A 16-year-old Vancouver boy is accused of stabbing another teenager Monday afternoon at a Hazel Dell park.
Rainen J. Pratt appeared virtually Tuesday in Clark County Superior Court from the Juvenile Detention Center on suspicion of first-degree assault. His bail was set at $125,000, and he is scheduled to be arraigned June 17.
Vancouver police responded at 5:27 p.m. to Jorgenson Woods Neighborhood Park, near Northwest Third Avenue and 72nd Circle, for reports of an assault with a weapon. Callers reported a 13-year-old boy was stabbed in the hand and was screaming for help, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
When officers arrived, the boy was sitting on a curb with a sweatshirt covering his hand, the affidavit says. He appeared to suffer a 4- to 5-inch laceration on his hand that nearly exposed bone. The boy also showed officers a stab would to his lower abdomen, which court records state was less severe.
The boy told police he was walking through the park with two friends when they saw another group of juveniles, including Pratt, sitting on a bench, the affidavit states. He recognized them as a group his friend had argued with a few months ago, he said, and Pratt started cursing at them and calling them names. There was a verbal exchange, and Pratt started running at them, court records say.
The groups began fighting each other, and the boy told officers Pratt pulled out a pocket knife and slashed his hand, court records state. Eventually, the boy said Pratt ran away after noticing the 13-year-old was bleeding. The boy said he then asked a woman, who was walking her dog, for help to stop the bleeding.
When officers found Pratt and his friends nearby, Pratt ran away, according to the affidavit. Officers later arrested him.
The victim was taken by ambulance to Randall Children’s Hospital in Portland. On the way to the hospital, the boy identified Pratt as the one who stabbed him, court records state.
The boy’s friends admitted to fighting Pratt and his friends, and one said he saw Pratt with a knife, according to the affidavit. Court records state Pratt declined to speak with officers.
