Early Tuesday in southeast Vancouver, a late-night scene at a gas station reportedly turned terrifying when a 54-year-old man in a Batman mask chased a Black man with a pitchfork, shouted racial slurs and threatened to kill him, according to court documents.
Police arrested the suspect, identified as Matthew Alexander Rogers, and booked him on multiple counts, including malicious harassment, which is Washington’s hate-crime statute, as well as other offenses. He is being held on $40,000 bail. The man who was chased told officers he had simply said, “You know God loves you,” before the suspect allegedly turned on him.
Scene and arrest
According to KATU, American Medical Response crews radioed that they saw a white man in all-black clothing and a Batman mask chasing a Black man with what appeared to be a shovel near the 76 gas station at Southeast 112th Avenue and Mill Plain Boulevard. Court documents reviewed by the station say officers later found a pitchfork on the ground next to the suspect and that he repeatedly hurled a racial slur at the other man.
Vancouver police detained the suspect near the station and took him into custody. The man who was chased told officers he had walked past the suspect and said, “You know God loves you.” According to court records, the suspect allegedly replied, “Go home. The streets aren’t safe,” then followed him while shouting threats to kill…