LONGVIEW — The Kalama man who launched a three-day manhunt in 2022 for multiple crimes from Cowlitz County to Northwest Oregon was sentenced to over 27 years Thursday morning.
While sobbing, Kevin James Reynolds, 43, mustered enough words to vocalize his regret.
“(I’m) sorry to all the people I scared,” he said. “I just want to see my kids, I’m sorry.”
Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Thad Scudder sentenced him to 19 years and three months in prison, concurrent to his sentence in Oregon, plus 8½ years for intimidating a witness that will run consecutive to the other convictions.
Scudder signed six no-contact orders for the victims: three for life, one for a decade, and two others.
Scudder called Reynolds a “one-man wrecking crew,” alluding to a string of crimes he committed that ranged from cutting down a 60-foot cedar tree to death threats to breaking into a Cowlitz County home armed with a rifle and stealing a cellphone.
He also engaged in a police chase reaching speeds of 85 to 90 mph, intimidated a witness and held a man at gunpoint during a carjacking.
Before leaving the Cowlitz County Jail courtroom Thursday, Scudder asked Reynolds if he was “mean mugging” him.
Reynolds pleaded no contest in April to charges related to his crimes in Oregon, which included second-degree attempted murder, first-degree robbery, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon, and first-degree burglary. He was sentenced to over 19 years, with a majority of the sentence to run concurrently with his prison term in Washington.
Court records show deputies from the Cowlitz and Columbia County sheriff’s offices executed a search warrant for Reynolds at a trailer near U.S. Highway 30 and Heath Road in Columbia County on Nov. 15, 2022.
As law enforcement approached the residence, Reynolds shouted that he was armed and exited the trailer with a hostage, holding a gun to their head and making threats to kill them.
During the hostage situation, Reynolds occasionally aimed his gun at law enforcement while taking the victim from a trailer to a vehicle; he would crash the car a few seconds later, injuring his hostage in the process, a police report states.
Schools in Rainier went into lockdown during the manhunt.
He was later taken in November 2022 by Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office deputies in Westport.
