Bail set at $300,000 for Olympia man accused of harassing woman, harming K9 dog
A 33-year-old Olympia man accused of felony stalking and harming a police dog is being held in the Thurston County jail in lieu of $300,000 bail.
Joshua Alexander Santini attended his preliminary appearance in Thurston County Superior Court on Thursday.
Lacey police arrested him at an Olympia home Wednesday after a nearly one-month search, according to court records. Officers found him hiding in the attic’s insulation with the help of a Sheriff’s Office K9 dog named Igo, the K9 unit shared on Facebook. During a struggle, Santini allegedly tried to strangle and punch Igo.
“With the assistance of TCSO SWAT team members, the suspect was taken into custody,” the post says. “K9 Igo is doing well, having only sustained a cut to his face during the incident.”
Judge Allyson Zipp found probable cause for several crimes Thursday: felony stalking, telephone harassment, violation of a protection order, harming a police dog, resisting arrest and obstructing a law enforcement officer.
Zipp set the bail amount based on her determination that the court could not be assured Santini would reappear for his hearings, and that there is substantial danger he might commit a violent crime or interfere with the case.
Court records indicate he has three open cases for violating protection orders in the region as well as one open case for harassment. He has no prior felony convictions.
The investigation
A probable cause statement describes the investigation from the perspective of law enforcement.
On Dec. 31, 2024, a Lacey police officer contacted a woman who had reported a protection order violation.
She told the officer that her ex-partner Santini had been calling her repeatedly over the past few weeks. Even as she described the calls to the officer, she received an additional 11 calls from a blocked number.
She reportedly said she knew the calls were from Santini because he left multiple voicemails. She also received text messages, a sample of which showed a “long plethora of insults,” according to the statement.
The officer contacted Santini later that day. In the ensuing conversation, he reportedly refused to turn himself in until after he “collected all his evidence” and called the woman again.
On Jan. 7, the officer spoke to the woman over the phone once more. She told the officer Santini had been calling her since the protection order was served on Nov. 4, 2024.
The woman said she received phone calls while commuting to work, at her place of work, her grandparent’s home in Lacey, and at her new home in Pierce County.
The officer referred the case to the Lacey City Attorney and noted there was probable cause for 108 counts of violating a protection order, domestic violence, against Santini.
A few weeks later, another officer began searching for Santini by checking various locations, including his parent’s home and his place of work, but they were unable to find him.
At one point, Santini called dispatch to complain about a different ex-partner who he said was limiting his video visits with their daughter. Dispatch tracked the call to an address in Olympia, but officers were unable to find him.
An officer later found several phone numbers Santini had used in past calls to dispatch. On Jan. 24, the office obtained a warrant to ping the location of calls from the phone numbers.
Officers attempted to find Santini at the location of the pings but did not locate him.
On Jan. 29, an officer contacted the ex-partner with the daughter. She told police she lived out of state and had a protection order against Santini as well.
She said Santini had been harassing her with phone calls as well. She was able to point police to a Facebook page Santini used under the pseudonym Alex Nova. The page showed photos of a new car he had.
Using various databases, officers found a temporary license plate for the vehicle. They then used license plate cameras in Olympia to track the vehicle.
Officer eventually located the vehicle at an Olympia home and kept watch for any sign of Santini. Once he was spotted, officers surrounded the home and obtained a search warrant.
Based on information from an ex-partner, officers believed Santini was armed with a handgun. They made numerous attempts to coax Santini outside and surrender. His own parent even arrived on scene and loudly yelled at him to give up.
After two hours, a SWAT team entered the home to search for Santini. Officers used K9 Igo to find him in the insulation in an upstairs crawl space. A scuffle ensued and Santini was apprehended.
Santini had a visible bite from K9 Igo when he was brought out of the home. Igo’s handler reported Santini had tried to strangle Igo and struck the dog several times.
Other officers corroborated this and said they wrestled Santini into custody, according to the statement.
Officers searched the home and his vehicle for a handgun, but no firearm was found.
Santini was later booked into the county jail after being medically cleared at MultiCare Capital Medical Center.
This story was originally published February 3, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
