Rifles found in unlocked car at Clallam Bay prison

Published 1:30 am Thursday, July 16, 2026

CLALLAM BAY — Two unsecured rifles were found in an unlocked vehicle repossessed from a corrections employee in the parking lot at the Clallam Bay Corrections Center.

Clallam County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Earls responded to a call at about 1 p.m. June 25 from a driver with a repossession company who had recovered a corrections officer’s vehicle from the CBCC parking lot and wanted law enforcement to remove a rifle he had noticed inside, according to law enforcement documents.

The driver also told Earls he found the corrections officer’s vehicle unlocked with the keys in the ignition.

While taking photos of the vehicle, Earls saw a rifle — a Ruger American 6.5 Creedmoor without a magazine — on the floor of the back seat as well as a second rifle, a Traditions .50 caliber Buckstalker muzzleloader with a beginner’s starter kit in their unopened original packaging. Neither was secured.

When Earls spoke with the corrections officer later that afternoon at CBCC, the man said he was living out of his vehicle, which was why his belongings, including the rifles, were inside, according to the deputy’s body cam video.

The man said the muzzleloader was a Christmas present for his son and he kept it in the vehicle so it wouldn’t be sold during a recent separation from his wife.

Peninsula Daily News isn’t naming the corrections officer because he hasn’t been charged with a crime.

A representative with the state Department of Corrections would not confirm if it was conducting an investigation of the incident or if the officer’s employment status had changed. DOC policy allows staff who are licensed to carry a concealed firearm — or who are exempt from licensing requirements — to keep a personal firearm in their vehicle in the prison parking lot, but the vehicle must be locked and the firearm and any accessories stored out of sight.