Gun Owner in Chelan, Washington Harassed

Second Degree Felony Assault? - OR - Civil Liberties Assaulted by Local Law Enforcement?

(A True Story of Douglas Herb Easter: How Police in a Small Rural Community Can Wreak Havoc in Your Life)

What you are about to read is a true and ongoing account. It is an account of what unfortunately is becoming more and more common place in America. It is an account of an innocent law-abiding citizen whose quiet life is being transformed, not by an accident and not by any natural tragedy. Rather, it is being changed by the confused and misguided yet intentional decisions and actions of a local county deputy sheriff. What is happening to this man could happen to anyone else and will continue to happen until we, the public, the citizens, cease to complacently tolerate it.

The following is an account of an encounter that led to Mr. Easter being charged with Second Degree Felony Assault

You know how you sometimes sense that something is just not right. I had that feeling. I was sleeping on the couch in my living room. It's winter and the couch is the warmest and most comfortable place in my house to sleep. I had been drinking some before going to sleep and was still a bit foggy. I was asleep, but I sensed that something wasn't quite right. I remained still and kept my eyes closed as I tried to get a grasp on what was going on. My dog wasn't barking, but I just knew something wasn't right.

I opened my eyes and there was a flashlight shining in my face through the window. I have very poor eyesight and did not have my contacts in or any glasses at hand. All I could see was this light shining in my face. I knew something was wrong, but could not properly assess the threat. Based on my military training, I knew to leave - if you can't assess the threat, leave. I did not know if somebody was trying to break into my house, what their intentions were or if there was a danger to me. I only knew that I needed to leave. Within a second of waking up, I grabbed my rifle, chambered a round and was on the way out of my house. Nobody said anything. My dog had never woken up until I quietly told him to come with me. I ran. I went to a safe location and spent the night. I was too scared that night to return to my house.

The next morning I returned to my house. The was no evidence that anybody had come by during the night. If it had been someone with legitimate business, I would have expected to have found a note, a phone message. But there was nothing. It occurred to me to phone the police and report an attempted burglary or a prowler, but I also knew that would be futile as I had not seen the person. There would be nothing the police could do.

The preceding event took place at the home of Mr. Easter in the Twenty-Five Mile Creek area. Twenty-Five Mile Creek lies on the southwest shore of Lake Chelan in Washington State. It's not a town or even a community. It is just a small collection of homes and properties at the end of a county road, about 23 miles from the town of Chelan. Lake Chelan is a resort area and many of the houses along the lake are second homes or summer residences and are vacant during the rest of the year. Mr. Easter lives in a house past the end of the county road, near the end of another road overlooking the lake. Most of the other houses out on the point are second homes, however Mr. Easter is a year around resident. His family first came to this area in 1954.

As in most areas of rural America, many of the residents have several firearms in their homes. Hunters frequent the area and many locals hunt. Most of the people around here have grown up with guns in their homes. Everyone respects firearms and knows how to properly handle them. It seems obvious that any deputy would be aware that many people out here are armed. It also seems obvious that it isn't wise to act like a burglar and startle one of these armed citizens.

On reflecting on the above alleged assault by Mr. Easter, I think it is lucky that nobody was shot. I am a woman. I also live in the Twenty-five Mile Creek area. I often have a loaded gun near me. We have guns around our house for a few reasons. We have quite a few bears and cougars in this area. I am a runner. Normally I do not worry about running the roads alone, even though I sometimes encounter bear and see cougar tracks. I sometimes worry about the possibility that there might be some weird psycho driving around. But I still go out alone running and do not pack a gun. However, sometimes, if I go far into the mountains alone, I'll pack a gun.

Originally from the East coast, just outside of New York City, I grew up knowing that I had to watch out for other people - be careful of them. I am still more apprehensive about people than the wild animals. We are also so far out of town, that if I were to call 911 for assistance, it would be at least 45 minutes or longer before any help arrived. My mindset out here is that I need to be self-sufficient and take care of myself.

