Man in Sequim standoff charged
Published 12:47 am Friday, April 23, 2010
PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed formal charges on Thursday against a Sequim man involved in a three-hour police standoff Monday.
Joshua M. Lemaster, 23, was charged with second-degree assault with a deadly weapon, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, fourth-degree assault and making false or misleading statements to a public servant.
He will be arraigned in Clallam County Superior Court next Friday at 9 a.m.
Lemaster is accused of assaulting two men — pointing a .22-caliber rifle at one and attempting to punch another — near his residence on House Road near Sequim at about 2 p.m., according to the court documents.
Ten Clallam County sheriff’s deputies, six Sequim police officers and a Lower Elwha Klallam police patrol unit formed a barricade around the residence just north of Sequim.
Lemaster was arrested three hours later in his living room without further incident.
Police found a .22-caliber rifle, a pellet rifle and a 6-inch knife inside the house. Lemaster was not carrying the weapons.
He was in custody Thursday in the Clallam County jail on $50,000 bail.
Defense attorney Harry Gasnick on Thursday asked Judge S. Brooke Taylor to lower the bail amount because Lemaster was originally investigated for first-degree assault and later was charged with second-degree assault.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ann Lundwall, who originally requested a $250,000 bail, said the bail was justified.
“The charge still involves pointing a gun at another human being in a threatening manner,” Lundwall said.
Lemaster has felony convictions, including making threats with intent to terrorize, in California.
“The bail is more than reasonable under the circumstances,” Taylor ruled.
