After months of hearings and conferences regarding his charge of driving under the influence, Richland City Councilmember Bob Thompson pleaded guilty on July 21, 2020 to a lesser charge of reckless driving.
Washington State Patrolman James Stairet stopped Thompson for speeding at midnight on June 29, 2019, when Thompson was Richland’s mayor. Thompson’s eyes were “watery and bloodshot,” and Thompson held the driver’s side door for balance as he got out of his car, Stairet wrote in his report of the stop. Thompson declined to take a field sobriety test and said he wouldn’t complete a breath test, wrote Stairet, who then arrested Thompson.
Thompson, a lawyer, regularly defends clients who have been charged with DUI.
In a telephone conversation, Thompson likened his case to others. “As many as 75% of first offenders accept a plea agreement,” he said.
Thompson said he will lose his license for 30 days. “Probably September,” he said.
But he’s not required to have an ignition interlock device, and a reckless driving conviction won’t prevent him from travelling to Canada, where he sometimes attends conferences to represent the city’s support for the Hanford cleanup.
According to the court docket, Thompson paid a $1,233.97 fine and completed both a victim impact panel and Alcohol Drug Information School.
Thompson’s two-year, unmonitored probation requires that he not possess or consume alcoholic beverages, marijuana or controlled substances or drive without a valid license and proof of insurance.
He acknowledged a second incident could bring stiffer penalties. “If you’re dumb enough to have another similar incident, you’re in big trouble,” he said.
Update Aug 19, 2020: Last night the City Attorney Heather Kintzley advised Mayor Lukson that the vote of three members, a majority of those present, could pass a change in the term limits for boards and commissions. However, Mayor Ryan Lukson emailed me this morning that she was wrong; a vote of four is required. According to Mayor Lukson, “Not sure if it will come up again but for now it is dead.”
Mayor Ryan Lukson began Tuesday night’s meeting by reading Councilmember Brad Anderson’s resignation letter. Anderson said that health issues required lifestyle changes that were not possible while holding down a fulltime job plus serving on the Council.
Anderson has served on the Council since defeating incumbent Ed Revell in 2011. He ran unopposed in 2015 and defeated Shir Regev in 2019.
The Council will pick a successor to Anderson from applicants. The appointed member will serve until the next election in 2021.
Later the council approved a Lukson motion to pull two items from the consent calendar for discussion and a separate vote, one to eliminate term limits for boards and commissions and the other to limit parking on Hains Ave.
Of the four members present only Councilmember Sandra Kent voted to maintain the term limits. She said, “We already have the ability to extend an appointment by one term beyond the 12-year limit. I think that is long enough. We need to work harder to find qualified people.”
Terry Christensen who, according to Lukson, proposed the change said, “We need institutional knowledge that long-term committee members provide.”
Lukson and Councilmember Phil Lemley voted with Christensen to allow board and commission members to serve for an unlimited amount of terms. Councilmembers Robert Thompson, Michael Alvarez and Anderson were absent.
The other item would limit parking on Hains Ave. to one side of the street. The Councilmembers voted unanimously to postpone a decision on that until they had more information.
On Aug.18, 1920, the United States ratified the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving women the right to vote.
Today women hold 41.5% of the seats in the Washington State Legislature but only 14% of the seats on the four local city councils and the two county commissions.
To better understand why so few women serve in the Tri-Cities, the Observer sought records from the cities of Richland, Pasco, Kennewick and West Richland, and from Benton County and Franklin County as well as the Benton County Election Office, the Franklin County Election Office and the Washington State Archive.
The Observer talked to current city council members Kate Moran and Gail Brown of West Richland and to former city council members Carol Moser of Richland and Rebecca Francik of Pasco.
They all agreed that raising money was one of the issues that prevents more women for running for local office. Plus, they all said they believe that women underrate their experiences and qualifications.
Richland
Seven members serve on the Richland City Council and the members elect a mayor after each election. Since the city was incorporated in 1958, 72 people have served on the Richland City Council. Only 13 of those were women, and they served 71 of the 434 council member years. Currently, one woman, Sandra Kent, sits on the council.
In the City of Richland, which provided more complete records than the other jurisdictions, six of the 13 (46%) women who have served there were first appointed and avoided campaigning and fundraising. Only 11 of the 59 men were appointed (19%).
Carol Moser was appointed to the Council in 1995 and served almost 10 years until she resigned to accept an appointment from Gov. Christine Gregoire in 2006 to serve on the Washington State Transportation Commission.
Most people on the council serve until they resign. Only eight men (13%) who have run again have lost their post in a re-election, but five women (38%) have.
Moser explained the difference. “While councilmen often run unopposed, councilwomen usually have opponents in their elections. Women are viewed as weaker candidates.”
She said that she ran in 1995 when she became concerned about the lack of parks in South Richland. At the time, that side of the Yakima River had only one large park, Claybell Park. She worked to add Badger Mountain Park to the area.
From 1996 to 2000, three women served on the Richland City Council at the same time. According to Moser, the three referred to themselves as MazurMoserMunn as their names were read in the roll call. Rita Mazur served 14 years starting in 1995. Wanda Munn served four years starting in 1995.
Moser said, “You know it’s still a good old boy system when you see that only one woman has been mayor in 68 years.” Pat Merrill was mayor from 1958 to 1962.
Kennewick
Since the Council-Manager form of government was adopted in 1954, only six women have served on the Kennewick City Council and for only 30 of the 462 Council member years. No women have served on the council since 2013. One woman, Paula Drew Lockwood, served as mayor from 1990 to 1992.
Pasco
The Observer obtained records for Pasco that went back to 1977. During that time seven women served on the council for 46 of the 301 council member years. Of that seven, two serve today.