If I had been sleeping alone in my house that night and woken to a flashlight in my face, there is a very good chance that my reaction would have been to scream and shoot - and then run to seek safety. I don't have any prior military training. The only training I have comes from raising my two children out here. Being a mother and now a grandmother, develops your sense of protection; both for your children as well as for yourself.

I would have assumed that that person looking at me in the middle of the night was up to no good. A normal friend, or a person at my house on legitimate business would have knocked, called out for me. The dog would have been barking. It would all have been in the open. However, someone sneaking around my house, shining lights in the window - probably not expecting to find someone sleeping on a couch in the living room - that person, I would assume was not where they should have been. That person obviously didn't belong there and I would have presumed that they were up to no good. It is lucky that Deputy Lamon didn't wake me up instead of Mr. Easter.

Let me tell you a bit more about Twenty-Five Mile Creek. Many of the people out here shoot guns. Even the people who have second homes. This the their country place that they can come to. The place where they can do "country" type of things that they can't do in the city.

Mr. Easter is a bachelor who lives alone down on the point. He is respected and well known for his kind and generous nature. Earlier this year, Uncle Roger, an elderly man in his 80's moved up to what we call the "Upper Ranch". He is off the power grid and has a generator run by a pelton wheel (water power generation). His generator stopped working. Mr. Easter heard about this and drove up to Roger's to loan him his gas generator. Nobody had asked Mr. Easter to do this.

Later this summer, we were up lake fighting a forest fire that was threatening a family cabin. Mr. Easter heard about this and showed up to help us with the fire. A few years ago, another forest fire had burned up our water line that supplies domestic water to our house from our spring. My husband was unable to repair it as he had recently had a tree fall on his leg, severely breaking it. Mr. Easter came up with me onto the mountain to help repair the waterline. This is the sort of a person that Mr. Easter is. He is always ready to help. He has that reputation among the locals - if someone needs help, he would be the first there. He has a great heart.

Mr. Easter is also respected and trusted by his neighbors down on the point. These are people who live in the Seattle area, but have a second home or cabin on Lake Chelan. They are normal people - professionals, Microsoft executives etc. Some have entrusted Mr. Easter with the keys to their houses. He watches over them. If someone is coming over in the winter, Mr. Easter will often go and turn up the heat in their house or get a fire going, so it will be warm and welcoming when they arrive.

This is NOT an area populated by extremists. This is your normal rural America. You know and trust your neighbors. You live with them and work with them. Good people.

Mr. Easter used to be in the Coast Guard. When he left, he was a Damage Controlman E-4. He attended Boarding Team Member school, Advanced Boarding Team Member school, was in charge of the armory and in charge of his unit's training of the law enforcement team. The "Boarding Team" is how the Coast Guard refers to it's arm of federal law enforcement. These are the people who `board' any vessel in U.S. waters. Boarding teams have the broadest law enforcement capabilities of any law enforcement agencies. They are tasked to oversee everything on all ships in U.S. waters from safety to criminal activities.

Mr. Easter has always seen himself on the "right" side of the law. He has absolutely no previous criminal record - not even any traffic tickets. He has always lived his life as a law abiding citizen.

Over the past 15 years, both Mr. Easter and some of his other neighbors down on the point have routinely shot guns. However, there are one or two neighbors down there who are in the habit of sometimes calling the sheriff to complain.

It is not illegal to fire a firearm on your property if you do it in a safe manner. However, the sheriff is required to investigate reports of shooting. Normally a deputy would call or come up and simply ask if you were shooting safely. They had always been polite and nice. They knew it was legal to shoot and they could not tell you not to. However, most of the time, whoever had been shooting would usually stop if they learned it was bothering others. Mr. Easter would also go and personally apologize..

One evening sometime in early November, Deputy Lamon and another deputy approached my house. They came to my door and said that they wanted to talk. The way they phrased the request offended me and I replied, "Go to hell." They rephrased and asked if they could "please" come in. I said sure. They were noticeably worried about the type and number of firearms that I possessed.

Without talking or even asking, and with no warrant, they gathered all of my firearms that they saw. They then called in all the serial numbers to headquarters. I did not interfere as I have nothing to hide. I also didn't know why they wanted to do that, but decided it wouldn't hurt anything to let them go ahead.

