Man sentenced for taking roommate's children

EPHRATA - A Moses Lake man was sentenced to roughly a year in jail after grabbing his roommate's two children and running out of the house.

Shane J. Soares, 31, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree custodial interference in Grant County Superior Court, according to court records.

Prosecutors initially charged Soares with two counts of second-degree kidnapping. The charges were lessened as part of the plea agreement.

Soares has no prior felony convictions, and faced no more than 12 months in jail for each count.

Grant County Superior Court Judge John Antosz sentenced Soares to 346 days in jail for each count, according to court records.

Officers first contacted Soares before the crime in October 2011, when people reported he was screaming and yelling near Arlington Drive. A sheriff's deputy found Soares at the intersection of Doolittle Drive and Vandenberg Loop. Soares told the deputy he was yelling and acting out because the Lord told him to, and the house he was staying at was infested with demons, according to a Grant County sheriff's report.

The deputy reported he didn't have cause to hold Soares for mental health or criminal reasons, so he let him go, according to the police report.

After the officer contacted him, Soares returned home, where the victims' mother saw him standing in the doorway. They were talking when one of the boys coughed, according to the police report. Soares mood changed, and he began yelling at her, accusing her of poisoning the boys.

The woman tried to stop Soares from entering the room, but he disregarded her and grabbed the boys from their beds, according to the police report. He didn't respond to her demands to leave the boys and ran outside.

Deputies caught up with Soares about a quarter of a mile from the residence, he had the two children with him, according to the police report. He told officers, "The Lord made me do it. I needed to take them."

A drug recognition expert from the sheriff's office said Soares seemed to be under the influence of a narcotic at the time of his arrest.