Bainbridge man arrested after alleged gun incident

Published 11:26 am Saturday, August 15, 2015

A 42-year-old Bainbridge Island man was charged with second degree unlawful possession of a firearm and felony violation of a court no-contact order after landscapers working at the Ferncliff Avenue property said the man started waving a gun around and then shot into the water while they were working nearby.

The man was charged Tuesday in Kitsap County District Court. He was arrested and booked into Kitsap County Jail late Monday and bail was set at $150,000.

Police were called to a home in the 9000 block of Ferncliff just before 2:30 p.m. Monday, after a woman said her three landscapers said a man was on the beach at a neighboring property with a gun.

The workers told police that the man came down to the beach and pulled a gun out from behind his back.

He allegedly pointed the gun toward Seattle, then got a red canoe, put it in the water and got into the canoe.

One of the landscapers said the man then pointed the gun at the water and fired a shot, and the workers ran away.

Officers went to the home where the man had been staying and was told by his wife — who had gotten a domestic violence no-contact order against him — that he had gone to the beach.

She said she had heard a gunshot coming from the beach and thought he had shot himself, and also said he had warrants for his arrest for domestic violence and was supposed to turn himself in at the jail last week but did not show up.

Police discovered the husband was wanted on two warrants for domestic violence assault, and two others for violations of protection orders. Officers went down to the beach to look for him and couldn’t find him, but told the woman to call police if he returned.

Just before 5 p.m., Bainbridge police were notified of a call to Seattle police from the woman, who said her husband had returned but then left when he heard that police were coming back.

Officers found the man on a neighbor’s staircase leading to the beach. Police asked him to come up and talk. He said he knew he had warrants for his arrest and didn’t want to go to jail.

He finally came up to officers, but tried to run away and a struggle ensued.

The man resisted officers and started yelling “Shoot me” before police were able to restrain him.

The man denied having a gun, and he was taken to jail and booked on the outstanding warrants.

Police contacted his wife, who said she had tried unsuccessfully to text 911 when her husband had come back to the home 20 minutes after police left. She said her husband had put the gun on a shelf in a bedroom closet under a tray, and she called 911 after he left the bedroom and was connected with Seattle police.

He later fled, she said, when her son told her husband police were looking for him.

An officer checked the bedroom and found a .45-caliber Magnum Desert Eagle handgun that was loaded with 10 rounds, including one in the chamber, wrapped in a white blanket under a serving tray.

Police seized the gun.