SAN JUAN COUNTY SHERIFF Deputy Report for Incident

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SAN JUAN COUNTY SHERIFF Deputy Report for Incident 13-008408 Nature: Traffic Stop Address: 90 Front St S; Ferry Terminal; lot a Location: FHL FRIDAY HARBOR WA 98250 Offense Codes: TOFF Received By: R

1 SAN JUAN COUNTY SHERIFF Deputy Report for Incident Nature: Traffic Stop Address: 90 Front St S; Ferry Terminal; lot a Location: FHL FRIDAY HARBOR WA Offense Codes: TOFF Received By: R DeLazerda How Received: R Agency: SJSO Responding Officers: F Menjivar, B Korth Responsible Officer: F Menjivar Disposition: NR 12/24/13 When Reported: 17:40:38 12/24/13 Occurred Between: 17:40:35 12/24/13 and 17:40:35 12/24/13 Assigned To: Detail: Date Assigned: **/**/** Status: Status Date: **/**/** Due Date: **/**/** Complainant: Last: First: Mid: DOB: **/**/** Dr Lic: Address: Race: Sex: Phone: City:, Offense Codes Reported: TOFF Traffic Offense, other Additional Offense: TOFF Traffic Offense, other Circumstances Responding Officers: Unit : F Menjivar 109 B Korth 107 Observed: TOFF Traffic Offense, other Responsible Officer: F Menjivar Agency: SJSO Received By: R DeLazerda Last Radio Log: 17:55:23 12/24/13 CMPLT How Received: R Radio Trans. Clearance: CRO Cleared, Responding Officer When Reported: 17:40:38 12/24/13 Disposition: NR Date: 12/24/13 Judicial Status: Occurred between: 17:40:35 12/24/13 Misc Entry: and: 17:40:35 12/24/13 Modus Operandi: Description : Method : Involvements Date Type Description 12/24/13 Name MCCUTCHEON, MARK EDWARD Driver 12/24/13 Vehicle GRY 2008 TRLB UTILITY WA Vehicle 12/24/13 Vehicle 2006 CHEV SILVERAD WA Vehicle 12/24/13 Cad Call 17:40:38 12/24/13 Traffic Stop Initiating Call

2 Deputy Report for Incident Page 2 of 9 Narrative General Investigation Narrative On , I stopped a truck pulling a trailer that did not have any tail lights. The trailer was carrying numerous people on a hay ride. See Full narrative for details. I hereby certify (declare) under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Washington that the foregoing is true and correct. (RCW 9A ) Date: , Time: 1758, Deputy F. Menjivar #109 Responsible LEO: Approved by: Date

3 Deputy Report for Incident Page 3 of 9 Supplement Narrative On , at approximately 1738, I was traveling westbound on Spring Street and approaching Argyle Avenue when I noticed a pickup towing a long low trailer with lots of people sitting on hay. As the trailer passed my location I noticed it did not have any tail lights of visible license plate. Also at the very rear of the trailer were two small children sitting by themselves on each of the rear corners with only a foot tall railing. I was afraid that without brake or tail lights, someone would not know they are stopping or slowing down and rear end the trailer and right into the two small kids. I was also afraid that either of the two small kids could fall off the trailer and run over by traffic before any of the adults could help. I wanted to contact the driver and talk to him about the lack of tail lights and maybe move the two kids inwards so they could not fall off the trailer. I turned around and followed the trailer, by now there were several vehicles between the trailer and me so I followed the traffic as it continued onto First Street from Spring street and all the vehicles between me and the trailer pulled onto Lot "A" of the ferry landing. I then activated all the emergency lights on my patrol vehicle and initiated a traffic stop on the trailer and truck. It stopped just south of Lot "A" and by the time I was able to exit my vehicle, the male driver was already at my door. I quickly exited my car and made contact with him. I recognized him as Mark Edward McCutcheon, DOB from prior contacts. McCutcheon has an extensive assault history and he was already squaring off as he said "are you serious, are we doing this now?". He was visibly angry. I told him I had stopped him because the trailer did not have functional tail lights. I asked him for his driver's license, registration and insurance and he refused and told me "you need to get back up" as a female grabbed him and attempted to pull him away from me. I told him he needed to deal with me. He kept telling me I needed back up as the female kept pulling him away from me. I called for back up on the radio, while the crowd was now around me and Mark still refused to give me any of the documents I was requesting and as required by law.. All the time he kept trying to come back to my location an was getting even more aggressive and volatile. Deputy Korth arrive and started to help backing people off and helped by taking McCutcheon away. His behavior caused some of the children to start crying, which the crowd immediately blamed on me. During the contacts both McCutcheon and the crow kept yelling racial slurs at me. McCutcheon said "I can't believe my civil rights are being violated by someone who is not even from this country". The entire contact turned into an assault on my ethnicity and all refused to hear the fact that all of them had caused a dangerous situation by not properly planing their Christmas Hay ride. It is clear that McCutcheon wanted to instigate a fight and was so angry that he was shaking. He has the history of resolving his issues by assaulting others. He is used to having people be afraid of him and he did get that from me, which angered him more. At the end McCutcheon would not listen to me and kept insulting me. I told him, I had not planned on issuing any citations and even after his behavior, I did not issue him any citations. I cleared the scene, but Deputy Korth, recognizing the danger of them continuing without any brake or tail lights on the trailer, offered to give them an escort back to the residence.

