Vancouver man who stabbed friend sentenced to 1.5 years

A Vancouver man who previously pleaded guilty to stabbing his friend in the chest was sentenced Friday to 1 1/2 years in prison, court records show.

Christopher Ollar, 31, entered the guilty plea to second-degree assault earlier this month in Clark County Superior Court for the Sept. 3 stabbing at Ollar’s residence in Vancouver’s Ogden neighborhood.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, Vancouver police were called about 11:20 p.m. to 8620 N.E. 29th Way and found the victim, Nicholas Bennett, unconscious, lying in the driveway and suffering from a stab wound to his chest.

Bennett was transported to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, where he remained in critical condition two days after the stabbing. Court records showed the knife punctured his heart, but he survived.

Ollar told detectives that he invited Bennett over, but Bennett was intoxicated and became belligerent. When Ollar asked Bennett to leave, he refused. They continued to argue and moved outside. Ollar’s girlfriend came outside, he said, and Bennett hit both in the face, the affidavit states. That prompted Ollar to grab a knife from inside. He said he was holding the knife at chest level and that Bennett ran into it, court documents said.

Ollar’s defense attorney argued from the onset of the case that his client’s actions were in self-defense. But Ollar opted to take a plea deal rather than risk being found guilty at trial.