They never gave me any reason why they were doing what they were doing other than saying that they had been told by an "anonymous" caller that I had a fully automatic M-16. I do own an AR. An AR is similar to an M-16, but it is not fully automatic.

Finally satisfied, Deputy Lamon and the other deputy left my house requesting that I stop shooting.

Deputy Lamon and a different deputy came to my door around 6:00 in the evening. It was already dark. They were very `chummy' and asked what was going on. Through the door, Deputy Lamon noticed my AR in its cleaning vice on the table. Deputy Lamon told the other deputy, referring to my AR, "That's the gun I was telling you about." They both came in and admired the gun asking if it had a name. It seemed to me that that was the main reason why they came to visit. The other deputy asked if he could take a look at it. I advised him to clear it first. He took it outside to my deck overlooking the lake where he played with the scope and the laser.

The deputies never told me not to shoot on this visit. They did ask where I was shooting. I told them. We discussed, similar to many previous conversations with their department, that as long as you know your backstop is safe, it's legal to shoot. They left.

Deputy Lamon came to my entry door, which is a sliding glass door, while I was watching a movie, shined his flashlight through the door to get my attention (he did not knock). My dog, Lefty, a black lab, did not even bark because there was no knocking. I got up and went to the door. I was concerned that my dog was going to be alarmed, so I called to my dog and let him know that there someone was here. He barked, but I told him it was okay.

This time, Deputy Lamon, who was alone, told me not to shoot any more. He said that he didn't appreciate driving all the way up here and if he was going to come up here again, he was going to arrest me. I asked the deputy for what charge. He seemed agitated and said, "No more shooting, period." and left.

About half an hour after he left, I shot some more in a legal and safe manner, in a safe direction. About half an hour after I shot, I was again watching a movie. Deputy Lamon arrived, alone again and shined his flashlight through my door without knocking. Same drill as before with my dog. Deputy Lamon handed me a piece of paper that had an RCW code on it for dangerously discharging a weapon or firearm in a public place. It also had a city code written underneath it. He told me that that was what he was going to arrest me for if he had to come up here again. Again he stated that he didn't appreciate driving all the way up here. He left.

About half and hour after he left, I shot some more, again legally. I went on the internet and researched the RCW code that he had referred to. I discovered that it didn't apply in any manner whatsoever to my present circumstances. I went to sleep on my couch where I often sleep as it is the warmest area of my house.

In the early hours of the next morning, is when the previously described alleged assault occurred. The "burglar/prowler" who woke Mr. Easter up by shining a light in his face turned out to be Deputy Lamon. However, Mr. Easter didn't discover it was him until Thanksgiving, November 22, 2001.

Mr. Easter was feeling sorry, that he had pushed the shooting issue with the deputy. He called up to apologize to Deputy Lamon - even though he knew he had done nothing illegal. Finally, on the night of November 22, 2001 he spoke with Deputy Lamon and sincerely apologized for being rude.

Following is Mr. Easter's description of the phone conversation with Deputy Lamon:

At 9:15 P.M., right after Deputy Lamon came on duty, I called and left a message. He called me back about 9:30 P.M. I sincerely apologized for being rude by ignoring his request to stop shooting and continuing to shoot, even though it was completely legal. I have no desire to ever break the law, but I realize that even though I may stay within my legal rights, there is a personal responsibility of how to treat other people.

He said, "I understand and I accept your apology, but screw you. I went ahead and issued a warrant for your arrest for second degree assault. How have you been evading us for the past week?" I said, "What the hell are you talking about?" He said, "Well, we call your neighbors and ask if you are home, they tell us yes, and then we show up 30 minutes later and you are gone." I said, "What do you think I have some secret means of identifying when police cars drive into this area?" He said, "You don't know what people have these days." I said, "I've been here 24 hours a day." By here, it means that I've been in the neighborhood. I have taken some walks to the neighbors, etc., but my truck has been here all the time. I told Deputy Lamon that I had taken numerous walks though. However, I later remembered that I had been to Wenatchee on Tuesday with a neighbor. He said, "Do you realize how close you came to dying?" I said, "What?" He continued, "That was me with the flashlight. You woke up and looked directly at me." I said, "All I saw was a flashlight shining in my eyes." He said that if I turned myself in, he would write a letter to the court explaining that we had this conversation and that I had apologized for my behavior. We both said good-bye and hung up.

