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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
January 16, 2020     Shelton Mason County Journal
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January 16, 2020
 
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Page A~14 Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020 Escape; Hartwell draWs new charge for escape Tuesday continued from page A-1 State Patrol, reportedly heading north from the courthouse to the closed-off wooded trails above the Shelton Tim- berland library in the 700 block of West Alder Street. Later that day, Judge Amber Finlay issued two $50,000 war- rants for Hartwell s arrest, one for fail- ure to appear in each case scheduled for that day. Early this week, sources indicated to the Shelton-Mason County Journal that authorities believe Hartwell could I have initially escaped to a Belfair resi dence prior to his capture Saturday in Grapeview. We ended up getting (Hartwell) into custody with some really good police work, Ryan Spurling, Mason County Sheriffs Of ce chief criminal deputy of patrol operations told the Journal. It was some great teamwork between all the law enforcement agen cies in the county, who assisted by hit- ting the streets and gathering informa- tion. Social media was one of our meth ods of gathering information, and even- tually it was just a matter of chasing down leads until we found out exactly where he was. According to Spurling, Hartwell was at rst uncooperative with instructions from law enfocement at the time of his apprehension. But Spurling said that through stern encouragement from (Sheriffs Of ce) K 9 Caliber, he was arrested without further incident. Hartwell, originally scheduled to make an initial court appearance Mon- day, had his hearing postponed until Tuesday due to illness. When asked Monday about Hartwell s condition by Finlay during the Superior Court crim- inal docket, Mason County Chief Pub lic Defender Peter Jones told the court he believed Hartwell s illness was not communicative. Hartwell was brought to court Tues- day in handcuffs and shackles by two Sheriffs Of ce corrections deputies for a warrant identi cation hearing and for arraignment on a new charge of second-degree escape from custody. However, before the hearings could be- gin, Finlay recused herself in favor of Judge Daniel Goodell, after Finlay re- alized that she was on the bench in the Reaction: Local of cials say more action is neeeded continued from page A-1 personnel at a Grapeview residence following his escape from custody. According to a Sheriffs Of ce dec- laration of probable cause to charge Hartwell with second-degree escape from community custody, Hartwell was scheduled for warrant identi ca- tion hearings Jan. 7 in Mason County Superior Court in downtown Shel- ton in two 2019 cases in which he s charged with second degree theft of property, second-degree burglary, res- idential burglary and theft of a motor vehicle. In accordance with a 2018 state Court of Appeals ruling, defendants not considered a ight risk, but can t be seen in court with restraints be-, cause it is a violation of their c0nsti~ tutional rights. Hartwell s handcuffs and shackles were removed following transport between Mason County Jail and the next-door courtroom. Eye- witnesses say that once his case was called, Hartwell ran from the jury box of the second- oor main courtroom, evaded c0rrections deputies and court- house private security personnel, then escaped on foot, having left his jail-is sued sandals behind in the courtroom After eluding an original search by personnel from the Mason County 4. . g. (h Donald Frankli Hartwell Jr seated, appears in handcuffs and shackles Tuesday morning in Mason County Su- perior Court in Shelton. Hartwell pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree escape from custody from a week prior, when he allegedly fled the courtroom and was on the lose for four days before his capture Saturday morning in Grapeview by Mason County Sheriff s Office personnel. Journal photo by Michael Heinbach courtroom as Hartwell was suspected of committing his escape. During the brief recess between judges, Hartwell rose to his feet from his seat at the defendant s table, told corrections staff he felt sick and couldn t continue the hear'mg. But jail deputies quickly assisted Hartwell back to his seat Without force, and Goodell resumed the hearing. There, Goodell formally charged Hartwell with escape - to which Hartwell pleaded not guilty - and set $10,000 bail in the matter. The escape Sheriffs Of ce, Shelton Police De- partment and the Washington State Patrol, Hartwell reportedly traveled north to the woods above the Shel- ton Timberland Library on the cor- ner of West Alder and North Seventh Streets. At about 5:15 a.m. Saturday, Sheriffs Of ce deputies took Hartwell into custody at a Grapeview residence off Grapeview Loop Road. Our deputies did an absolutely outstanding job following leads in or- der to bring him into custody, Ryan Spurling, Sheriff s Of ce chief crimi nal deputy of patrols said Tuesday morning. On Monday in Mason County Supe- rior Court, it was business as usual, and to the casual observer not much appeared to have changed regarding how jail or prison inmates are trans ported or seen in court. Personnel working in the court- house Tuesday from Paci c Security, the Everett-based private rm con- tracted by Mason County to provide courthouse and additional county campus security through August, told the Journal that no new security mea- sures had been enacted since Hart- well s reported escape. I think that they (the Sheriff s Of- ce) did a really good job right from the start, ,Trask said. They didn t charge carries a top sentence of ve years in prison and/or a $10,000 ne. Deputy Mason County Prosecutor Corey Thompson then argued to in- crease bail in Hartwell s previous two matters to $50,000 eachfor a total bail amount of $110,000. In those cases, Hartwell is charged with second-de- gree theft from an early-November ar- rest, and residential burglary, second- degree burglary and theft of a motor vehicle in a February incident. Mr. Hartwell may have some ele ments of being a ight risk and bond give up, were very diligent and per- severed in order to keep our citizens safe. She added there s no reason for the Board of Mason County Commission- ers to try to step in and initiate chang es in jail or courthouse policies. I trust our Sheriffs Of ce and the corrections deputies that they ll help us resolve any issues that might arise concerning the safety of citizens, courthouse employees and Sheriffs Of ce staff, she said. Mason County Jail Chief Kevin Hanson said he s making a push to Change the law regarding unre- strained inmates in the courtroom. may be appropriate, Jones said. But he s not a risk to the community, and none of the offenses in any of these cases are violent. He committed no as- sault on the way out of the courtroom. He s plainly not a risk to the commu- nity Goodell set bail at $30,000 for each of Hartwell s two previous cases, then scheduled him for hearings in all three matters for Feb. 3. As of Wednesday morning, Hartwell remained in Mason County Jail on $70,000 bond in total. r gal marijuana growing operation in the Belfair area, several Sheriff s Of- ce detectvies noted their displeasure with the court ruling that allowed Hartwell to be seen in court unre strained. Moody, whose department is con- tracted with the county to house City of Shelton inmates, echoed oth- ers gratitude for the work that led to Hartwell s most recent apprehension as well as displeasure with the Court of Appeals ruling. r The courts have literally set boundaries on things that are hav- ing an effect on public safety, and the safety of the deputies and of cers in- Mark my words, this isn t going 'volved, he said. You ve got a handful to be the last time something like this is going to happen statewide, be- cause that s just what happens when you have inmates without restraints. 'You re providing them with an oppor- tunity, Hanson said. Hanson also told the Journal that he s asked Mason County Chief Dep- uty Prosecuting Attorney Tim White head to look into additional inmate controls that might not be considered restraints by a judge, such as remote controlled electronic devices applied to wrists or ankles. , After returning'Tuesday to Shelton from shutting down a suspected ille of (law enforcement) agencies running a Code 3 to come nd antescapee. That puts everybody at risk. Moody said he s as comfortable as ever in sending his inmates to the Shelton detention facility. However, he noted that in consecutive years, the county defeated tax measures that were proposed to improve public safe-v ty efforts. Unfortunately, the public safety tax was voted down, Moody said. I understand that the people spoke and said that they don t want to pay any new taxes into it. So we ve got to get creative.