Patrol cars, ballot box, security gate and several signs damaged at Lacey City Hall overnight
A 34-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of first-degree malicious mischief early Monday morning after he went on a rampage with his Nissan Pathfinder and damaged several objects at Lacey City Hall, according to charging documents.
Among the damage: two signs on College Street, five signs in front of City Hall and a ballot drop box was destroyed, court records show. Police found the Pathfinder high-centered on the ballot box.
Police had dealt with the man three times overnight prior to being dispatched to City Hall about 1:45 a.m. Monday. They responded to a report of domestic violence, assisted Lacey Fire District 3 and fielded a complaint about narcotics, all of which involved the 34-year-old suspect.
Yet he was not arrested because no crimes were committed during those three previous reports, according to police.
After the narcotics call, which the man initiated, he called a Lacey police officer back and stated “he was going to drive to the police department and crash into all the cars,” charging documents read.
The officer informed a supervisor of the threat. Police later found the man at City Hall carrying a large metal sign he used to strike the windshield of a patrol car.
In addition to the signs and ballot box, two patrol cars had smashed front and rear windshields and an emergency gate used by police to exit onto College Street was damaged.
The man was eventually taken into custody, but police said they had to take steps to prevent him from harming himself. He slammed his head three times into a patrol car at one point and bit the patrol car push bumper twice, scratching the paint, according to charging documents.
A damage estimate was not immediately known. Although scratched, the same ballot box is being used and is accepting ballots for Tuesday’s primary.
This story was originally published August 5, 2019 at 1:23 PM.
