Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has charged Officer Andrea Mendoza with Assault IV in a case involving theft at an area Walmart store

Leah Anaya
For Clark County Today

Criminal charges have been filed against a Vancouver Police officer following a use of force incident during a recent arrest. The subject officer, identified as Andrea Mendoza, was placed on administrative leave by the department in May following the incident. The investigation led to Assault IV charges against the officer by Clark County Prosecuting Attorney Tony Golik. 

Body camera footage from both officers involved in the May incident were captured, along with surveillance footage from the Walmart store where it took place. The incident occurred in a truck-loading area on the side of the Walmart, located at 221 NE 104th Ave., with no other persons on scene, and it occurred at approximately 10 p.m. with the parking lot lit by several streetlights.

The call started when Walmart loss prevention called the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) to report a male and female subject, later identified as Elijah Guffey-Prejean and Amaya Montoya, who the Walmart employees wanted placed under arrest for theft from the store. Two officers arrived on scene and located the two suspects. 

After being told by the officers that they were under arrest, the suspects started to move away from officers. One officer (the male officer, identified as Officer Gabriel Patterson) grabbed Guffey-Prejean’s arm to prevent him from fleeing, at which point he became combative. While officers attempted to get Guffey-Prejean to the ground to place him in handcuffs, Montoya fled the scene. Guffey-Prejean appeared to be subdued on the ground, but then jumped up and continued fighting, at which point he punched Officer Patterson in the face and kicked Officer Mendoza in the chest. Officer Mendoza also had a hand injury from the scuffle.

Escalating the use of force necessary to effect the arrest, Officer Mendoza pulled out her Taser and deployed it in the suspect’s back. The video appears to show Officer Mendoza removing the cartridge of the Taser so as to use the device in a “drive stun” due to close proximity. The move was not effective, and Guffey-Prejean continued to fight against being placed in handcuffs.

The video appears to show Officer Mendoza pull Guffey-Prejean’s pants down and hold the Taser against his genitalia. Mendoza told the suspect, “Knock it off or I’ll do it on your nuts,” indicating the Taser she still held in her hand. “I will [expletive] tase you in the nuts!”

This appeared to be effective, as Guffey-Prejean yelled, “I’m done!” from the ground. “I promise! I’m done.” He appeared to cooperate with the arrest at that point. He also claimed that he couldn’t breathe, and the male officer called for medical attention and helped get his hooded sweatshirt off, which had gathered around his neck.

At this point, referring to his genitalia, Guffey-Prejean said, “Can you please put my [expletive] away?” Officer Mendoza said, “I got you,” and pulled his pants up around the appendage. 

According to the probable cause statement, the timestamps on the video indicate that between the time that Officer Mendoza pulled down Guffey-Prejean’s pants and when he asked her to pull them up, about one minute and 51 seconds elapsed. Guffey-Prejean’s penis was exposed during this time. The statement also concluded that the Taser was against Guffey-Prejean’s exposed genitalia for 24 seconds.

After receiving medical attention on scene, Guffey-Prejean was transported to the hospital before being taken to the Clark County Jail. He was booked for Assault III (assault of a police officer) and Theft III. According to the probable cause statement Clark County Today obtained from the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, the theft amounted to $103.38. Prosecutors later dropped the charges against him, according to a statement from the Vancouver Police Officer’s Guild (VPOG, which serves as the union for Vancouver Police Officers).

“The actions of the officer who deployed the Taser in the video are disturbing,” said VPD Chief Jeff Mori in a statement. “I want to emphasize to the community that my expectation is that at all times our personnel serve the public with professionalism, compassion and respect. Our department process includes supervisor review of all use of force incidents. Upon review of this incident, the involved officer was placed on administrative leave, an internal investigation was opened, and the case was referred to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office [CCSO] for independent investigation.”

CCSO forwarded its investigation to the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s office, who filed Assault IV charges against Officer Mendoza. Guffey-Prejean said during his interview with Golik that he was “punched in the groin area,” and he also said that he thinks he hit an officer when he was flailing his arms with his sweatshirt pulled over his head. According to the probable cause statement, Guffey-Prejean stopped fighting because they “pulled out his penis and my balls and everything and put the Taser to it.”

Guffey-Prejean said that although he felt violated by the action and that it was “kind of embarrassing,” he would not want to be named a victim of a crime should Officer Mendoza be charged for one. “I mean, pulling out my genitals … that’s wrong obviously. Tasing me the first time was fine, I feel like, ‘cause I was – I was fighting with them.”

Officer Patterson told Golik, according to the probable cause statement, that he didn’t know Guffey-Prejean’s genitalia was exposed and didn’t know what he was talking about when he asked for his penis to be “put away.”

“In order to maintain the integrity of the criminal justice process and the internal investigation,” Chief Mori said, “at this time, we will not be commenting further.”

VPOG released a statement following the announcement of the charges, which read, in part, “Officer Mendoza and her partner faced a dire situation. A noncompliant male suspect began fighting with her and her partner, as they attempted a variety of de-escalation and low-level force options to safely place the suspect in custody for Assault and Theft. Undeterred, the suspect repeatedly assaulted Officer Mendoza and her partner. Left with few reasonable options short of much higher levels of force, Officer Mendoza warned the suspect that he may be tased in his groin. The suspect immediately complied and was taken into custody.

“In response, the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has lost sight of its core obligation to hold criminals accountable,’’ the statement continued. “The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office withdrew criminal charges against the combative suspect and has instead baselessly charged Officer Mendoza with misdemeanor assault. That shocks the conscience. Officer Mendoza did not commit a crime. She did her job. Even the suspect in this case did not consider himself a victim, nor did he want Officer Mendoza charged.”

In an email, Golik told Clark County Today, “Since this is a pending criminal case, I cannot comment on the facts of the case.”

“We ask much of our police officers,” the VPOG statement said. “And our officers respond with utmost professionalism in often violent interactions with criminals. No officer should fear being charged with a crime for faithfully doing their job. Yet that is the new norm that the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has now announced with this tortured, baseless criminal charge against Officer Mendoza. We are confident that after all the facts are presented to a jury, Officer Mendoza will be exonerated.’’

Clark County Today Editor Ken Vance contributed to this report.