A Vancouver man accused of robbing another man at gunpoint in Bagley Park made a first court appearance Monday.
Zechariah Chiam Maysonet, 19, appeared in custody in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree robbery. Judge Suzan Clark set bail at $25,000, according to court records. Maysonet’s next court appearance is scheduled for July 9.
Vancouver police responded around 1:15 p.m. Sunday to the park, 4607 Plomondon St., for a report of a robbery. After police arrived, Madden Miller told them that two men had robbed him at gunpoint in the woods about 30 minutes before the 911 call, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Miller said the robbery involved one unknown man and another man known as Zach, according to the affidavit. Based on additional descriptions, the officer identified Maysonet as a suspect.
Before the robbery, Maysonet contacted Miller on Snapchat, asking if he could meet to buy marijuana, according to the affidavit. Miller went to the woods, where he was approached by Maysonet and another man later identified as Malcolm L. Harper, 18, the affidavit said.
Once the deal for less than an ounce of marijuana was completed, Harper pulled a black .38-caliber special revolver out of his pants and pointed it at Miller’s face, according to the affidavit.
“I saw the bullets in the revolver, I thought it had to be real,” Miller told police.
Miller gave the men his baseball cap, a blue Samsung 10E valued at $1,000, the marijuana and a black wallet with a photo of his girlfriend inside, according to the affidavit. With his phone gone, Miller and his girlfriend went to a nearby Taco Bell to call 911.
They spotted Maysonet and Harper walking near the intersection of General Anderson Avenue and Northeast Fourth Plain Boulevard, and the girlfriend “went after them screaming,” according to the affidavit. The men ran northbound and were not located, the affidavit said.
Miller used an app to locate his phone at the Market Place Apartments, 2900 General Anderson Road, according to the affidavit. Police surrounded the area and saw two men before contacting Maysonet at Burger King, 5000 N.E. Fourth Plain Blvd., the affidavit said.
Maysonet was arrested. The second man, not Harper, was determined not to be part of the robbery, the affidavit said.
After initially denying involvement, Maysonet later recanted, saying he didn’t know that Harper was going to pull the gun and that he should have tried to stop it, according to the affidavit. Maysonet was also in possession of the marijuana and Miller’s wallet, the affidavit said.
A witness at the Burger King claimed that an accomplice was hiding in a bathroom at the restaurant, according to a Vancouver police news release. SWAT officers and hostage negotiators responded before it was discovered that the bathroom was empty.
Harper was later arrested and is being held at the Clark County Jail. He is scheduled to make a first court appearance today.