Mr. Easter was very upset. He was planning on turning himself in for the warrant, however, he had no idea why it was for second degree felony assault. He went and discussed the matter with several neighbors, seeking advice. He spent the following weekend sleeping very little, worried. He had called and left a message for his attorney.

Finally on Monday, his attorney told him that there was no warrant out for his arrest, however, the sheriff had the discretion to arrest him on `probable cause'. Mr. Easter decided that the deputy had only been bluffing about the warrant - just to worry and upset him. Mr. Easter directed his attorney to file complaints against Deputy Lamon and the sheriff's department.

Mr. Easter had been working on a construction project up lake at Stehekin. He returned there to continue the work on November 30, 2001. Upon returning home at about 5:30-5:45 P.M on Friday, December 7, 2001, there was a message from Wednesday from his lawyer requesting him to call him back right away. Mr. Easter called and left a message for his lawyer.

The next afternoon, Saturday, December 8, 2001, Mr. Easter was driving to town to get groceries. A county sheriff's car passed him going the other way. He noticed that the sheriff's car was turning around, so Mr. Easter was suspicious and pulled over to wait for the sheriff to stop. The deputy drew his gun, arrested him, handcuffed him and called in for back-up. Of course, Mr. Easter was nothing but cooperative.

A while later Deputy Mike Simmons called our house wondering if we could come down and help him and Mr. Easter. He wanted us to come down and drive Mr. Easter's pick-up with dog back home while the other deputy took Mr. Easter to the county jail for the weekend - until he could see a judge on Monday.

While talking with Deputy Simmons, we learned that Deputy Lamon said that Mr. Easter had pointed his AR at him in passing. Later, after the release hearing, we understood that Deputy Lamon's account of the evenings events did not match Mr. Easter. Deputy Lamon says that when he came down and awoke Mr. Easter, that he had knocked and identified himself and that Mr. Easter had then turned his gun on him before running off. However, if Deputy Lamon had actually knocked or said anything, Mr. Easter's dog would have been barking. Mr. Easter is also not the type person to ever threaten anyone with a firearm. There is no reason for him to have done such a thing. If he knew that it had been Deputy Lamon at the time, he never would have aimed a gun at him or even run off. He had no reason to. He previously spoken with the deputy three times during the evening. Mr. Easter knew that he had done nothing illegal.

What if Mr. Easter HAD pointed his gun at Deputy Lamon - either by accident when he turned to run or on purpose? Mr. Easter didn't, he knows he gun was pointing the other way, but what if Deputy Lamon even thought he had pointed it at him, or even swept across him? Would this have been so unusual? What if Mr. Easter thought that Deputy Lamon might be a burglar, a criminal? Could it be possible that Deputy Lamon panicked be of his youth, inexperience or immaturity? However, Mr. Easter did not point his gun at Deputy Lamon, neither on purpose or by accident.

On December 10, 2001, there was hearing setting the terms of his release. Bail was reduced from $250,000 to $10,000. They signed an agreement that nothing more would happen for 14 days. This would give Mr. Easter time to complete his construction projects. However, Mr. Easter was to not drink, was to turn over his AR to his lawyer and his other firearms to another friend of his.

However, when Mr. Easter arrived at his home after being released, he found that it had been raided by the sheriff's department and left in disarray. On that same morning that Mr. Easter and his lawyer were signing an agreement with the Court and sheriff's department stating that NOTHING would happen for 14 days, some deputy had gone to a different judge and obtained a search warrant and then ransacked his house.

