An Ariel man on trial for loosening the lug nuts on the tires of his former partner’s car was acquitted Tuesday of two counts each of second-degree attempted murder and first-degree attempted assault.
Clark County Superior Court Judge Jennifer Snider instead found Zachery Hansen, 31, guilty of two counts of second-degree attempted assault. He is scheduled to be sentenced Friday.
Hansen remained stoic when the judge read the not-guilty verdicts to the four counts he was charged with; he nodded when Snider read the elements of the crimes she found him guilty of. He then shook his attorney’s hand.
Hansen’s attorney, Shon Bogar, said outside the courtroom that this was a tough case. He believed the judge would ultimately land on the lesser charges after hearing the evidence and arguments, he said.
Senior Deputy Prosecutor Jeff McCarty said he respects the judge’s decision and the time she took to listen to all of the evidence in the one-day bench trial.
During opening statements Monday, Bogar argued that when Hansen tampered with his former partner’s car, including putting nails under the tires, loosening the lug nuts and removing the front license plate, he didn’t intend to kill her or their 4-year-old daughter.
The child was in the car with the woman when a Vancouver police detective called and told her to pull over because he believed he saw Hansen on surveillance video loosening the lug nuts. The woman was approaching Interstate 205 when she pulled over and discovered some of the bolts were less than a turn from coming off, McCarty said during his opening statement.
Hansen was arrested in Cowlitz County later that day, wearing what appeared to be the same shirt seen on the surveillance video, McCarty said.
Hansen was granted pretrial release and already charged with felony stalking and multiple domestic violence no-contact order violations when this incident occurred, according to a probable cause affidavit. He has an active no-contact order prohibiting him from harassing, stalking or coming within a 1,000 feet of his former partner and their daughter. The woman previously reported that someone had let the air out of her tires, drained the oil from her car, put nails under the tires, scratched her car and put a GPS tracker on her car, the prosecution said.
