Bainbridge teen arrested for burglary after destroying apartment

An 18-year-old Bainbridge Island man was charged with first-degree burglary Tuesday in Kitsap Superior Court after he allegedly tried to smash his way into his parent’s home following an hour-long destructive tantrum in his adjoining apartment.

Bainbridge police were called to the teen’s home just before 10 p.m. Sunday after authorities received a call of a “behavioral health crisis.”

Officers arrived and were told the 18-year-old had been destroying items in his apartment, which was a mother-in-law unit above the detached garage next to the family’s home.

His parents said their son did not have access to the main home due to his aggressive behavior in the past, and his father told an officer his son had a recent break-up with a girlfriend and “was not coping well.”

The son was known to police due to previous contacts for his emotional crises, and had reportedly fought with officers during a police visit in December 2019 where the son had allegedly kicked an officer in the face.

His parents told police the teen had been breaking things in his apartment for about an hour, and police could see that one of the upstairs windows had been broken.

The father let officers into the teen’s apartment, and police found the entire apartment and stairwell had been damaged. The drywall on every wall inside the apartment had been punched clean through to the insulation, the interior doors had been destroyed, the bannister on the stairs had been dislodged, and broken items were scattered on the stairs and floor.

Officers searched the apartment and looked on the roof of the garage for the teen, and also went through the woods around the home, but could not find him. Police noted the incident as a malicious mischief case and talked with the parents about treatment options before leaving, with the advice to call back if their son returned.

Police were again summoned to the home just after 10:30 p.m. Sunday, and the teen’s parents said he had broken more things outside the home and had then tried to break into the house by taking a heavy wrought-iron patio chair and breaking a glass door on the deck to get inside.

The teen then grabbed a bottle of whiskey and waved it over his head, and threatened to hit his father with it, as he tried to get in the house through the broken door.

He was stopped by his father, however, who used pepper spray to keep him outside the home. The teen then fled.

Bainbridge police began looking for the teen, and officers from the Poulsbo Police Department, Suquamish Police Department and Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the scene.

Police soon found the son on the lawn east of the home, and he was told to put his hands in the air.

When ordered to go to his knees, the teen refused and continued to argue with officers. He refused to comply with police “unless his ultimatums were agreed upon,” according to the certificate of probable cause.

The teen asked if he was going to be handcuffed, and when he was told yes, he said “that was unacceptable to him. When asked why, he responded by saying something to the effect of: ‘If I were handcuffed, I would have no more options. I wouldn’t be able to fight or escape.’”

When the teen eventually put one knee on the ground, two officers came up behind him to take him into custody, but he turned around at the last minute and began to resist arrest.

According to court records, it took five to six officers about five minutes to take him into custody, as he began flailing his arms and legs and tried to spit on any officer that he could.

Police put him in handcuffs and put a hobble device on his ankles to stop him from kicking.

An aid crew from the Bainbridge Island Fire Department that was waiting nearby then put the teen in an ambulance, where the teen allegedly continued to resist and “spat upon anyone within range.”

A spit mask was put over his head and the aid crew gave the teen three shots of Ketamine, a sedative, to get him to calm down so he could be taken to Harrison Hospital.

The teen was arrested for first-degree malicious mischief, first-degree burglary, fourth-degree assault, and resisting arrest. He was booked into Kitsap County Jail just after 3:30 a.m. Monday.

Police estimated damages at the apartment and home exceeded $5,000 in repair costs.

Conviction of first-degree burglary can result in a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $50,000 fine.