4 Deputy Report for Incident Page 4 of 9 I have attached two photos of the trailer and tail light in the Files section of this case. The first photo shows the rear of the trailer and the two small children at each of the corners. The second photo shows the left tail light. I could not take any additional photos because of the crowd. Deputy Korth later told me at the station that McCutcheon admitted he was fully aware that he did not have the proper adapter for the trailer wiring to his truck and was operating the fully loaded trailer with people without any trailer brakes. We had a similar scenario on Shaw a couple of years ago when the Hay Ride turned into a mass casualty incident when the trailer without any brakes lost control, crashed and ejected its occupants, causing multiple injuries. Traffic injuries and casualties are some of the few things that are totally preventable. I wish McCutcheon had put the safety of his riders at the forefront had had done the proper preparation for his Christmas Hay Ride instead of being more concerned and upset that a Hispanic Deputy had stopped him. I just wanted to prevent any possible tragedy. Instead they turned into an personal attack on my and almost created a riot. They will never know how lucky they are that McCutcheon's reckless disregard for the safety of his passenger did not turn tragic. I measure my success as a traffic safety Deputy by the tragedies that did not happen. I hereby certify (declare) under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Washington that the foregoing is true and correct. (RCW 9A ) Date: , Time: 1849, Deputy F. Menjivar #109

5 Deputy Report for Incident Page 5 of 9 Supplement Supplementary On December 24, 2013, I was requested by Deputy Menjivar to respond to his location to assist him with a traffic stop. He asked for a cover officer, which is highly unusual for Deputy Menjivar, both in the fact he requested it and that he used that wording. When he was making the request a few other things stuck out to me. One was the tone of his voice. He sounded very stressed and I could hear quite a bit of noise in the background, like a large, loud group of people. I activated my overhead emergency lights and began responding from the area of Mullis Street and Spring Street. As I approached Blair Street all the cars were getting out of the roadway, but a teenager, focussed on a phone in his hand, was crossing in the crosswalk and did not notice me approaching. I came to a complete stop, with my overhead lights going, and shouted out my window for him to stop, so he wouldn't walk directly in front of me. My shout, and the bright lights he now noticed, startled him and he stopped. When I saw he had stopped I continued towards Deputy Menjivar's location, with my lights and siren activated. I did not experience any other people in the roadway and traffic moved out of my way. I arrived at Deputy Menjivar's location and found a large group of people on a trailer lighted with Christmas lights and Deputy Menjivar's patrol car. I got out and noticed Deputy Menjivar was standing in the center of the road, parallel with the front of his patrol car with Mark E. McCutcheon very close in front of him. McCutcheon is much larger than Deputy Menjivar and appeared to be attempting to use his size to intimidate him. In addition to McCutcheon I noticed approximately 4 to 5 other men getting off the trailer and approaching Deputy Menjivar, yelling at him. There were a large number of people on the trailer still, men, women and children. Many of the men and women were yelling at Deputy Menjivar and I noticed a child crying. When I got to McCutcheon and Deputy Menjivar's position I could hear McCutcheon yelling at Deputy Menjivar and refusing to give him any of the documentation he had requested. I stepped in and asked McCutcheon to please stop yelling and let me try to figure out what was going on. McCutcheon turned and looked at me, then addressed me by name and said he would talk to me but wouldn't "give Felix a fucking thing." He then went on to say, "I think it is bullshit to be having my civil rights violated by someone who isnt even from this country on Christmas night." He told me, "I can't even talk to him, but I will deal with you." I thanked him for dealing with me, then I turned to some of the other men who were approaching the location. I loudly asked for them to go back to the trailer and let me deal with the issue. They shouted back at me about the traffic stop and began verbally assaulting Deputy Menjivar. I again asked them to go back and get on the trailer with their kids and let me sort things out. At this point most of them complied. I turned back to Deputy Menjivar and told him it might be best if he were in his car doing his stuff while I dealt with the crowd. They seemed to be very upset with Deputy Menjivar and angry about his ethnicity, so I felt I may be able to deal with the crowd more effectively than Deputy Menjivar. I was unsure Deputy Menjivar was able to hear me above the noise of the crowd, so I put my flashlight, which was in my left hand, into the center of his chest and began pushing slightly, pushing him towards his patrol car. When we got clear of the main crowd I asked what he needed from McCutcheon. He stated he needed the registration and proof of insurance. I left Deputy Menjivar in his patrol car and went back to McCutcheon, who was still yelling at Deputy Menjivar. I asked McCutcheon if he would provide me with the registration and proof of insurance, and walked with him to the cab of his truck to retrieve them. As we arrived at the cab McCutcheon told me he had been the one that asked for back up to come to the scene because "I refuse to deal with that fucker." He was referring to Deputy Menjivar. I told him I was glad to help, but that I needed him to stop yelling and would appreciate it if he could keep the other people on the trailer and have them stop yelling so I could deal with the situation. He agreed to do so and thanked me for coming. I took the paperwork to Deputy Menjivar and handed it to him. Then, while he was in his car I went back to the back of the trailer. Most of the people were

