PORT ANGELES — A Sequim man made his first court appearance Monday afternoon after he was arrested following a standoff late Saturday night in the Diamond Point area.
Anthony Lawrence Lee, 32, was being held in the Clallam County jail on $250,000 bail for investigation of second-degree attempted murder, second-degree assault and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. He is scheduled to appear at 1 p.m. Wednesday in Clallam County Superior Court.
Lee allegedly fired a handgun at a woman multiple times, struck her with the handgun and kicked her in the head, according to court documents.
Superior Court Judge Brent Basden said Monday that Lee attempted to shoot the victim not just when she was on the ground but when she was running away. The victim also suffered a broken eye bone and blackened eyes, he said.
“All this occurred while he was holding a firearm that he can’t possess,” Basden said before he set bail along with conditions of release.
Basden added that, given Lee’s numerous failure-to-appear warrants, there was some concern he would not appear for his next court date without bail being set.
Clallam County Sheriff’s Sgt. Eric Munger said no gunfire was exchanged between deputies and the suspect, although one shot was fired in an attempt to get the suspect to come out of his residence, which is a converted passenger bus.
“He didn’t want to come out as requested. So SWAT used a rubber bullet to wake him up because the flash bangs didn’t work. He might have been faking being asleep,” Munger said.
Clallam County Chief Criminal Deputy Brian King wrote in an email that gas was fired into the bus, but that didn’t result in Lee’s surrender.
Munger said the Washington State Patrol SWAT team was called to the scene based upon threat assessments conducted by the deputies.
“SWAT had to enter because he hung up and appeared to be ignoring us,” Munger said.
Neither the suspect nor any law enforcement officers were injured, he said.
The victim suffered extensive injuries and was taken to Olympic Medical Center, according to court documents.
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Reporter Brian Gawley can be reached by email at brian.gawley@peninsuladailynews.com.
