Shotgun possession and quarrel lead to arrest

Jason Bradley Hunt, 33 of Sequim, has been charged in Superior Court with unlawful possession of a firearm, due to having a prior non-serious felony, according to court documents.

Port Townsend Police Officer Trevor Hansen wrote in his probable cause statement that Jefferson County Sheriff’s Sergeant Brandon Przygocki was the first to arrive at Thomas and Sixth streets near Bishop Park at 10.53 p.m. on August 25 where Hunt and his girlfriend were having an argument near a sedan.

Przygocki had stopped Hunt in the sedan earlier in the evening while working DUI duty. Przygocki noticed that a shotgun, which he had seen earlier that evening, was in a different place in the car. Because he was answering a domestic disturbance call, Przygocki removed the shotgun to secure it and later discovered it to be loaded with six shells.

When Officer Hansen arrived on the scene, he interviewed the girlfriend and other officers interviewed Hunt.

“They had been arguing due the vehicle maintenance that needed to be done on the sedan, and that tensions were high because (her) dog had needed to be put down earlier in the day,” Hansen wrote, adding that the girlfriend stated she and Hunt had been dating for about a year and live out of the sedan most of the time. She said that although the sedan is unregistered, her family has a bill of sale for it.

When handcuffed, Hunt told officers at the scene that “he was not supposed to be around guns and had been to prison … he claimed the firearm belonged to a friend.”

If convicted, Hunt faces a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and/or a $10,000 fine plus restitution and assessments.

Angry texting devolves into gun incident

Caleb Joe Jones, 46, of 21 Riverdale Court, Quilcene, has been charged in Superior Court with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. If convicted on both counts he faces life imprisonment and/or $50,000 in fines plus restitution and assessments on each count.

According to Jefferson County Sheriff’s Officer Adam Newman, on August 8 he received information of an assault involving a firearm in the Quilcene area which had occurred the evening of August 5:

“I contacted the reported victim Cody McMahon and he was initially hesitant to provide details of the incident. He eventually opened up about what had happened after he spoke to the other victims and they agreed to provide statements.”

Two women and another man, not listed as victims in the charges, were interviewed by Newman, as was Justin Thompson, who is listed along with McMahon as a victim of the alleged assault. Officer Adams states all five witnesses had similar accounts of the incident.

“They all referred to the suspect as Caleb Jones and have been friends/acquaintances for years. Jones and Thompson were involved in a text dispute. Thompson allowed me to look at the messages between them. Numerous threatening messages were sent from Jones attempting to get Thompson to tell him where he could be found to fight,” Adam’s probable cause report states.

Thompson texted his location and Jones responded that if McMahon gets in the way, that is why “I have a 45,” court documents state, adding that Jones had brandished the weapon in the past and made threats to shoot them.

“No guns, come like a man, you are threatening to shoot us,” Thompson replied and continued to receive threatening texts from Jones until he arrived at Thompson’s residence around 9:20 p.m., “at which time he gets out of his vehicle with a gun in his hand and walks toward Thompson and McMahon. As he approached them he pointed the pistol at McMahon’s chest from a distance of about six feet and said something to the affect that this was between him and Thompson,” court documents state, adding that Jones then swung the pistol at Thompson but became distracted by another person at the scene, at which time McMahon was able to grab the gun and strike Jones in the face. Jones dropped the gun and McMahon continued to punch Jones and wrestle him to the ground. The gun was retrieved by the third party who secured it in his vehicle and later gave the gun and its magazine to Officer Adams.

According to the charging documents, eight minutes after the incident began, Jones was allowed up and left in his vehicle, sending one last text at 10:02 stating, “You and Cody are as good as dead.”

“Everyone I interviewed seemed concerned for their safety,” Adams writes. “They are concerned for their safety now and know that Jones has other firearms.”

Adams met with Jones who admitted to responding to the residence with a pistol but claimed he didn’t recall pointing it at anyone.

“He said he began to question what he was doing with the gun when he heard the girls yelling, ‘He has a gun!’ He said that’s when McMahon grabbed him and he chose to throw the gun because he didn’t want to shoot anyone,” Adams writes.

Jones has entered a plea of not guilty and a trial has been set for November 6.

Guns and lounge furniture stolen

A neighbor with a game camera helped the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office recover some stolen property from Michael D. J. McCarroll, 48, a 12-time convicted felon who has been arrested 31 times since 1994, according to court documents.

He has been charged in Superior Court with 10 new felony counts including burglary and firearm thefts. If convicted on all charges McCarroll faces up to 80 years in prison.

According to Officer Brian Anderson’s probable cause report, the game camera captured photos of a person retrieving items from a wooded lot on Old Coyle Road, including a toy hauler trailer. The photos were able to identify the pickup pulling that trailer and on July 25 law enforcement officers served a search warrant at 260 Harrington Drive in Quilcene. McCarroll was located and arrested while attempting to flee out the back with girlfriend Hillarie Wood.

Among the items recovered from the burglary were a washer and dryer, a leather chair and ottoman, bar stools, art and axes, which the victim identified as his upon arriving at the scene of the arrest.

Anderson states that, when he was arrested, McCarroll had on his person a used meth pipe and 26.34 grams of methamphetamine.

The officer further states that McCarroll denied any knowledge of the burglary, and that his girlfriend stated McCarroll had brought the washer and dryer to her residence sometime in April but that she did not know where they had come from.

The stolen firearms, according to Anderson’s statement, are a Remington 552 Speedmaster .22. caliber semi-automatic rifle, a Remington 572 .22 caliber pump action rifle, a Cricket Youth .22 caliber rifle and a Ruger 10/22 Sporter .22 caliber rifle.

Officers also found clothing matching that captured on the game camera.

McCarroll entered a not guilty plea at his arraignment. Bail, originally set at $50,000, was reduced to $30,000 and McCarroll posted bond. His trial was set for Sept. 25.