A Vancouver man was sentenced last month to 7½ years in prison in connection with a June 2022 gunfight over stolen drugs in the Arnada neighborhood.
Nathan L. Pierce, 33, pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to first-degree robbery and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. He was originally also charged with first-degree assault and drive-by shooting.
In Pierce’s guilty plea statement, he said he was trying to buy drugs from a man, who Pierce said then pulled a gun on him and demanded all of his money. Pierce said he grabbed the gun from the man and took the drugs, according to court records.
Judge Suzan Clark denied a defense request that Pierce be sentenced to mental health treatment court and granted the prosecution’s request for a 90-month sentence, court records show.
Vancouver police responded at 12:04 a.m. June 11, 2022, to the area of East 11th and C streets for reports of gunshots. Officers arrived to find an unoccupied car on East 20th Street with multiple bullet holes in it. They also found two firearms, one by the car and one in the front yard of a nearby house, according to a probable cause affidavit.
A woman told officers the man she lives with was in an argument with Pierce before she heard gunshots, court records state.
The vehicle with bullet holes in it reportedly belonged to Pierce. When searching the car, detectives found a firearm and ammunition, according to the affidavit.
On June 24, 2022, investigators searched the phone of Jay Spang in connection with a different case, where they found messages with Pierce around the time of the shooting.
Pierce reportedly sent Spang his location shortly after the shooting, which detectives say showed he was at the house where one of the guns was found, court records state.
Detectives spoke with Spang, who said Pierce asked him to pick him up on the night of the shooting. Spang reportedly told them that Pierce said he’d robbed a man of drugs using the man’s firearm. He also reportedly said Pierce told him the man came after him and shot at him, disabling his car outside the man’s house, court records state.
