SEATTLE _ A 34-year-old Redmond man is accused of holding his family hostage for eight days, threatening them with weapons, then summoning help by setting off a fire alarm and sprinkler system inside their apartment on Christmas morning, according to Redmond police.
A King County District Court judge Tuesday found probable cause to hold the man on investigation of five counts of unlawful imprisonment domestic violence and five counts of felony harassment domestic violence, said Leesa Manion, the chief of staff to King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg. The man, whose bail was set at $100,000, is being housed in the psychiatric ward at the King County Jail, she said.
The Seattle Times is not identifying the man because he has not yet been charged and to protect the privacy of his wife and four children, who all share his last name.
In recent weeks, the man had become increasingly paranoid and was convinced he and his family were being followed, says the probable cause statement outlining the Redmond police case against him.
During that time, his wife tried on four occasions to have him involuntarily committed but, each time, he was released, according to the statement, which does not identify which hospital or hospitals he was taken to. (Under state law, a mental health professional can involuntarily commit a person for treatment for up to 72 hours if he or she is considered likely to cause serious harm to him or her self or others).
Starting on Dec. 18, the man refused to allow his wife and four children, ages 2 to 11, to leave their unit in an apartment complex on Redmond Way and at various times armed himself with a machete, a hatchet, and a bow and arrow, the statement says. He also slept in front of the door to ensure his family couldn't leave, it says.
But then on Christmas morning, he pulled the fire alarm because he'd heard fireworks the night before and had become even more paranoid, the statement says. When two members of the Redmond Fire Department responded, the man didn't trust that they were there to help and so he set off the sprinkler system to summon a larger response, according to the statement.
Police say he was convinced that the blue ink on his hands from setting off the alarm was poisonous, the statement says.
After his arrest, the man's wife told a police detective she couldn't escape with the children without risking injury and believed her husband would use the weapons if she tried, according to the statement. She also told the detective that her husband "thought she and the children were drugged, and also that she was trying to sell the children," it says.
