A Battle Ground man is facing a murder allegation after investigators say he confronted his neighbor about noise created by revving an engine.
The victim was identified in court records as 39-year-old Timothy A. Thomas. Clark County sheriff’s deputies say he was shot multiple times Tuesday afternoon. Thomas was pronounced dead at the scene.
The alleged shooter, Presley Daniel Mileck, 50, appeared Wednesday via Zoom in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree murder.
Judge Daniel Stahnke set Mileck’s bail at $1 million. He will be arraigned June 24.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, Mileck’s wife, Jocelyn Mileck, called 911 shortly after 2:30 p.m. to report that their neighbor was driving up and down their rural street and revving his vehicle’s engine. Presley Mileck reportedly left in the family car to go confront him.
While on the phone with dispatchers, Jocelyn Mileck said she heard her husband yelling at the neighbor and then heard several gunshots. Her husband returned home “distraught and inconsolable,” she said, with a gun in his hand, the affidavit states.
Jocelyn Mileck said she tried to calm him down, but he would not respond to her and made suicidal statements, she said. Concerned for her safety, dispatchers told her to meet deputies outside, court records say.
Deputies responded around 2:45 p.m. to the residence in the 25500 block of Northeast Alder Falls Road, east of Battle Ground.
While waiting for backup to arrive, deputies were approached by a neighbor who said his wife called him about one of their sons being missing. A group of deputies went to the neighbor’s house and found Thomas lying unresponsive on the ground, according to the affidavit.
During the law enforcement response, Presley Mileck called his wife several times, and at one point, spoke with a deputy and agreed to surrender. Mileck said he put the gun in his bedroom and was sitting in the living room. He walked outside and was arrested, court records say.
As investigators attempted to interview Mileck, he said, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I don’t know if I need an attorney or not.” He subsequently requested an attorney and refused to be interviewed, the affidavit states.
