Soap Lake police warrants draw concern
SOAP LAKE - Soap Lake Police Chief Jim Dorris and Grant County Undersheriff John Turley met last week to discuss concerns about how two search warrants were handled in June.
Soap Lake police served a search warrant during a drug raid on June 10 and a search warrant on June 24, where Soap Lake law enforcement shot and killed a dog.
An internal memo dated June 27, from Turley to Dorris, was circulated anonymously to local media.
The memo indicated several concerns Turley had about how the search warrants were carried out. He believed Grant County deputies were put in danger by Dorris' officers during one search warrant and the potential for a civil liberties lawsuit stemming from the other.
Dorris responded with a letter July 9 where he disagreed with some concerns and agreed more specialized training was needed for his officers.
"It was to say, 'enough is enough' and you need to slow down," Turley said in an interview about the original memo. "What needs to be done is a complete coordination … from a wrong address to not doing the right thing on an approach to a house."
Turley was not at either incident but sent the memo after the deputies expressed concerns in written reports about the incidents in Soap Lake.
According to the memo, four shots were fired by Soap Lake officers Sgt. Michael Clines and Jason Allenton at a pit bull at a residence on Third Avenue Northeast when a search warrant was executed on June 24 to search for drugs.
"Shots were fired at a canine as it posed a hazard to officers executing the search warrant in which many of the sheriff's personnel were compromised by a Soap Lake officer shooting his firearm in their direction," Turley stated. "Several sheriff's personnel were compromised in a cross-fire."
Reports from deputies Darrik Gregg, Allan Sleeper and Ephrata police officer Mario Martinez also alleged Soap Lake officers were shooting in a direction toward the assisting officers.
"Officer Allenton and Sgt. Clines did fire at the animal as I jumped out of the line of fire. I was not struck but I did see the muzzle flash from their weapons," Martinez wrote in a report obtained by the Columbia Basin Herald Friday.
"I was standing in the direct line of fire as Sergeant Clines was discharging his firearm at the dog," wrote deputy Gregg in a report obtained by the Columbia Basin Herald.
The incident led to the arrest of Duane S. Wilson, 27. He was charged with possession of a controlled substance and held on $5,000 bail, according to Grant County Superior Court documents.
The search warrant yielded three marijuana pipes, a gas mask converted into a smoking pipe, a glass methamphetamine pipe, a Soap Lake High School ASB card, 7 grams of methamphetamine, $700 cash and "several small plastic bags … which appeared to have residue of methamphetamine in them," according to court records.
In an interview with the Columbia Basin Herald, Dorris said, two officers fired four shots at the animal. He said no deputies were in danger. All four bullets struck the animal with two bullets passing through the animal and lodging into the bottom of the front door frame. Dorris said. He said the officers were shooting in a downward direction.
The officers were forced to shoot the pit bull because it lunged at an officer and the additional shots were fired after the first failed to stop the dog, according to Dorris.
Turley said the problem may have come about because of a failure to follow a raid plan. He said his deputies told him a raid plan was not fully developed during the briefing session before approaching the house. They also reported it was poorly executed.
Dorris said the raid plan was complete and the deputies had a chance to object to the plan during the briefing but didn't.
Turley stated once the officers and deputies reached the residence, the raid plan wasn't followed. He said the Soap Lake officers ran toward the residence where a suspect was standing outside and placed him on the ground and continued past him to the residence. The suspect was not restrained or checked for weapons by the officers. Deputies following the officers secured the suspect while officers continued inside the house.
"Typically, when we are involved with something like this, there definitely is a command system put in place," Turley said. "The problem here with this one, even when they did have some kind of briefing, the briefing went out the window when they pulled up on the house. I don't know if it was overzealousness or due to inexperience. What use is a plan when you throw it out the window when you go in?"
Dorris said the officers followed the plan when they placed the suspect on the ground and continued to the residence. He said the deputies requested to secure the suspects and the perimeter as opposed to entering the residence and the request was granted. The deputies were supposed to follow the officers and secure the suspect, he said.
No injuries to officers or suspects were reported, but the pit bull was killed.
In a separate incident, Soap Lake police served a search warrant June 10 at a residence on the 400 block of Ephrata Avenue Northwest.
After officers arrived, they allegedly entered a home with a different address than was listed on the search warrant, Turley stated in the memo. Officers reportedly continued searching the residence once the mistake was brought to the chief's attention, which Turley said gave him concerns.
"Our officer detained a juvenile and that connects us. When the search warrant was bad from the beginning … the whole rest of it is bad too," Turley said. "I brought that up to the prosecutor because I didn't want to be involved in any way, shape or form with a civil rights violation."
Dorris said the address listed was wrong and the issue was addressed the following day at a summary meeting.
He said once he learned of the mistake, officers stopped searching the residence and waited for an amended version of the search warrant. Dorris said they were at the correct house but a previous address of the suspect was listed on the search warrant.
The original search warrant was signed by Grant County Superior Court Judge Evan Sperline in person at 5:15 p.m. June 10 for a residence in the 300 block of Ephrata Avenue Northwest, according to the search warrant documents made available on Monday.
More than two hours later the warrant was amended to a house in the 400 block of Ephrata Avenue Northwest by someone with an unreadable signature at 7:35 p.m.
The search warrant was amended while law enforcement was at the scene, according to Turley.
The only description of the house on the warrant, aside from the incorrect house number, was a "residence is a single-story house with a main entrance facing west on Ephrata Avenue Northwest."
Turley agreed the address for the suspect was old and not updated to the newer residence, which was about three houses down from the outdated address.
When serving the search warrant, drug paraphernalia was voluntarily given to officers from a 17-year-old male suspect and his father, he said.
"Having initiated the search at the wrong address, the subsequent consent would be found to be vitiated under a totality of the circumstances evaluation," superior court Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Carole Highland wrote in a letter to Dorris. "Unfortunately, the 'corrected' warrant does not alleviate the illegality of the original entry … we are unable to proceed with charging."
In the memo, Turley stated the police department needs high-risk entry training and warrant-writing training.
"It isn't anything that should put a black mark on them," Turley said. "It should put an asterisk on them to slow down … there needs to be a little more supervision of protocol training as opposed to drawing from the hip."
Dorris said he agreed more training is needed. He said training is ongoing and plans to send his officers to train with Grant County deputies.
Turley stated the sheriff's office will continue to assist the police department as needed and despite his concerns, their response will not be inhibited.
Dorris said after having the meeting, he felt the concerns were resolved. He said there is no animosity between either department and looks forward to working with them in the future.
"It is my recommendation that the officers of the Soap Lake Police Department be given further training in the execution of high-risk search warrants as well as firearms training under stress inoculation," Martinez, the firearms instructor for the Ephrata police wrote in his report.
"I hold no animosity toward the officers of the Soap Lake Police Department and look forward to working with them in the future once it can be deemed (reasonably) safe to do so. Also, I would gladly assist with the training and am available as a resource."
EDITOR'S NOTE -Turley's memo and Dorris' response are posted in their entirety online at www.columbiabasinherald.com
*Warrants*
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