PORT ANGELES — For the second time this week, a man arrested on Tuesday after a standoff with law enforcement in Carlsborg refused to appear in Clallam County Superior Court to face the charges against him.
Justin T. Cox, 37, on Friday would not leave his room at Clallam County Jail where he has been held on $1 million bail on six counts of first-degree assault against law enforcement and second-degree assault against law enforcement; death threats/harassment; first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm; two counts of reckless endangerment; first degree malicious mischief; resisting arrest; and obstruction of a law enforcement officer.
Appearing from the jail via video camera, Deputy Mark Raemer said Cox asked him to leave his room and told him was name was “Yahweh.”
Cox refused to attend his initial court appearance on Wednesday, June 18, as well.
Public defender Harry Gasnick and Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Michele Devlin at that hearing agreed Cox should receive a competency evaluation at Western State Hospital.
The Peninsula Crisis Response Team, composed of deputies from the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, the Port Angeles Police Department, the Sequim Police Department and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call Tuesday morning in the 200 block of Village Lane where Cox had barricaded himself inside a residence.
According to the arrest report, Cox used an AK-47-type rifle to shoot several rounds at law enforcement, striking two nearby houses and two armored vehicles deployed to the scene.
Clallam County Sheriff Brian King said no one was shot or injured, and law enforcement did not fire their weapons.
King said Tuesday’s incident was a good example of the importance of armored vehicles in highly dangerous situations.
“This is absolutely why we have this type of equipment,” he said. “They give us the ability, if we need to, to evacuate, to back up to somebody’s door and help them get out. People here were locked in place, but if we needed to get them out, we could.”
Clallam County Superior Court Judge Brent Basden scheduled a review hearing for Cox on July 3.
“At some point he will have to appear in court,” King said.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com