Rebecca Francik was appointed to the Pasco Council in 1996 to replace Joyce DeFelice who was appointed in 1989. DeFelice resigned to become the district director for then-Congressman Doc Hastings.
In 2005 DeFelice, using her maiden name Olson, ran for re-election to the council, defeating incumbent Eileen Crawford 3190 to 3188. In 2010, Olson, who had served several terms as mayor, resigned to marry her high-school sweetheart who lived out of state.
Francik recalled, “On my first council everyone was expected to pick up their packets, read them, research and bring their A game to council meetings. It was an analytical group.”
“As a woman and the mother of seven children, I had a different perspective than the men on the council. I had spent many hours at the swimming pool with my seven children, and I knew why residents were complaining that there was no shade there.” Francik added, “I don’t think this area appreciates the different experiences that women bring to the councils.”
Francik remembers she first worked with Pasco City Council when she proposed having the City of Pasco annex her neighborhood. Almost a third of the houses in her area had failing sewer systems and homeowners wanted to connect to the Pasco sewer system.
Francik lost re-election in 2017 to David Milne.
West Richland
West Richland has a strong-mayor system of government. There are seven council members and an elected mayor. The Observer was able to obtain West Richland records back to 1986. The city clerk directed the Observer to the minutes at the Washington State Archives and the online Benton County Election records.
From 1986 until the present, 11 women have served on the West Richland City Council and voters have elected two mayors. Kate Moran first ran in 2017 and lost. After that election, she was appointed to the West Richland Planning Commission. In 2019, she was elected to the council.
She said she ran when she discovered how hard it was to obtain information from West Richland.
“The difficulty was not deliberate lack of transparency,” she noted, “but rather poor accessibility.” She added “Covid-19 has accelerated the adoption of electronic record keeping and communication.”
Gail Brown has served longer, 23 years, than any other member of a local council except Bob Thompson in Richland, who has served 26 years.
Brown said she ran because she was “mad about potholes.”
She noted that she went to the city council to complain and found herself spending more and more time there. Soon she was elected to serve on the council. She said that she has continued to serve because of her interest in protecting the older residential sections of West Richland.
Brown noted that as West Richland has grown, it has become more and more expensive to run for a seat on the city council.
Brown recalled a particularly memorable vote to appoint a replacement member on the council in 2006. The council called a special meeting to decide which of two candidates, Maggie Valcich or Merle Johnson, members would choose.
“This vote really demonstrated the difference between men and women on the council,” she remembered.
Brown, Julie Jones and Nancy Aldrich supported Valcich. The men on the council supported Johnson. After going into executive session on and off for almost three hours, Mayor Dale Jackson broke the tie and the council appointed Johnson.
Benton and Franklin County Commissions
Since 1905, only three women have served on the three-member Benton County Commission and for only 16 commission years out of 345. Kathy Utz served from 1976 to 1980. Deborah “Debbie” Reis served from 1982 to 1986. Sandi Strawn served from 1988 to 1996.
Reis ran for Mason County Commission in 2008 but lost in the primary. Currently she serves as chair of the Mason County Board of Equalization.
The Observer was able to obtain records back to 1990 for the Franklin County Commission. No women currently serve on the Franklin County Commission.
Since 1990, only two women have served on the commission. Sue Miller was elected in 1992, 1996 and 2000. She served as chair in 2001. Neva Corkrum was elected in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004. She was defeated by Brad Peck in 2008.
After public outcry, the Richland City Council in April pulled its proposal to change a city ordinance to eliminate the 12-year term limit for members of city boards and commissions. Proponents said the proposal would make city policy conform with actual practice.
Back in April, Mayor Ryan Lukson said that the matter would be brought up again when citizens could “attend” the meeting.
However, the matter is once again on the agenda, even though citizens cannot currently attend meetings.The full text of the proposal appears on Page 80 of the city council packet.
Five members have served beyond the 12-year limit. Marianne Boring, the spouse of a plans examiner in the City of Richland Development Office, has been a board member longer than the other four. At the completion of her terms, she will have served 20 years on the Planning Board and 18 years on the Board of Adjustment. Some members of those boards have not been approved to serve for the full 12 years.
The proposal appears on the Consent Calendar with 13 other items. Council members approve all items on the Consent Calendar with one vote, unless a member moves to have an item considered separately.
The council meets on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. The instructions for commenting appear at the top of the agenda.
Benton County sheriff’s deputies describe sloppy record keeping for weapons, ammunition and weapons training certification in a 61-page collection of interviews given to the Observer. The interviews are part of an administrative review of the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.
Benton County Sheriff Jerry Hatcher requested the review from Franklin County Sheriff Jim Raymond after almost 14,000 rounds of ammunition and 2 firearms, all Benton County property, were discovered at Hatcher’s formerhome.
The findings are included in the review conducted by Franklin County sheriff’s investigators.
When asked to describe how ammunition is inventoried and stored, Benton Detective Todd Carlson in charge of training told investigators that “there was no inventorying policy that he knew of.” The detective said he would issue ammunition to deputies who needed it.
As to record keeping on firearm certification, the detective told investigators, that with multiple firearms trainers, “sometimes the sheets aren’t promptly turned in, or they are left in cars, etc.”
The detective said he often did not know who used the shooting range until he got a record.
Sometimes, the detective was told when a deputy’s weapons qualification was overdue, and he then had to track it down.
Several people had access to firearms records, the detective told investigators.
”There were a number of people who could access and make changes to the records,” the detective said, according to investigators.
Commander Jon Law said that, “There is a policy [for inventorying firearms], but honestly it is sloppy at times.”
