PORT ANGELES — A 29-year-old Sequim man was sentenced last week to more than four years in prison after pleading guilty to domestic violence-related charges, including assault with a deadly weapon: an ax.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge S. Brooke Taylor on Wednesday sentenced Shane A. Wheeler, 29, to 51 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of domestic violence assault in violation of a protection order, assault on a police officer, second-degree malicious mischief and assault with a “beef splitter” ax that had a 14-inch blade.
Documents filed by the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office in court give this account:
On Feb. 25, Wheeler hit the mother of their son with his fists while she held their child, causing significant swelling and bruising on her head, nose and arms.
Then, he grabbed an ax — a 34-inch-long meat cleaver, more than a third of which is blade and which is designed to be wielded with two hands — and started breaking the interior of the Dungeness-area home, causing $1,500 to $5,000 in damage.
When she fled into their son’s bedroom, he tried to chop the door down, according to court records.
The woman “said she was afraid for her life and thought he was going to hit her with the ax when she opened up the door and fled outside,” deputies said in the documents.
When deputies arrived, Wheeler was holding the ax in one hand and an unlit propane torch in the other hand before he dropped the torch and held the ax like a baseball bat.
A deputy said he pointed his gun at Wheeler and was on the verge of using lethal force when Wheeler growled at the officer, then ran.
Wheeler was tracked down by Port Angeles Police Department police dog Jag and his handler, Cpl. Kevin Miller, and was arrested.
He was treated at Olympic Medical Center for a dog bite, said John Troberg, deputy prosecuting attorney.
“Domestic violence cases can be very hazardous for law enforcement,” Troberg said Friday.
“They never know what they’re walking into.”
