Sequim man pleads guilty to unlawful imprisonment

Christopher Charles Cooper will be sentenced Tuesday in Clallam County Superior Court.

PORT ANGELES — A Sequim man who was charged with kidnapping in August has pleaded guilty to a lesser count.

Christopher Charles Cooper, 27, pleaded guilty last week to unlawful imprisonment, second-degree taking a motor vehicle without permission and misdemeanor assault.

He will be sentenced at 9 a.m. Tuesday in Clallam County Superior Court.

Copper was originally charged with first-degree kidnapping and second-degree robbery for an Aug. 8 incident in Sequim.

Sequim police said Cooper forced a Sequim man to accompany him to a Spruce Road residence and threatened to kill him if he didn’t comply.

Police said Cooper took the man’s cellphone as they traveled and punched the alleged victim in the mouth after a third party confirmed that the he had been “talking s—” about Cooper, according to the affidavit for probable cause.

Cooper drove the alleged victim’s vehicle during the commission of the crime, police said.

Cooper pleaded guilty to the amended charges Thursday.

“I believe that he is entering this plea knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently, that he understands the consequences of the plea and that there is a factual basis for the plea,” Clallam County Superior Court Judge Brian Coughenour said.

“The court finds him guilty as charged.”

As part of the plea negotiations, the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office recommended a 60-day jail sentence for Cooper with credit for time served.

Cooper was released from the jail on his personal recognizance Thursday. He was ordered to have no contact with the victim.

Meanwhile, Jerez Darren McGrew, who accompanied Cooper during the incident, pleaded guilty Oct. 5 to harassment-threats to kill and misdemeanor assault.

The 31-year-old was originally charged with being an accomplice to first-degree kidnapping.

McGrew was sentenced to 70 days in jail with credit for time served and 10 days converted to community service work, court papers said.

He, too, was ordered to have no contact with the victim.

_________

Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsula dailynews.com.

More in Crime

Man indicted on charges in alleged stabbing

Trial scheduled to begin in August

Man pleads guilty in sex crime

Sentencing hearing set Aug. 8 in Port Townsend

Craig A. Gallauher.
Man arrested on investigation of sexual exploitation, luring

A 52-year-old Sequim man has been arrested on investigation of… Continue reading

Trial date set for August in Sequim hit-and-run collision

Lawyers expect case will be extended due to amount of discovery

Jury convicts man of second-degree rape

Vasquez to be sentenced Aug. 8 in case that began in 2019

Tina Marie Alcorn, right, talks with attorney John Hayden during Alcorn’s first appearance on Tuesday in Clallam County Superior Court after extradition from Arkansas in connection with the 2016 homicide of George Cecil David in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Woman charged in decade-old murder

Alcorn, 54, extradited in woodcarver’s death

Port Townsend man sentenced to two years in prison

O’Donnell pleads guilty to residential burglary, second-degree theft

Clallam County Sheriff’s deputies respond to unrelated firearms incidents

Man, 18, turns himself in after allegedly shooting from moving vehicle

Trial date moved for man charged with attempted murder

The trial date for a Port Angeles man charged… Continue reading

Woman sentenced to nearly 12 years for burglaries

Jury convicts Woods after nine-day trial

Man pleads guilty, sentenced to 15 years

Port Angeles man robbed Dollar Tree store in March 2024