A 19-year-old Vancouver man appeared Thursday in Clark County Superior Court to face allegations that he stabbed another man over money he owed for face masks and a vape pen.
Daniel A. Valtierra Jr. faces first-degree assault for the May stabbing in Vancouver’s Bagley Downs neighborhood. Judge David Gregerson set Valtierra’s bail at $300,000, court records show.
Vancouver police officers were dispatched in the early evening of May 24 to the area of Northeast 62nd Avenue and 34th Street. The 911 caller, Brandon Overton, reported being stabbed and said he was driving himself to the hospital, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Witnesses and Overton provided police slightly varying versions of what happened. Overton met Valtierra several months earlier through a mutual friend. Valtierra agreed to buy masks, described in court records as “personal protection equipment from the current pandemic,” which were being made by a friend, according to the affidavit.
Overton told police Valtierra never paid for the masks, and he owed him for a vape pen, court records say.
Police retrieved social media and text messages between the men.
“I found numerous text messages from the date of (the stabbing), which showed volatile discussions of ultimatums about when and where to meet, payment amount, the vape pen and whether or not either was bringing other people with them for an apparent show of force,” the officer wrote in the affidavit.
When the two men met, near Valtierra’s home, Valtierra arrived at Overton’s vehicle “upset and aggressive,” according to the victim. Valtierra pulled out a black, 7-inch, jagged-edged knife, lunged toward Overton and stabbed him in the stomach and then in the upper chest. A friend of Valtierra’s pulled him off of Overton, who drove with his friend to the hospital, according to the affidavit.
Investigators identified Valtierra using photos on social media, some of which showed him handling knives, court records say.
Overton underwent emergency surgery at the hospital. A nurse told police the stab wound to Overton’s stomach damaged an artery, causing a life-threatening situation, according to the affidavit. Court documents do not further detail Overton’s injuries or his recovery.
Valtierra’s arraignment hearing is scheduled for Sept. 17.