The review was controversial from the beginning. The Fraternal Order of Police and the Benton County Deputy Sheriff’s Guild pointed out the close working relationship between Raymond and Hatcher.
The unions said an agency outside of the Tri-Cities should conduct such a review.
Some of the interviewed Benton deputies pointed out that a criminal investigation into potential wrongdoing normally precedes an administrative review. Those deputies hesitated about talking to Franklin County investigators because they feared retribution from Hatcher. At least two deputies obtained “whistleblower” protections, Sgt. Jason Erickson and Lt. Erik Magnuson, documents show.
The two Franklin investigators, captains Adam Diaz and Monty Huber, told the deputies that they were consulting with Raymond and could not assure that he was not sharing information with Hatcher.
The review documents sent to the Observer are attached to this post. Investigators summarized their findings starting on Page 56 of the report.
In response to the administrative review, Erickson, who recently filed to petition for Hatcher’s recall, submitted a complaint in Benton-Franklin Superior Court (No. 20-250460-11) to obtain records he said were not provided in earlier requests.
Erickson asked for records of all communication between Hatcher and Raymond, and between Huber and Diaz and either Hatcher or Raymond.
Erickson had obtained an email written by Raymond to Hatcher, Franklin Prosecutor Shawn Sant, Franklin Chief Civil Deputy Jennifer Johnson, and Captain Ronelle Nelson regarding his public record request of April 17, 2020
In the April 20, 2020, email, Raymond refused to turn over the Administrative Review. He accused FOP attorney Alan Harvey of being “up to his usual antics” and “his usual crap” in making a public record request to obtain a copy of the review.
“We (FCSO) are not going to fulfill Mr. Harvey(‘s) request as this matter belongs first completed and placed in the hands of Sheriff Hatcher,” Raymond said in the email.
Clarification: The Toppenish Police Department’s newly purchased vehicles do not have dashboard cameras. The article has been edited to reflect that.
A Franklin County Sheriff’s deputy had enough violations at his past job to warrant serious counseling from the police chief, according to documents obtained by the Observer. Eighteen months later on November 18, 2019, Deputy Code Quantrell killed Dante Jones in circumstances similar to those he had been counseled about in Toppenish, where Quantrell was a police officer. The Observer obtained the three-page counseling memo written by Toppenish Police Chief Curt Ruggles and a citizen complaint against Quantrell by submitting a public record request.
According to Ruggles, Quantrell pursued a vehicle in a reckless manner for 30 minutes for a traffic violation; pulled a gun on the wrong suspect in a motorcycle reckless driving case and then failed to report the use of force until a complaint was filed; and he damaged patrol vehicles 7 times.
In his memo Ruggles describes the problems with Quantrell’s vehicle pursuit:
“1. The pursuit was initiated for a traffic violation of failing to stop/yield while exiting an alley. This is a civil infraction.
2. At best the actions of the suspect vehicle would constitute a Reckless Driving charge, which is still a gross misdemeanor.
3. The pursuit lasted for approximately 30 minutes, in which almost all of the driver’s actions caused a significant risk to the public’s safety, responding officer’s safety as well as your own safety.
4. Several times throughout the pursuit you mirrored or mimicked the reckless and dangerous actions of the suspect. Both while there was no traffic as well as times where there was traffic.
5. You intentionally caused significant damage to your patrol vehicle, by driving around/through a dead end street/barricade to continue the pursuit.”
The night of the shooting of the unarmed Dante Jones, Jones was clocked at speeds of anywhere from 55 mph to 87 mph on a rural Franklin County Road at around 3:00 a.m. After the initial pursuit involving two other officers, Sergeant Gordon Thomasson says over the police radio, “he’s not driving recklessly or anything at this point, he’s pretty much slowed down to highway speeds”. (Radio transcripts were included in the Tri-Cities Special Investigative Unit Report obtained by the Observer with a public record request.) He “commanded” that Quantrell “terminate the pursuit” (Page 6 of the report). Instead Quantrell continued until he claimed that he was being brake checked and almost hit by Jones. “Assault 1” he said (Page 57 of the SIU report).
In counseling Quantrell in Toppenish, Ruggles quotes Pursuit Driving Policy (SOP 40.005): “Also, reckless and unsafe driving after police engagement is not part of the determination as to whether or not the suspect vehicles’ actions create an immediate risk to public safety.”
On the day of the Quantrell counseling in Toppenish a motorcyclist registered a complaint against Quantrell for pulling a gun on him for alleged reckless driving. The motorcyclist was stopped by Quantrell at an ATM because his clothing matched a report on a reckless motorcyclist made by another officer. Quantrell claimed the motorcyclist was trying to flee even though the cyclist said his motorcycle was not running. According to Ruggles’ memo, “Again, this is 6 minutes after the initial call and nowhere near the area of town the motorcycle would been intercepted if it would have continued northbound on North Meyer… This stop is merely a stop for reckless driving, there has been no violence towards another.” The memo notes that Ruggles “viewed the video.” It is not clear where the video originated, but some Toppenish police cars have dashboard cameras.
Ruggles continued in the memo: “I do not feel the force option of drawing your duty weapon and bringing on target was reasonable or necessary for that time and that place. That aside, the tactic of you advancing on the suspect with your weapon drawn, without cover officers being present is not a tactic that has been trained at this department or even a tactic that is safe.” He continues: “What you did is considered ‘Tombstone Courage’ and that behavior has resulted in injuries and even death in police officers nationwide.”
Furthermore, Ruggles wrote that Quantrell “employed a deadly force option and failed to document the incident until the next day, after Lucas had already called the department indicating his desire to file a complaint and speak with me.” Ruggles cited this as a violation of SOP 40.002 – Departmental Use of Force.
