LONGVIEW — A Vancouver man is facing multiple charges for allegedly breaking into a dead man’s Woodland home and threatening to ram witnesses with a Hummer, according to court documents.
Dusty Lee Bartlett, 49, of Vancouver was booked into the Cowlitz County Jail facing felony harassment, two counts of first-degree assault, possession of a stolen firearm and second-degree unlawful possession of a gun. Bartlett’s bail has been set at $150,000, and the judge has issued two no-contact orders. He is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 9.
According to a probable cause statement, about 7 p.m. Oct. 26, a neighbor called 911 to report three people were loading stuff into a GMC Hummer outside a home in the 5500 block of Lewis River Road in Woodland; the owner of the home had recently died.
The suspects, including a man later identified as Bartlett, were confronted by two neighbors in a truck, leading to a heated verbal altercation.
Neighbor Amanda Kirby told The Daily News that they started to pursue the suspects because they didn’t want them to “get away.”
According to a police report, Bartlett told the neighbors, “This is my property … I’m going to ram you,” and came within inches of hitting their truck.
Bartlett also allegedly said he was the dead homeowners’s nephew. He is also accused brandishing a gun and firing off a single shot into the air, all while one of the neighbors was on the phone with dispatch.
As Bartlett and the other suspects fled the scene, Kirby and the other neighbor followed them. The police report says Bartlett attempted to strike the victims’ truck a second time. Kirby said they ended their pursuit as the situation “was getting too dangerous” and authorities were nearby.
The victims told authorities that after firing the gun, Bartlett also threatened to kill one of them.
Skamania County deputies arrested Bartlett and two other suspects on Wind River Highway.
China Powers, 32, also of Vancouver was booked into the Cowlitz County Jail for possession of a stolen firearm charge. The gun was reported stolen out of Portland. Her next court hearing is Nov. 9.
