Local News

(Editor's note: About three weeks ago, we received a letter to the editor from a Cathlamet woman who alledged that two Wahkiakum County deputy sheriffs used undue force to arrest two teenage girls. The writer, Shelia Cothren, is aunt of one of the girls. She was not in the house at the time of the arrest but relates what family members told her. While I contacted Sheriff Dan Bardsley for the officers' account of the arrests, we prepared the letter for publication last week. I didn't have enough to present the officers' side, so I withheld publication; however, the letter did appear on our website because of an internal staff communication failure. This week, here is the letter with the officers' response.--Rick Nelson) |


The letter
To The Eagle:
Several weeks ago, two Wahkiakum County deputies unlawfully entered the family home of some local residents. They had no search warrant, but still bullied their way into the family home as the family was preparing for bed. A female officer entered the home, accosting one of two 13 year old girls. She threw the girls up against the wall and cuffed them. All the while, the parents were vehemently protesting, but the officer said the girls had been caught on tape inside the school earlier that evening. The female officer forced the girls into the patrol car, not even permitting the girls to put on their shoes. While all this illegal abuse was going on the senior officer stood there doing nothing to prevent this assault. But on second thought maybe it was better he did nothing. In the commotion, he might have thought he had heard a shot or seen a phantom gun and blindly opened fire into this innocent family's home.
Upon reaching the sheriff's office with the parents following close behind, the 13 year old girls were brought into an interrogation room while the officers questioned the girls. The children's parents demanded to see the videotape of the girls in the school. After viewing the videotape, it showed the girls had not been in the school as accused. This video evidence, which should have been viewed earlier, resulted in the release of the girls without charge. That is all well and fine, but the actions of the officers is inexcusable. If you or I were to break into someone's home and physically drag two 13 year old girls out, what would our punishment be? We wouldn't see the outside of a jail cell for quite some time, but these officers, who illegally broke into a law abiding citizen's home and assaulted two 13 year olds are still on the job without any penalty whatsoever.
It is standard protocol when an officer is accused of wrong doing (sworn written complaint) by a citizen for an outside agency to carry out an investigation. That may be standard protocol for other counties, but in Wahkiakum County, the sheriff conducts an internal investigation. Isn't that like having one fox investigate whether another fox has been raiding the chicken house? Or maybe it's like letting the fox have the keys to the chicken house!

Sheila Cothren
Cathlamet

The Officers' account
On Sunday January 22, a teacher at Wahkiakum High School reported being startled by four people running out of her classroom as she entered to bring in some supplies.
She called the sheriff's office, and Deputies Helen Coubra and Hans York responded. After investigating the scene, the deputies, the teacher, and Principal Loren Davis reviewed surveillance tapes and were able to identify four of five youths seen in the area at that time. At that point, the youths were facing charges of burglary, a felony.
The officers contacted two male suspects at their homes, interviewed them there, and then took them into custody without incident.
They learned that one of the female suspects was visiting the other female suspect and went to that home to interview the girls. They said the knocked on the door, which was opened by a child; they asked to speak to the girls and parent and were shown through the door into narrow hallway. When the parents and girls arrived, the situation quickly deteriorated. The officers said the parents began yelling at the officers and wouldn't respond to them.
At that point, the officers said they began to be concerned for their safety.
"There were seven or eight people there and it was very crowded," York said. "I recall being jostled. Neither of the girls had shoes on and I asked several times for someone to get their shoes."
The officers said no one responded, and they placed them under arrest. York placed handcuffs on one of the girls, and he saw Coubra "turn the other girl to the wall" to place cuffs on her.
"It's standard to cuff all people we transport," he said.
Coubra said that when it became clear they couldn't interview the children at the home, they placed the girls under arrest. She said placed the girl against the wall to pat her down for weapons.
"For my own safety, I did make sure she didn't have anything on her," she said.
They transported the girls to the jail, with the parents following. They interviewed the girls there, in the presence of their parents, Coubra added, and concluded the girls should be charged with criminal trespass, a misdemeanor, not burglary, a felony, a more serious charge.
Sheriff Dan Bardsley said he spoke with the parents, who had made a disturbance at the sheriff's office. "They could have been charged with obstructing an officer," he said. He added that he reviewed the reports and concluded the arrests didn't merit an outside investigation.
York has been a Wahkiakum officer
Coubra joined the Wahkiakum department last fall. She has over 20 years in law enforcement, serving in Tacoma police, Douglas County Sheriff's Department, and Brewster police. She has been a training officer and earned commendations and awards in all three departments.

The Wahkiakum County Eagle -- 77 Main Street, Cathlamet, WA 98612
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