In the Dante Jones case, Quantrell stated that when Jones pulled his vehicle next to his, he got out of his patrol car with his weapon in his right hand, opened the passenger side door and reached in with his left hand to take keys out of the ignition. He claims Jones hit the gas and Quantrell had to shoot the unarmed Jones four times because he was trapped in the car and feared that he would be “drug under the car or ran over” (pg. 6 of the SIU report). According to the police radio transcript, no more than 39 seconds elapsed between Jones pulling up to Quantrell’s vehicle and shots being fired.
The Washington State Patrol Crime Scene Response Team concluded: “Four shots were fired into the vehicle striking Mr. Dante Jones multiple times from the open passenger door/window while he was in the driver seat.”(Page 478 of the report).
According to the crime scene team, three of the four shell casings were found on the road; one was found in the car. “All of the bullet paths associated with the multiple gunshot wounds to Mr. Donte Jones were from his right to left.”
The Observer contacted Franklin County Sheriff Jim Raymond to ask what policies and investigations he used in the process of hiring new deputies. He responded: “Hiring of Sheriff Office Employee’s/Deputies is extensive. One must first pass a written and physical testing process to establish themselves on a Civil Service list. Once on a hiring list and before the being hired the agency does an exhaustive background investigation on the person. An investigation which involves visiting past employers, neighborhoods where the person lived and so on. After this process is complete the applicant has to undergo a polygraph, medical and psychological examinations. Then they are offered a position if the Sheriff or Chief chooses as you get to pick from the top five applicants.”
Prosecutor Shawn Sant wrote the Observer a month ago, “I am still awaiting evidence to be evaluated and returned from the Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory. I will not be able to complete my findings until I have ALL available evidence for review and consideration.” He has not responded to a recent request for additional information.
Since 2012, judicial candidate Sharon Brown and her ex-husband Fraser Hawley have been almost continuously involved in lawsuits filed against them in Benton-Franklin Superior Court. Now she wants to be a judge there. In her official Candidate Statement she emphasizes her lawmaking in the Washington State Senate:
“As a business lawyer, a City Council member and Mayor Pro Tem, and finally as your State Senator for the past eight years, I have developed a broad and unique skill set to make me an outstanding judge. Since 2013, I have been creating, revising and establishing policy to become law, thus I understand the true meaning of the law, and how it should be applied.”
Brown did not return calls requesting comment. However, public records from the Superior Court as well as Benton County property records and newspaper articles provide information about five lawsuits in which she was named. Settlements were reached in four cases and dates are noted but the full details are not available to the public. The fifth suit is ongoing.
December 11, 2012, Nor Am Investment LLC sued Fraser Hawley and Sharon Brown for payment of a promissory note for $300,000 due to be paid on April 25, 2012. At the time Hawley was working on development in Badger Mountain South. In the court papers Hawley responded that the $300,000 was for earnest money on property for which a purchase and sales agreement had been executed. In addition, Hawley responded that the plaintiff had not compensated Hawley for the reasonable value of the benefits of Hawley’s designs, efforts, engineering and resources. The case was settled in March 2013.
December 2, 2013, Brown and Hawley were sued for “Fraud, Misrepresentation, and Conversion.” According to the complaint in the court records, the plaintiff gave a check to Hawley written to Cynergy Tower Investco for $101,106.33 on July 8, 2011. The check was intended to be an investment in a 22,000 square-foot condominium structure on the real property owned by Cynergy LLC. Hawley and one or more of the other defendants represented that the plaintiffs would become percentage owners of Cynergy Investco. Some months later Plaintiffs discovered that Cynergy Investco was not a legally registered in the state of Washington until about July 9, 2013. In the complaint the plaintiffs asked for interest on the $101,106.33 from July 8, 2011 to September 5, 2013 when the defendants had issued a check for the sum to the plaintiffs. The case was settled in June 2016.
August 29, 2017 Fraser Hawley and Sharon Brown and their business partners sued Banner Bank which was preparing to foreclose on their property at 4309 W. 27th Avenue in Kennewick for a loan of $4,136,678.11 that was due May 30, 2017. The plaintiffs argued that the bank was not negotiating in good faith and fair dealing. They claimed that the value of the Banks collateral greatly exceeded the amount owed on the loans and monthly payments were always timely paid. The owners said the bank knew that while the owners had sufficient assets for repayment, the assets were not liquid and would need to be obtained with the assistance of some financial planning.
On September 12, 2017, Banner Bank countersued Sharon Brown and Fraser Hawley and their business partners regarding the delinquent loan. According to court documents, the original promissory note had been signed on or about April 26, 2007 with an original maturity date of May 1, 2014. But the loan was amended and extended until May 30, 2017. The Bank claimed that they were entitled to immediate turnover of the collateral by the defendants.
The lawsuits were combined and according to court records a settlement was reached in early 2018. Hawley and Brown divorced on March 30, 2018 in Walla Walla, Washington Superior Court. She received the Kennewick property in the divorce settlement but later sold her share to partners on the project.
August 28, 2018, Michael Shemali, owner of MS Properties LLC and a former neighbor of Hawley and Brown, sued them and Thomas W. Arnold for repayment of two loans. This suit is the basis for Kennewick City Council Member John Trumbo’s “investigation” into the sale of Brown’s house and her knowledge of the marijuana business which resulted in an ethics complaint against him.
Shemali claimed that Hawley and Arnold had borrowed $500,000 on February 10, 2016 to be used to purchase equipment, build structures, and otherwise fund the Pure Green cannabis operation. About October 26, 2016, Shemali made a second loan of $250,000 for additional expenses at the cannabis operation. As evidence, Shemali presented the two promissory notes that appeared to have been signed by Hawley and Arnold.