6 Deputy Report for Incident Page 6 of 9 back on the trailer and some were yelling about how the traffic stop had scared some of the kids and they were crying. I noticed a small child with a mohawk haircut sitting directly over where the right tail light was located and he was crying. I went to the child and was told it was a McCutcheon child. I leaned down and asked if he was okay. Through tears he told me he was. I asked what his favorite Christmas song was and he told me it was "Frosty the Snowman". I stood back up and had to talk loudly to get the crowds attention. I told them the child who was crying really liked that song and asked if they would all like to sing the song while they were waiting. They agreed to do so and began loudly singing Frosty the Snowman. They also invited me to sing along, which I thanked them for, but politely declined. I went to Deputy Menjivar and asked what the reason for the stop was. He told me it was because the trailer had none, or non-operational tail lights and he was concerned about the safety of the occupants of the trailer if someone did not see them slowing or stopping and rearended the trailer. I went back to McCutcheon and talked to him about the taillights. He told me he knew they weren't working and initially said something about the wiring. I asked him to show me the connection between the truck and the trailer. When we got to that area McCutcheon showed me the plug to the trailer lights, on the trailer side, which was not plugged into anything. He then told me he had an adapter to plug the trailer into the plug on his truck, but he had left it at home. He was fully aware the trailer did not have tail or brake lights but chose to drive it in that condition with a full load of people. Deputy Menjivar stepped from his car, so I went to his location. He replied he was ready to let McCutcheon go, but needed to talk to him first. I had McCutcheon go, with me, to Deputy Menjivar's location, on the driver's side of the patrol car. Deputy Menjivar explained the reason for the stop and let McCutcheon know he wasn't writing any citations. At this point Deputy Menjivar handed the paperwork back to McCutcheon and McCutcheon again began insulting Deputy Menjivar and seemed to be attempting to escalate the situation again. I asked McCutcheon to stop and then turned to Deputy Menjivar and told him he could clear the scene if he wanted, that I would finish up with the crowd. At that point Deputy Menjivar got back in his patrol car and cleared the scene. All the people on the trailer began clapping their hands and yelling. I asked McCutcheon how far he had to go with no tail lights. He told me he was just going to drive to his house. I offered to follow him to provide tail lights and brake lights to assure their safety. He asked, "Really? That would be great!" He then shook my hand and thanked me. I talked to the crowd on the trailer and encouraged them again to sing carols and thanked them for contributing to the Christmas spirit. They had invited me to sing along earlier, to the tune of Frosty, and again invited me. I advised it would probably be best if they didn't have to listen to my singing voice. They laughed and seemed relieved and happy. McCutcheon then began driving and the crowd began singing. He dropped some people off at the ferry landing and then proceeded to his house on University Drive. I followed him the entire distance and then stopped at the residence with them. I got out and was approached by McCutcheon and approximately 4 other men. They wanted to thank me and shake my hand. I advised McCutcheon to get the lights working and to let me know if he needed help next year so he didn't have a repeat of this years Christmas experience. He thanked me again and I cleared the scene. Throughout the incident on the street I continually tried to get the people to stay on, or get back on the trailer. I wanted to not have any of them going back to Deputy Menjivar's patrol car and wanted to keep them where I could see them. They seemed fine talking with me but seemed to have personal issues with Deputy Menjivar which went far beyond the stop itself. Deputy Brad Korth 12/30/

