Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020 - Week 3
WINTER WONDERLAND
After a dusting of snow fell early Tuesday morning, water cascades at the head of the Shelton Creek/Teresa Johnson Memorial Trail near downtown Shelton. The National Weather Service posted a winter storm warning for Mason County, which prompted some school districts, including Shelton, to cancel classes for the day and others, including the Grapeview, Pioneer and North Mason school districts to start classes two hours late. Journal photo by Gordon Weeks
Escaped inmate captured
By MICHAEL HEINBACH
michael@masoncounty.com After nearly four days of searching, the Mason County Sheriff’s Office got the man it was looking for. About 5:15 a.m. Saturday, Sheriff’s Office personnel arrested escaped Mason County Jail inmate Donald Franklin Hartwell Jr. at a residence off Grapeview Loop Road in Grapeview. Hartwell eluded capture for the better part of a week after allegedly fleeing unshackled Jan. 7 from the main second-floor courtroom at Mason County Superior Court in downtown Shelton during a warrant identification hearing. The 38-year-old lifelong Mason County resident initially avoided capture by searchers from the Mason County Sheriff’s Office, Shelton Police Department and Washington State Patrol, reportedly heading north from the courthouse to the closed-off wooded trails above the Shelton Timberland library in the 700 block of West Alder Street. Later that day, Judge Amber Finlay issued two $50,000 warrants for Hartwell’s arrest, one for failure 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 have initially escaped to a Belfair residence prior to his capture Saturday in Grapeview. “We ended up getting (Hartwell) into custody with some really good police work,” Ryan Spurling, Mason County Sheriff’s Office chief criminal deputy of patrol operations told the Journal. “It was some great teamwork between all the law enforcement agencies in the county, who assisted by hitting the streets and gathering information. “Social media was one of our methods of gathering information, and eventually it was just a matter of chasing down leads until we found out exactly where he was.” According to Spurling, Hartwell was at first uncooperative with instructions from law enfocement at the time of his apprehension. But Spurling said that “through stern encouragement from (Sheriff’s Office) K-9 Caliber, he was arrested without further incident.” Hartwell, originally scheduled to make an initial court appearance Monday, had his hearing postponed until Tuesday due to illness. When asked Monday about Hartwell’s condition by Finlay during the Superior Court criminal docket, Mason County Chief Public Defender Peter Jones told the court he believed Hartwell’s illness was not communicative. Hartwell was brought to court Tuesday in handcuffs and shackles by two Sheriff’s Office corrections deputies for a warrant identification hearing and for arraignment on a new charge of second-degree escape from custody. However, before the hearings could begin, Finlay recused herself in favor of Judge Daniel Goodell, after Finlay realized that she was on the bench in the courtroom as Hartwell was suspected of committing his escape. For more of the Shelton-Mason County Journal, subscribe to our weekly edition. |
County, Shelton officials react to inmate escape
By MICHAEL HEINBACH
michael@masoncounty.com Mason County Clerk Sharon Fogo said she’s concerned for the safety of her office’s employees who regularly serve as clerk during criminal proceedings in Mason County Superior Court. Sharon Trask, Board of Mason County Commissioners chair, said her confidence in the Mason County Sheriff’s Office hasn’t wavered. Shelton Police Chief Darrin Moody said it’s unfortunate that residents over the previous two years voted against measures to incorporate a local tax to support public safety and the county’s criminal justice community. Those were just a few of the comments the Shelton-Mason County Journal received from local officials days after Mason County Jail inmate Donald Franklin Hartwell Jr. was captured by Mason County Sheriff’s Office personnel at a Grapeview residence following his escape from custody. According to a Sheriff’s Office declaration of probable cause to charge Hartwell with second-degree escape from community custody, Hartwell was scheduled for warrant identification hearings Jan. 7 in Mason County Superior Court in downtown Shelton in two 2019 cases in which he’s charged with second-degree theft of property, second-degree burglary, residential burglary and theft of a motor vehicle. In accordance with a 2018 state