An Ariel man received attempted murder charges after police say he was seen on camera loosening the lug nuts on his former partner’s vehicle, with one wheel almost coming off before the victim entered the highway.
Zachery Hansen, 30, appeared in Clark County Superior Court on June 4 on new charges added to a case of alleged crimes against the victim. Previously out on pretrial release for the prior charges, now Hansen faces two counts of attempted first-degree murder, a count of felony stalking and two counts of violating no-contact orders.
According to a probable cause affidavit for Hansen’s arrest, on June 2 the victim reported she recently found her vehicle tampered with at her residence. The front license plate was taken and nails were placed under the front tires that would have punctured the tires if the victim drove away. A Vancouver Police Department detective reviewed security video from the residence that showed at about 1:15 a.m. a suspect — who matched the detective’s firsthand knowledge of Hansen — tampering with the vehicle’s wheels, consistent with loosening lug nuts.
The detective immediately contacted the victim, who was driving with her daughter at the time, and informed her of the tampering, the affidavit stated. The victim said the vehicle was making a loud noise and she was heading onto the highway, but diverted, later confirming the lug nuts had been loosened “and at least one wheel had been in the process of coming off.”
The victim said she feared being killed, according to the affidavit, which stated if a wheel had come off, especially at highway speeds, it would be “a certain contributor to severe injury and high potential for a fatal accident.”
Hansen has a domestic violence no-contact order on the victim’s residence, the affidavit stated. When arrested, he was on pretrial release for prior charges including felony stalking and multiple other no-contact order violations against the victim, including prior vehicle tampering, stealing a security camera from the victim’s residence and placing a GPS tracker on the victim’s vehicle without her knowledge.
The affidavit stated Hansen’s “danger assessment” rose from “severe” to “extreme” with the June incident, which is the highest range possible.
Hansen’s bond was set at $1 million at the June 4 hearing. According to Clark County Jail records, he is scheduled to appear in court again on July 15.