In her response, Sharon Brown claimed that she was not involved in and had no knowledge of the alleged promissory notes and the plaintiffs’ claims against her should be dismissed. Hawley claimed in his response that he had never been provided proof of any money being transferred from Plaintiff Shemali. In addition, Hawley claimed that Arnold and Shemali negotiated the various loan agreements without Hawley.
January 29, 2019, Judge Alexander C. Ekstrom ruled in favor of the plaintiff:
The Court finds that the Complaint does not assert a claim against Ms. Brown in her individual capacity. Rather the Complaint seeks to hold Ms. Brown’s and Mr. Hawley’s marital community, and Mr. Hawley’s separate property, liable for the debt owed on the promissory notes.
The Shemali suit against Brown, Hawley and Arnold continues in the Benton-Franklin Superior Court while Sharon Brown campaigns to be a judge there.
Thank you for your correspondence. I am still awaiting evidence to be evaluated and returned from the Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory. I will not be able to complete my findings until I have ALL available evidence for review and consideration. These are serious cases of public importance. Every time a life is lost, we will look closely at those cases, especially when law enforcement officers use deadly force. I continue to review this case and anticipate completion only after all reports and any additional follow up information we may request, is provided.
Please follow up with me in about 3-4 weeks to see where we are in the process.
I sent the following letter to Franklin County Prosecutor Shawn Sant, 1016 N. 4th Avenue, Pasco, Washington 99301. The phone number to the office is 509-545-3543, ssant@co.franklin.wa.us
Dear Prosecutor Sant:
I writing to urge you to charge Deputy Cody Quantrell with killing unarmed Dante Redmond Jones and lying to investigators.
The evidence in the Special Investigation Unit report does not support Quantrell’s story about the shooting. According to the Washington State Patrol Crime Scene Response Team, “Four shots were fired into the vehicle striking Mr. Dante Jones multiple times from the open passenger door/window while he was in the driver seat.” Three of the four shell casings were found on the road. This does not support Quantrell’s dragging story.
By disobeying the command to “terminate the pursuit”, Quantrell put himself in the position, as he claims in his statement, to relive his Army days and decide he was being ambushed when Jones pulled his vehicle next to Quantrell’s patrol car. Quantrell stepped out of his car and shot Jones through Jone’s open passenger door. After the three deputies pulled Jones out of his car and found no weapon, a new story for shooting him was invented.
Speeding and resisting arrest are not capital offenses. Law enforcement officers are not judge, jury and executioners. The killing of unarmed black men must stop. I urge you to charge Quantrell and let a jury decide. Our community needs justice.
Forensic evidence in the Special Investigative Unit’s Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Case #19-05347, obtained through a public records request made to the Franklin County prosecutor, contradicts statements by the deputies involved in shooting unarmed Dante Redmond Jones. The shooting occurred on November 18, 2019 in rural Franklin County. Without dashboard cameras, body cameras and witnesses, collecting other evidence remains the only method for judging the veracity of officer accounts.
The Washington State Patrol Crime Scene Response Team concluded:
Four shots were fired into the vehicle striking Mr. Dante Jones multiple times from the open passenger door/window while he was in the driver seat. (Page 478 of the report)
This conclusion was based on the location of the bullet holes and trajectory of the bullets. (Pages 664-681)
But the shooter, Franklin County Deputy Cody Quantrell, backed by Deputy Andrew Gardner have a different story. Deputy Quantrell stated that after he pulled up next to Jones’ car with his gun in one hand he had reached into the car with his left hand to get the car keys out of the ignition when Jones accelerated the car. Quantrell said that passenger door closed on him and he became pinned between the seat and the car door. Fearing for his life he shot Jones.
The shooting occurred after an on again, off again high speed chase, after which the two, Gardner and Quantrell, seemed confused about whether there were one or two “near collisions” with Jones who was clocked at anywhere from 87mph to 55 mph on the rural Franklin County Highway at around three o’clock in the morning. (Page 7) No damage can be seen on any of the sheriff department vehicles which are pictured in the report.
Four shots were fired. Three of the bullet casings were found in the middle of the road. (page 124-138) The other casing was found on the floor of the passenger side of the car (Page 681). If the door was closed on Quantrell, how did the three casings end up in the road? And why did the trajectory of the bullets show that they were fired from an open car door or window as the Washington State Patrol Crime Scene Report Team reports and not from close range from the passenger seat in the car where Quantrell said he was trapped?
At around 03:18 Sargeant Gordon Thomasson who had also been involved in the chase, gave a “terminate pursuit command.” But Deputy Quantrell was not satisfied with that and said, “do you care if we still follow from a distance” (page 7). There was no response. Although Thomasson said in his statement that he gave the okay, the radio record (begins on page 22) does not support that and Quantrell admits in his statement that he did not get the okay to continue the pursuit (page 1389). At 03:23.16 Quantrell said “He just tried to hit my car. I have assault 1.”
At 3:23:55 Shots fired. It only took less than 39 seconds for Quantrell to stop his car, get out of it and shoot the unarmed Jones.
At the time of the shooting Quantrell had been with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department for one year. From 2013 to 2016 he was with the Yakima Nation Tribe and from 2016 until 2018 he was with the Toppenish Police Department. Prior to his police work, he spent three years in the military in a perimeter reconnaissance unit. (page 1343)
In addition to the shooting evidence, the report has other interesting information– almost 200 pages of comments posted on Facebook regarding the shooting (page 731 to 904). The record includes posts made to the Tri- City Herald Facebook page as well as posts on other media Facebook pages in addition to those on the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office page.