The warrant itself has some inaccuracies in it. It incorrectly identifies the property owners. It includes one house that is owned by a neighbor. The reason for the warrant sites the charges of unlawful discharge of a firearm (which does not apply), second degree felony assault (which did not occur) and unlawful carry/possession of a loaded handgun in a vehicle with an expired concealed weapons permit (also not applicable). The search warrant gave the sheriff's department the right to seize "the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, the bolt-action rifle, the pistol grip shotgun, a semi-automatic handgun, and any other firearms, magazines, gun parts, scopes, gun sites, ammunition, night vision scopes, gunpowder, bullets, cartridge, shotgun shells, indica or papers showing ownership and/or occupancy, and papers or copies of E-Mail from dheaster@earthlink.net."

What is curious is the email. Why would they want his email? What sort of a case are they trying to fabricate against Mr. Easter? That he is a terrorist? On what basis?

The investigator for Mr. Easter's lawyer, reported hearing on the scanner a call from the Douglas County sheriff's department, requesting information on when Mr. Easter was to be released. This call came in when Mr. Easter was waiting to be released. His release was delayed due to `missing clothes' and a few other unknown reasons. What is odd is that Mr. Easter does not live in Douglas County, but in Chelan County. He was arrested by the Chelan County sheriff's deputies. Why did Douglas County want to know about it?

Also noteworthy is the "search" of Mr. Easter's property. Not only did the sheriff's raid Mr. Easter's house, but they also cut the padlock on a neighbor's tool shed leaving the door to the shed open, exposed to the weather and to theft.

What they took from Mr. Easter's house amounts to most of his valuables. Some people invest in stocks, some in jewelry, some in art. Mr. Easter invests in firearms. His firearms are basically his savings account. Now the sheriff has most of them. They did miss a few which Mr. Easter has since turned over, as directed by the court, to his lawyer and his friend. However, until he is vindicated he will not see them again. He cannot liquidate any of them to pay for his lawyer or other expenses.

The evening after Mr. Easter was released, one of his neighbors drove over from Seattle to see if he could help in any way. After finding his own home raided and left in disarray, Mr. Easter went down to his neighbor's house to get a fire going to warm it up. Mr. Easter was waiting at his neighbor's house when at about 11:30 P.M. he watched someone else "raid" his house again. Mr. Easter doesn't not know who it was, but they went all around his place with flashlights and finally drove off. They left no calling cards. Needless to say, Mr. Easter decided it would be best if he spent the night at his neighbors.

Since then, Mr. Easter has completed his construction project up lake. He is uncomfortable staying at his own home right now. He does not know when the sheriff's might come up with something else to harass him with. Therefore, he has been welcomed into some of the neighbors homes until this whole issue is resolved.

Mr. Easter also learned that a detective came to the local gun shop in Wenatchee asking questions about a box of shells. It was a box that they had taken from Mr. Easter. The detective was wondering if they could pierce a bulletproof vest. However, he was informed that the shells were some that are used for varmits. Why would the detective be asking a question like that? What sort of a case is he trying to build against Mr. Easter? The detective went on to say that they still are missing a couple of guns owned by the "person" they are investigating. Mr. Easter has been buying guns legally for many years. They are always registered in his name. However, he has since traded or sold quite a few of the guns. Certainly the county detectives must be aware that just because you once bought a gun, you don't necessarily still own that gun.

It is interesting to note that the detectives are only currently searching for two allegedly "missing handguns". However, they are omitting one significant handgun that should also be classified as "missing". This gun they must also know about as it is registered to Mr. Easter. Last January two young local boys fell through the ice and drowned. Mr. Easter donated this gun to be auctioned off to help raise money to help the families. The gun was auctioned off and went to a Chelan police officer's wife. I am sure that the detectives do not want anyone to know about this.

The important thing to realize in Mr. Easter's situation is that this is not necessarily simply a gun or second amendment issue. It is rather an issue of blatant civil rights violations. Mr. Easter was breaking no laws that night shooting. Deputy Lamon had no valid reason to be sneaking around Mr. Easter's property, shining a light through his window in the middle of the night. If he had legitimate business there, he had a right to go up to Mr. Easter's door, knock and identify himself. If he had done that, Mr. Easter's dog would have barked and Mr. Easter would have answered the door. What prompted Deputy Lamon to act as he did? Is this standard department procedure?