Court of Appeals ruling, defendants not considered a flight risk, but can’t be seen in court with restraints because it is a violation of their constitutional rights. Hartwell’s handcuffs and shackles were removed following transport between Mason County Jail and the next-door courtroom. Eyewitnesses say that once his case was called, Hartwell ran from the jury box of the second-floor main courtroom, evaded corrections deputies and courthouse private security personnel, then escaped on foot, having left his jail-issued sandals behind in the courtroom. After eluding an original search by personnel from the Mason County Sheriff’s Office, Shelton Police Department and the Washington State Patrol, Hartwell reportedly traveled north to the woods above the Shelton Timberland Library on the corner of West Alder and North Seventh Streets. At about 5:15 a.m. Saturday, Sheriff’s Office deputies took Hartwell into custody at a Grapeview residence off Grapeview Loop Road. “Our deputies did an absolutely outstanding job following leads in order to bring him into custody,” Ryan Spurling, Sheriff’s Office chief criminal deputy of patrols said Tuesday morning. On Monday in Mason County Superior Court, it was business as usual, and to the casual observer not much appeared to have changed regarding how jail or prison inmates are transported or seen in court. Personnel working in the courthouse Tuesday from Pacific Security, the Everett-based private firm contracted by Mason County to provide courthouse and additional county campus security through August, told the Journal that no new security measures had been enacted since Hartwell’s reported escape. For more of the Shelton-Mason County Journal, subscribe to our weekly edition. |
Shelton resident Justin Sillars shoots during a rifle match. Sillars qualified for the USA Shooting National Junior Olympics in April at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Courtesy photo
Taking aim
By JUSTIN JOHNSON
justin@masoncounty.com
An opportunity for a local youth to compete at one of the highest levels his sport offers brought has brought out the best in the community.
Justin Sillars, a home-schooled resident of Shelton and member of the Shelton High School rifle team, will compete in the 2020 National Junior Olympic men’s rifle championship April 13-18 at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado Sillars will compete against more than 500 shooters, with top finishers earning a spot on the USA Junior Olympic team.
“Being a rifle shooter is hard work, but very rewarding,” Sillars said. “I have been a part of the high school shooting team the past two seasons. I was invited to shoot with the Capitol City Rifle Club, where I was able to try out for the Junior Olympics.”
With expenses for equipment, travel to and from Colorado and accommodations on the horizon, Sillars approached the Mason County Sportsman’s Association for help raising money to be able attend.
The MCSA is a nonprofit organization that helps sponsor the Shelton High School Rifle Team and the Shelton High Naval Junior Reserve Office Training Corps Air Rifle Team.
When Sillars first approached the association about the expenses, the MCSA was unsure of its ability to help.
For more of the Shelton-Mason County Journal, subscribe to our weekly edition.
justin@masoncounty.com
An opportunity for a local youth to compete at one of the highest levels his sport offers brought has brought out the best in the community.
Justin Sillars, a home-schooled resident of Shelton and member of the Shelton High School rifle team, will compete in the 2020 National Junior Olympic men’s rifle championship April 13-18 at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado Sillars will compete against more than 500 shooters, with top finishers earning a spot on the USA Junior Olympic team.
“Being a rifle shooter is hard work, but very rewarding,” Sillars said. “I have been a part of the high school shooting team the past two seasons. I was invited to shoot with the Capitol City Rifle Club, where I was able to try out for the Junior Olympics.”
With expenses for equipment, travel to and from Colorado and accommodations on the horizon, Sillars approached the Mason County Sportsman’s Association for help raising money to be able attend.
The MCSA is a nonprofit organization that helps sponsor the Shelton High School Rifle Team and the Shelton High Naval Junior Reserve Office Training Corps Air Rifle Team.
When Sillars first approached the association about the expenses, the MCSA was unsure of its ability to help.
For more of the Shelton-Mason County Journal, subscribe to our weekly edition.