Franklin County Prosecutor Shawn Sant has given no indication as to when he will respond to the report. In 2015 he declined to bring charges against three Pasco police who fired 17 times at Antonio Zambrano-Montes who had been throwing rocks.
Dante Redmond Jones traveling 82 mph down a Franklin County back road was pursued by three Franklin County Deputies who shot and killed the unarmed Jones.
The Special Investigative Units (cops investigating cops) Summary follows:
Event — On 11/18/19 at 0308hrs, a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed passed Sgt Thomasson. As the vehicle passed Sgt Thomasson, it honked at him. Sgt Thomasson was able to get a radar reading on the vehicle showing that the car was speeding at 82MPH. Sgt Thomasson called Deputy Quantrell on the radio and asked him if he saw the same vehicle. Deputy Quantrell said that he did see the vehicle and that it honked at him as they passed as well. Sgt Thomasson then began to try to catch up to the vehicle, but Sgt Thomasson stated that he could not see the vehicle anymore due to the speed of the vehicle and the fog. Deputy Quantrell and Deputy Gardner began heading toward Sgt Thomasson’s location to assist him. At this point Sgt Thomasson did not activate his emergency lights because he was not sure where the vehicle was. Sgt Thomasson knew that there was a T intersection at Taylor Flats and Ringold so at this point he thought that it was a good possibility that the driver might not be able to navigate the 0004 Special Investigations Unit (SIU) Investigation Summary FCSO 19-05347 Page 4 of 10 intersection at the speeds he was driving. As Sgt Thomasson approached the intersection, he saw that the vehicle had slowed down and appeared to be waiting for the police vehicle to catch up to him. As Sgt Thomasson approached and when both vehicles were within view of each other the suspect vehicle took off again, heading west on Ringold. Sgt Thomasson followed the vehicle, still not activating his emergency lights because of the distance between their vehicles. He estimated that the closest he was able to get to the vehicle was about 200 yards and at times would pull away to 400-500 yards. When Sgt Thomasson passed R-170 and Davis Lane, he could see Deputy Quantrell and Deputy Gardner’s vehicle lights behind him. At one point, Sgt Thomasson said on the radio, “He just went dark”. I took this to mean that the driver of the suspect vehicle turned his vehicle lights off, although Sgt Thomasson did not mention this in his interview. At 0313hrs, Sgt Thomasson advised Dispatch that he was trying to catch a vehicle that was driving 80+ miles per hour in the fog and that so far he had been unable to catch up to the vehicle. He asked Dispatch to advise Adams County. He also advised Dispatch that he was not in pursuit because so far he was unable to get close enough to the vehicle to even turn on his emergency lights. Deputy Quantrell advised that he and Deputy Gardner were also trying to catch up to the vehicle. According to Sgt Thomasson, at about the intersection of R-170 and Sheffield he told them that their vehicles were faster than his vehicle and he told them to pass him so that they could get closer to the suspect vehicle. This happened at 0318hrs according to the radio call records. At 0319hrs, Deputy Quantrell advised Dispatch of the suspect vehicle’s plate number and stated that the driver was failing to yield. According to Deputy Quantrell during his interview, just prior to this radio transmission, he was able to catch up to the vehicle because it had stopped in the road at an intersection and was waiting for him (Deputy Quantrell) to catch up. Deputy Quantrell stated that after calling out the plate, the vehicle took off. Deputy Quantrell stated that his lights were on and after the vehicle took off from the stop, he turned his siren on as well and pursued the vehicle. According to Deputy Gardner’s statement, he was right behind Deputy Quantrell and saw the suspect vehicle stopped in the middle of an intersection waiting for them to catch up. DeputyGardner said that he and Deputy Quantrell came up behind the vehicle and actually came to a stop behind the vehicle prior to it leaving the scene of the attempted stop, at a high rate of speed. Deputy Gardner said that prior to the vehicle taking off he activated his emergency lights as if he was attempting to make a traffic stop. At 0319hrs, Deputy Quantrell advised Dispatch that the driver of the vehicle had tried to brake check him. In their interviews, Deputy Quantrell described this as the driver of the vehicle slammed on his brakes hard and that when he had done that Deputy Quantrell almost rearended the suspect’s vehicle. Deputy Quantrell said that the only way that he was able to avoid hitting the suspect’s vehicle was because he steered his vehicle into the opposite lane of travel, thus avoiding the collision. Deputy Gardner described the incident similarly and stated that he believed that the suspect was trying to initiate a collision between their vehicles and his. 0005 Special Investigations Unit (SIU) Investigation Summary FCSO 19-05347 Page 5 of 10 Deputy Gardner only described one near collision due to a brake check type incident in his statement until the terminate pursuit command was given by Sgt Thomasson. Deputy Quantrell talked about two near collisions prior to the terminate pursuit command in his statement, but they seem to describe the second near collision the same and it would appear that one of them is confused about the timeline of events. During this second event, both Deputies say that when Deputy Quantrell narrowly avoided colliding with the suspect vehicle he had to veer to the right of the suspect’s vehicle. When Deputy Quantrell did this, the suspect intentionally steered his vehicle to the right as well, in what appeared to be an attempt to ram or collide with the Deputy’s vehicle. At 0323hrs, a Deputy (the Deputy does not identify himself by a call sign, but it sounds like Deputy Quantrell) tells Dispatch that the suspect had just tried to hit his car and that he had an Assault 1. He then stated, “Frank 10 just be advised he’s trying to hit us at this point”. Deputy Quantrell in his interview goes on to describe what happened next in the following manner; He stated that after the terminate pursuit command was given by Sgt Thomasson, they both (Deputy Quantrell and Deputy Gardner) turned their emergency