7 Deputy Report for Incident Page 7 of 9 Supplement Press Release There is considerable concern in the community about a traffic stop that occurred on Christmas Eve. A letter to the editor posted in the online papers on Saturday detailing the observations by a witness to the event has generated considerable interest, which in turn has created controversy over the event. Issues were raised regarding the incident and conduct of the deputies involved. The stop was made for two violations of state law, having people riding on a trailer (RCW ) and inoperative tail/brake/signal lights (RCW and ). The vehicle was being operated on public streets in Friday Harbor, in darkness, in the congestion of downtown on Christmas Eve (with two days of disrupted ferry schedules.) Several people were observed on the trailer on hay bales. There were small children aboard, including two reportedly sitting on the rear corners of the trailer. This raises serious safety concerns. Bad things can happen very quickly and unexpectedly, with very serious consequences. A midsummer hayride on Shaw two years ago resulted in several injuries- some serious, when the trailer carrying several people jackknifed- spilling people onto the road. A former colleague of mine fell from the tailgate of a pickup that hit a bump at low speed, resulting in a serious head injury. As your law enforcement officers, we have a fundamental duty to protect life and property. We also have a duty to enforce the law. This includes the enforcement of traffic laws. This was a traffic stop that needed to happen- not to dampen the Christmas spirit, but to try to prevent a Christmas tragedy. Unfortunately, the stop turned into a confrontation. The deputy called for back-up, and they were able to de-escalate the situation. No one was hurt, and no enforcement action was taken on the infractions. A deputy followed the vehicle home making sure everyone got back safely. The contact lasted under15 minutes, start to finish. The men and women who work at the Sheriff's Office work long hours to protect this community. It is our job to address behaviors, and encourage the voluntary compliance with the laws of our state. Throughout the holidays, members of the Sheriff's Office are working, all shifts. It is time away from our homes and our families. We and our families are a part of this community and we all want to maintain the safety and quality of life that we enjoy here. I am reviewing the incident, and the conduct of all involved. If you witnessed this stop, I would appreciate hearing from you. Sheriff Rob Nou

8 Deputy Report for Incident Page 8 of 9 Vehicles Vehicle Number: License Plate: 9225UF License Type: TL Trailer State: WA Expires: 04/30/14 Vehicle Year: 2008 VIN: 5NHUTBB228T Make: TRLB Model: UTILITY Color: GRY / Doors: 0 Vehicle Type: TLR Trailer Value: $0.00 Owner: Last: MCCUTCHEON First: MARK Mid: EDWARD DOB: 10/14/74 Dr Lic: Address: 595 University Rd Race: W Sex: M Phone: (360) City: FRIDAY HARBOR, WA Agency: SJSO SAN JUAN COUNTY SHERIFF Date Recov/Rcvd: **/**/** Officer: F Menjivar Area: UCR Status: Wrecker Service: Local Status: TVS Traffic Violation Stop Storage Location: Status Date: 12/24/13 Release Date: **/**/** Comments: Vehicle Number: License Plate: B02310Y License Type: TK Truck State: WA Expires: 03/21/14 Vehicle Year: 2006 VIN: 1GCHK23D86F Make: CHEV Chevrolet Model: SILVERAD Color: / Doors: 0 Vehicle Type: TRUCK Truck Value: $0.00 Owner: Last: MCCUTCHEON First: MARK Mid: EDWARD DOB: 10/14/74 Dr Lic: Address: 595 University Rd Race: W Sex: M Phone: (360) City: FRIDAY HARBOR, WA Agency: SJSO SAN JUAN COUNTY SHERIFF Date Recov/Rcvd: **/**/** Officer: F Menjivar Area: UCR Status: Wrecker Service: Local Status: TVS Traffic Violation Stop Storage Location: Status Date: 12/24/13 Release Date: **/**/** Comments:

9 Deputy Report for Incident Page 9 of 9 Name Involvements: Driver : 301 Last: MCCUTCHEON First: MARK Mid: EDWARD DOB: 10/14/74 Dr Lic: Address: 595 University Rd Race: W Sex: M Phone: (360) City: FRIDAY HARBOR, WA 98250

Involvements Date Type Description

Involvements Date Type Description Incident Report # 15-1676 Page 2 of 5 Responsible Officer: Shuster Agency: RTA Received By: Sellers 308 Last Radio Log: 17:49:11 07/26/15 CLR How Received: T Telephone Clearance: RT Report Taken When Reported: