Iraq veteran gets 11 years for shooting

VANCOUVER, Wash. – An Iraq war veteran who was convicted of shooting at a driver who cut him off has been sentenced to 11 years in prison by a Clark County Superior Court judge.

Nobody was hurt in the Sept. 18, 2007, shooting.

Friday’s sentence handed down against 26-year-old Christopher P. Partridge could have been more than twice as long if Judge John Nichols had followed Washington state sentencing guidelines.

Partridge was convicted Oct. 8 of two counts of first-degree assault for firing at a driver and her passenger. Each Class A felony came with firearm enhancements that carry mandatory five-year terms and must run consecutively. The state Legislature sets those laws.

Partridge was driving on state Highway 500 when he fired at a driver who testified she made an abrupt lane change.

Partridge pulled alongside the woman’s car and fired his .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol out his passenger window. A bullet went through the driver’s door. A witness reported Partridge’s license plate number to 911.

Partridge is a graduate of Heritage High School in Vancouver, Wash. He served as a mechanic in the U.S. Army in Iraq in 2003 and 2004.