Community Risk

WA Vehicle Fire Call Reveals Major Crime Scene

June 10, 2018

Firefighters responding to a vehicle fire at a Ridgefield home discovered a major crime scene involving assault, arson, burglary and auto theft.

By Jessica Prokop

Source The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.

A burned-out car sits in a driveway in Ridgefield, WA, after two men set it on fire after assaulting and robbing a man on Saturday, June 9, 2018.

June 10 -- Firefighters responding to a report of a vehicle fire at a home south of Ridgefield discovered a major crime scene involving assault, arson, burglary and auto theft, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

Firefighters and deputies were dispatched at about 4 p.m. to a report of a vehicle on fire in the driveway of 6704 N.W. 192nd St. but soon discovered there was fire in the house’s two garages and that the homeowner had suffered traumatic injuries, a bulletin from the sheriff’s office said.

The homeowner, whose name was not released, was transported by LifeFlight to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center and later reported in stable condition.

The Clark County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit investigation so far indicates that the homeowner had been assaulted in the garage by two white men who then burglarized the home, taking money and guns, according to the bulletin.

The two men then started fires in the garage and to a vehicle they had driven to the house before driving away in the homeowner’s SUV, the bulletin said.

The SUV was recovered a short time later in the 9900 block of Northeast 58th Street in Vancouver, the bulletin said.

“This appears to be a targeted crime,” the bulletin said. “There is no reason to believe there is an ongoing threat to the neighborhood.”