lights off and he (Deputy Quantrell) could see that the vehicle had again come to a stop in the middle of the road. He is again approaching the vehicle as he continued driving after turning his emergency lights off. As he got close to the car, Deputy Quantrell stated that he saw the suspect vehicle’s reverse light come on. The vehicle then began backing at a high rate of speed towards Deputy Quantrell’s patrol car. Deputy Quantrell stated that the suspect was in the middle of the road at this point and that the suspect backed up until he was just parallel to the driver’s side of Deputy Quantrell’s patrol car and came to a stop. Deputy Quantrell stated that after the vehicle backed up next to him and came to a stop he (Deputy Quantrell) exited his vehicle and drew his weapon. Because of where the vehicles were positioned, the suspect’s passenger door was right where Deputy Quantrell was standing as he exited his patrol vehicle. He said that he tried the door handle of the front passenger door and it was unlocked. He opened the vehicle door and started giving commands to the driver. Deputy Quantrell described these commands as “let me see your hands” and “you’re under arrest”. Deputy Quantrell said that the driver looked at him but did not say anything. As this was happening, Deputy Quantrell said that he started to move into the car with the intention of using his left hand to grab the key and turn the car off. Deputy Quantrell was halfway into the car when he (the driver) looked at him and shifted the gearshift into drive and began accelerating with Deputy Quantrell halfway in the car. When the car began to accelerate, Deputy Quantrell said that the passenger door closed on him and he became pinned between the seat and the car door. Deputy Quantrell said that when the driver accelerated and he became pinned half in and half out of the car, he feared that he would be drug under the car or ran over. Fearing that he would be gravely injured or killed, he discharged his handgun at the driver in an attempt to stop him. Deputy Quantrell stated that he then fell out of the car and landed face down on the pavement as the car continued to accelerate and drive off. Deputy Gardner describes the event as follows. He was behind Deputy Quantrell and the suspect vehicle when the suspect vehicle came to a stop parallel to Deputy Quantrell’s vehicle.
Deputy Gardner said that he was about 75 feet behind their vehicles. Deputy Gardner said that by the time he had exited his vehicle, he observed that Deputy Quantrell was already inside the suspect’s vehicle. Deputy Gardner said that he heard Deputy Quantrell giving verbal commands to the suspect. He said that he could not hear everything Deputy Quantrell was saying but remembered hearing “Franklin County” and “hands”. Deputy Gardner described Deputy Quantrell as having his entire torso in the suspect’s car. Deputy Gardner said that the vehicle then recklessly continued northbound with Deputy Quantrell still inside the vehicle. He stated that he saw Deputy Quantrell being dragged while half his body was still inside and he then heard gunshots and saw flashes coming from inside the car. At that point, he did not know who was shooting. Deputy Quantrell then fell out of the car as it continued northbound. Deputy Gardner said that he ran up to Deputy Quantrell to find out if he was okay. When Deputy Quantrell stated that he was okay, he ran back to his patrol vehicle and continued the pursuit. According to the radio traffic, the above descriptions of the incident happened in a very short amount of time as illustrated below by the radio traffic: 03:22:43AM – Deputy Quantrell states, “copy, do you care if we still follow from a distance, he’s stopping in the road now at this point” 03:23:16AM – Deputy Quantrell states, “he just tried to hit my car, I have assault 1”. 03:23:24AM – Deputy Quantrell states, “F10 just be advised, he’s trying to hit us at this point” 03:23:55AM – Deputy Quantrell states, F37 dispatch, shots fired, suspects been hit. He’s still continuing northbound. After Deputy Quantrell fell out of the suspect vehicle, Sgt Thomasson, Deputy Gardner and Deputy Quantrell continued their pursuit of the suspect. The suspect drove approximately 1.5 more miles before veering off the road into a field of tree saplings. Sgt Thomasson, who was the first vehicle behind the suspect, paralleled the suspect while remaining on the road as it went into the field. As the vehicle slowed, Sgt Thomasson drove into the field down a row that separated the fields and did not contain metal T-Posts. He was able to intercept the suspect vehicle as it slowed and came to a stop. Sgt Thomasson drove his vehicle up and pinned the passenger side door with the front of his vehicle, preventing anyone from being able to open or exit the vehicle from that side. Deputy Gardner and Deputy Quantrell were close behind and approached the vehicle around the front while Sgt Thomasson covered the vehicle from the rear passenger side. In order to get a better visual inside the car Sgt Thomasson broke the back passenger window out of the car. Deputy Gardner and Deputy Quantrell approached the driver’s door and opened the door. The driver, later identified as Dante Jones, was conscious but was not responding to any of the officer’s commands. They extricated him from the vehicle and placed him in handcuffs. They then began looking for gunshot wounds and providing first aid. Jones remained conscious but non-verbal until the ambulance arrived at around 0415hrs. Once the ambulance arrived, they loaded him and shortly after loading him, he stopped breathing and they started CPR. Around 0420hrs, the volunteer ambulance met a Pasco Fire Ambulance so that he could be transferred to their care for the remainder of the trip. At that 0007 Special Investigations Unit (SIU) Investigation Summary FCSO 19-05347 Page 7 of 10 point Pasco Fire Medics called the hospital and spoke to a doctor who told gave them permission to “call it”. They stopped all care at that point and notified Dispatch. The Ambulance moved to a nearby fire station and Captain Huber with FCSO responded to where the Ambulance was and stood by with the body until SIU arrived.
Recently, Franklin County Sheriff Jim Raymond spoke to the Franklin County Commission and the Pasco City Council promoting the idea of re-purposing the former Kennewick Hospital into an in-patient treatment and recovery center.
