A transient man accused of trying to hit a Clark County sheriff’s deputy with his vehicle, prompting the deputy to fire his weapon, was acquitted by a jury Wednesday of second-degree assault.
The Superior Court jury did, however, find Drew Patrick Lodahl, 31, guilty of two counts of attempting to elude police and two counts of possessing a controlled substance — heroin and methamphetamine, stemming from the April 2017 incident on Sunset Falls Road.
Jurors heard two days of testimony and deliberated for about four hours before reaching their verdict.
At about 9:30 a.m. April 27, Deputy Timothy Gosch spotted a suspicious vehicle parked in a turnout in the 33800 block of Northeast Sunset Falls Road and contacted two occupants. He believed both were wanted for felony warrants and that the car, a black Honda Accord, was stolen, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Lodahl, who was in the driver’s seat, refused to leave the car. He then started the car, ignoring Gosch’s orders to stop, and sped toward the deputy, the affidavit states.
Gosch back-pedaled out of the way and fired one shot from his handgun at the driver. The bullet hit the car, court records said. No one was injured.
Lodahl and his passenger fled in the car heading east toward Sunset Falls Campground. Deputies swarmed the area to search for them. The Honda was spotted about 90 minutes later. A deputy maneuvered behind the car, pinning it in, according to the sheriff’s office.
Lodahl was also involved in a police pursuit April 20. A Vancouver police officer was searching for a suspect vehicle occupied by Lodahl and the same passenger, when he spotted them traveling north on Southeast 126th Avenue. The car fled, at times driving into oncoming traffic and passing other vehicles at speeds in excess of 50 mph in a 25 mph zone, according to a separate probable cause affidavit.
During his trial, the defense reportedly argued that Lodahl was not intending to assault Gosch with his vehicle; he was merely trying to get away. Efforts to reach Lodahl’s attorney, David Schultz, were unsuccessful Thursday.
Senior Deputy Prosecutor James Smith said Lodahl will be sentenced today in this case and another in which he was found guilty of escaping community custody.
