Portland man gets 3 years for Vancouver robbery

A Portland man was sentenced Friday in Clark County Superior Court to more than three years in prison for a 2017 armed robbery in the Vancouver Costco parking lot.

Isaiah Malik Harden, 22, was sentenced to 39 months, Senior Deputy Prosecutor James Smith said. The court also imposed 18 months of community custody to be served when Harden is released, Smith said.

Harden pleaded guilty to the robbery charge in November, court records show. He had been out of custody for the majority of time since his arrest, according to Smith. He was taken into custody Friday.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, Clark County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched shortly after 10:30 p.m. Feb. 1, 2017, to an armed robbery in the store’s parking lot at 6720 N.E. 84th St. The suspect, later identified as Harden, met with Brendan Algire and Kaley Bernard to purchase a camouflage jacket. They arranged the meetup online.

Algire said that before Harden paid him, he noticed a pistol grip hanging out of Harden’s jacket. Harden then pulled out the pistol, which had a laser on it, and pointed the gun at Algire, who jumped back into his vehicle, the affidavit states. Harden fled in his vehicle.

Bernard decided to follow Harden and keep authorities apprised of his location, she said, because she worried he wouldn’t be caught otherwise, according to court documents. Deputies found Harden’s vehicle still running on Petticoat Lane east of St. Johns Boulevard, and subsequently detained him, court records state.

Smith said he emphasized in his remarks to the court that Harden was armed with a loaded gun when he tried to rob two strangers. Judge Gregory Gonzales appeared to have placed weight on that fact when handing down his sentence.