Sheriff Raymond pointed out that the jails should not be used as a warehouse for mentally ill people, drug addicts, and the homeless. The Tri-Cities is the only major metropolitan area in Eastern Washington with no de-tox center.
Who can forget the video of the horrible treatment of Marc A. Moreno who died in the Benton County jail in 2016. Moreno was bi-polar and schizophrenic.
While Benton County Commissioners quickly approved funds for a feasibility study for the proposed project, only Commissioner Clint Didier voted to approve the Franklin County share, $12,500. However, funding was found and the study has commenced.
In 2017, I filmed this video of police responding to an apparent drug overdose case. As several friends and I left a city council meeting that fall, we found a lightly dressed young man who appeared to be in drug crisis lying on the steps muttering and obviously hallucinating. He made no threatening gestures but was obviously a danger to himself if he either ran into the street or remained outside without adequate clothing. For lack of anywhere else to turn, someone called the police who were just next door. Within minutes six police appeared on the scene. The situation quickly escalated. Four of the police surrounded the man. As the he struggled, police commanded “Calm down” and “You are resisting arrest.” Needless to say, this had no effect. Then two paramedics arrive. After a few minutes in the grass with the man’s head held down, four of the police managed to place him in the patrol car and he could be heard kicking and screaming inside. I was never able to determine where they took the man but I assumed to jail. If he was treated like Moreno there, at least he survived it.
Much has been made about calls to “defund” police, but what we really need to do is “reorganize” police and re-think their job. Hopefully, our counties will move swiftly in that direction.
In case you think that our area is immune from questionable police shootings of black men, please spend some time reading about the November, 2019 case of former Marine Dante Redmond Jones. The Franklin County deputies who killed Jones took several questionable actions and you can only wonder if the incident would have ended the same way had Dante been white. There are no witnesses and no videos.
I have been notified by the Franklin County Prosecutors Office via a Public Record Request that they have the Special Investigation Units (SIU) report on the shooting of Dante Redmond Jones. Members of the Richland Police Department ran the investigation. However, the Prosecutor, Shawn Sant, doesn’t plan to release the report until it has 45 days of redaction. What are they redacting?
“We estimate a response in 45 days to allow time to compile the documents and make the required statutory redactions. Please advise if you are also requesting any CD’s. If so, please be advised there will be a $10 charge per CD. We will let you know how many CDs are releasable and the charge before you have to make a final decision.
Very truly yours,
Civil Division”
I have requested all of the material and I will keep you informed. Meanwhile, another case involving the shooting of a black man is also being investigated. Gordon Whitaker was killed in February by Kennewick Police under odd circumstances. Again, there were no witnesses and no videos
May 20, 2020, Richland City Council cancelled their regular 6:00 p.m. Tuesday Council meeting and instead announced a Special Meeting for the next day, Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. for an “urgent” matter. The agenda that was submitted at 1:15 on Tuesday, with no clear mechanism for citizen comment, included a contract for $4,321,784.65 awarded to Apollo, Inc. of Kennewick to complete the Duportail Bridge. This was the purpose for the meeting according to Mayor Ryan Lukson on Tuesday. But the agenda also included a motion to join the City of Kennewick in buying a quarter of an acre of railroad right-of-way in the City of Kennewick for $300,000 and a council discussion of Covid-19. The contract and the railroad purchase were passed on the consent agenda in the time it took to read the motions. For the next hour, longer than many regular meetings last, the Council discussed how to change the state Covid-19 shutdown status for Richland.
The $300,000 quarter acre purchase is for an extension of Columbia Center Blvd to Tapteal Drive. However, there are at least two other privately held properties in the line of the planned roadway extension. If the property at 8236 W. Gage is paid $300,000 per ¼ of an acre, then that .81 acres is worth $1,200,000. The property behind it at 8301 W.Yellowstone is 1.41 acres and would therefore be worth $1,800,000. Had I been able to make a comment, I would have mused (you’re not allowed to ask a question) about what the projected cost would be to the City of Richland for this roadway which is in Kennewick city limits?
The council meeting agenda had a link to a form that residents were to fill out in order to be allowed to comment but when you went to the link, it said “Form has expired”. The agenda gave phone numbers that connected to Zoom but resident observers were blocked from being heard or seen. City Manager Cindy Reents said after the meeting that there was a 9:00 a.m. deadline for signing up for commenting but no mention was made of that on the agenda nor on the agenda page. See the agenda and the “Form has expired page” below. As someone who follows the Richland City Council more closely than most, I can only imagine how opaque this system would be for everybody else.
All of this took less than 10 minutes since Council had no 2-minute citizen comments. The Council then followed with an hour-long discussion about changing Richland’s status under state guidelines for opening businesses.
Mayor Lukson believes our Covid-19 infection rate is higher than other areas of Washington because the Tyson Plant and the nursing homes are “anomalies”. He suggested that the City join with the other area jurisdictions to write the governor to ask that the area be considered for Level 2 opening. Councilmember Bob Thompson went on a self-described “rant” in which he referred to some of the state shutdown enforcement as “fascist tactics”. Councilmember Terry Christensen noted that many Richland residents are government workers and have received pay throughout the shutdown while businesspeople cannot make money to support their families. Councilmember Sandra Kent wanted communication with the governor to include a request for more testing. Councilmember Michael Alvarez said that everyone has choices and no one is forced to go back to work. Councilmember Phil Lemley also commented on testing. Councilmember Brad Anderson was absent.
The Council voted to join with other jurisdictions to ask the governor to move the area to Phase 2 opening based on the two “anomalies”, the Tysons plant and the nursing homes.
