’s Major Crimes Unit are investigating the altercation and ask anyone who witnessed it but who have not called police to do so.
Friday’s incident appears to be the most recent to cause concern for city officials.
The altercation was highlighted in an email addressed to Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt and the city council from City Manager Eric Holmes. The email was forwarded to The Columbian on Monday afternoon.
In the email, Holmes said there have been growing concerns communicated to the city council regarding recent issues of homelessness in the downtown area. He said he is formulating a plan with Police Chief James McElvain, Parks and Recreation Director Julie Hannon, Community and Economic Development Director Chad Eiken and City Attorney Bronson Potter “to bring focused, sustained attention and resources to key areas in downtown and elsewhere in the city to halt and reverse some of the more negative symptoms.
“While we remain compassionate to the difficulties of these experiencing homelessness, we also retain our expectations of what is acceptable conduct in our city,” Holmes wrote in the email.
Additional details and information will be provided to the city council and community in the coming weeks, he said.
Reporter Emily Gillespie contributed to this report.