Deputy Lamon's decisions and actions have changed Mr. Easter's life. He has had to already pay $1000 to the bondsman to post bail. He will never recover that $1000. He has had to pay his attorney and will continue to pay him more. He has spent already two nights in jail. He has already spent a lot of his time dealing with his defense. He will continue to spend more time and money. Mr. Easter now is wary of even sleeping at his own home. When it is all settled and he is vidicated, will Deputy Lamon offer to apologize to him for the "inconvenience" and offer to reimburse him for the expenses, for the time in jail, for the sleepless nights, for the worry and the heartache? No. If Mr. Easter is to recover anything, he will have to pay his attorney to sue to recover any damages.

Is this really they way law enforcement in America is meant to be? We citizens pay the bills for law enforcement. Laws are meant to be enforced - not the personal wishes or demands of the law enforcement officers, but laws. Our rights are meant to be protected - not abused and taken advantage of. What safeguards are there against such heavy-handed departures from true law enforcement? Why should such behavior by an officer by allowed or tolerated? What can we do to prevent this from happening to others? Are any of us safe?

I believe in America. I believe in the voice of the citizens, in our republic form of government. I believe that it is by our active involvement, not passive complacency that America will continue to be the home of the free. When we see injustices such as what is happening to Mr. Easter occur, we cannot afford to remain silent. It is our civic duty to our country to contact our officials, to file our complaints, to let our voices be heard.

If you would like to send a letter of support for Mr. Easter, whether you know him personally and would like to send a character letter, or if you do not know him, but would still like to send a letter of support, please send your comments to:

If you prefer to sign a letter of support, please contact us and we will fax or mail one to you for you to sign.

Never agrue with a cop. Never get pissed a cop. Never get a Cop pissed at you. The cops hold all the cards. Get a cop mad enough to tell a few lies and he can make your life hell. It does not matter that you are right. It does not matter that you did nothing wrong.

There are ways to deal with rouge cops. Getting in their face is not one of them.

I read about this somewhere else in the past month or so.. Yes, it was on the KABA website. Looks like some of his neighbors are not as nice ad they should be and the local Deputy seems to be very agressive on this what(or who) is pushing him on this? Questions that need to be asked....

How does one deal with rogue cops? I've never seen the FBI or the State Police actually follow through on county or municipal police corruption or abuse unless there was a minority involved ,the press embarrassed someone important, or the state was losing revenue.

Mr Easter is probably white, he's not stealing revenue, and the press will applaud the sheriffs' dedication to public safety--"Shucks! If the deputies were doin' bad stuff, the judge would tell 'm to stop." Ya.....right.

Small town bump.

There may be more to the story. But now you know why you will never see lie detectors in court. If they can wire you up. You can wire them up.

You are more than right. Any law enforcement personnel with any kind of vendetta, are extremely dangerous. You have been warned, tread lightly.

A Deputy would never do that in Texas. After dark, it is lawful to use deadly force against "criminal mischief".

Sounds like the citizen got "uppity", and had to be slapped.

Which of the neighbors wants his property?

There are ways to deal with rouge cops.

How does one deal with a rogue cop?

How does one deal with a rogue cop?

Very carefully. Video taping his or her bad behavior seems to be the most successful method to date.

I also would love to hear the other side of the story but if Deputy Lammon was not serving a felony arrest warrant then he had no business shining in a light through the windows of an occuppied home. Since the only charge being leveled seems to be one of assualt based upon this late night visit I have real questions if there was any assualt against the officer.

Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - yorktown

Here's the heart of the matter:

There's a number of "second homes" in the area. Find out which rich SOB is pulling the strings of the sheriff deputy 'puppets', and publicize it.

No one likes landed nobility who overstep their bounds. Can you get this info with discovery?

"Mr. Easter lives in a house past the end of the county road, near the end of another road overlooking the lake. Most of the other houses out on the point are second homes, however Mr. Easter is a year around resident. His family first came to this area in 1954."

ALL, Another land grab as was the incident where the lady's children and dogs held the sheriffs off for a week or so a while back????????? Peace and love, George.

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