The man shot by a Vancouver police officer, whom he nearly struck with his car, during an interrupted drug deal in Uptown Village was sentenced Friday to 11 years in prison.
Dominic Tovar, 24, pleaded guilty in September in Clark County Superior Court to second-degree assault, unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, possession of a controlled substance, attempting to elude officers and hit-and-run resulting in injury.
Tovar was shot four times Feb. 25 by Vancouver police Officer Ken Suvada after he quickly reversed his parked car toward the officer in the Walgreens parking lot at 2521 Main St. He suffered gunshot wounds to his right arm, shoulder and back, court records state.
The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office last month determined the shooting was justified because Suvada feared for his life.
About 11:15 a.m., an off-duty Washington Department of Corrections officer spotted Tovar — who had a warrant for his arrest for failing to report to DOC in December — in a parked Crown Victoria at the Walgreens. He requested assistance, and Suvada, who was on patrol, responded, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Suvada approached Tovar’s vehicle and instructed him to shut it off. Instead, he reversed, striking the officer’s leg. Suvada said he slammed his hands on the trunk and yelled for Tovar to stop, while jumping out of the way. The vehicle continued backing up so he took out his handgun and shot through the back window five times, the affidavit states.
The suspect vehicle sped off but crashed into a silver Pontiac Grand Am near the intersection of East 16th and Broadway streets, court records said. It also struck the Not Too Shabby boutique, a business at the corner, according to police.
Both the driver and passenger in the Pontiac, Keith Naves and Leonhardt Harris, respectively, were injured.
Tovar and his passenger, identified as his mother, Tavi Tovar, ran from the crash and were taken into custody near the intersection of East 15th and C streets. While being detained, police found a loaded .40 caliber handgun in the waistband of Dominic Tovar’s pants, the affidavit said.
They also later found a dozen oxycodone pills in one of the pockets of Tovar’s jacket. He allegedly told police he was in the parking lot to sell the pills, but before the buyer arrived, he saw an officer standing behind his car. He said he fled because of his warrant, court records state.
Tavi Tovar was sentenced in March to four months in jail after pleading guilty to attempted drug possession.
During Dominic Tovar’s sentencing, Naves told the court that he is homeless and was driving back to Vancouver from his work in Tacoma when Tovar struck him and Harris. He said the injuries he sustained have exacerbated old injuries in his back and shoulder and have prevented him from working full-time.
Harris said that since the crash she is frightened to drive or ride in a car.
Tovar’s defense attorney, Nick Wood, said that there’s no doubt his client’s actions affected a number of people but said he took full responsibility for pleading guilty.
Wood said Tovar has made some “serious criminal mistakes” but that they don’t necessarily define him. He read a letter from one of Tovar’s younger sisters who wrote that they were all raised around criminal activity and that Tovar stepped up to take care of them. Tovar was exposed the most to drug-use and dealing, she said.
Tovar told the court that he can now see his mistakes from that day and that he never intended to hurt anyone. He said he reacted out of fear.
“I hope this experience molds me into the man I need to be,” he said.
The prosecution asked that Tovar serve a 12-year sentence, while his attorney argued for 10 years.
After hearing from both sides, Judge Scott Collier opted for a sentence in the middle: 134 months total.
