Family squabble amid Stuffy's closure leads to federal suit against county
A family dispute involving a shuttered Ocean Beach Highway restaurant has led to a federal lawsuit.
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A Kelso man filed the suit Friday in Tacoma's U.S District Court for Western District of Washington, alleging that the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office violated his Second and Fourth Amendment rights when deputies seized his firearms due to a temporary protection order that doesn't explicitly say he must surrender his guns.
The suit is related to a dispute between the owners of the closed Stuffy's II Restaurant in Longview, and their granddaughter, Skai Hogue, and her husband, Zane Hogue.
Zane Hogue, 31, of Kelso, filed the latest lawsuit against the county following a protection order against him by his wife's cousin, Zachary McCarthy, 27, of Longview.
Zane Hogue is seeking damages to be determined at trial, including attorney fees and other relief.
His attorney, Angus Lee, of the Vancouver-based Angus Lee Law Firm, said Cowlitz County has 60 days to file a formal answer to the suit.
"Mr. Hogue should never have needed to hire an attorney to recover property that never should have been taken in the first place," Lee said in a statement.
Alleged threats
McCarthy filed the March 19 petition in Cowlitz County District Court for protection against Zane Hogue, requiring him to stay at least 1,000 feet from him.
The petition also requests that Zane Hogue's weapons be surrendered immediately.
Petition for Protection Order
McCarthy filed the petition based on a confrontation the day prior where he said in court records that Hogue threatened to fight him in downtown Longview.
McCarthy writes that the fight was likely triggered by "an ongoing investigation (over a) family dispute involving my grandparents and Zane and Skai."
The Hogues are being sued by Skai's grandparents for fraud and forgery surrounding the shuttered Longview diner.
The Hogues state Glenda and Grant "Bud" Duling's lawsuit stems from a business dispute between the couples over how to allocate the insurance money from the Aug. 4 fire that closed the business and over who has the right to sell the burned restaurant property.
Stuffy's
A sign outlining temporary closure hangs on a door to Stuffy's II on Tuesday, May 12, in Longview.
Taking the guns
Cowlitz County District Court approved McCarthy's temporary protection order request on March 23.
Temporary Protection Order
Despite McCarthy's request for Zane Hogue's guns to be seized, the temporary protection order states "the court does not order the surrender of firearms."
The section indicating what to collect, including checkboxes for firearms, weapons and unknown items, is also unmarked on the form, according to the lawsuit.
Yet, a deputy seized two pistols, two rifles and a shotgun and took his concealed pistol license, the suit continues.
When law enforcement arrived at his residence, the deputy reportedly told Zane Hogue he was required to surrender the firearms he kept in a safe to the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office.
He alleges the sheriff's office didn't have probable cause or a warrant authorizing the seizure of the weapons.
Skai Hogue later went to the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office at the Hall of Justice to question the seizure.
In the lawsuit, she says Deputy Geary Enbody, Jr., told her there was no legal basis for the sheriff's office to take the firearms.
However, the sheriff's office still didn't return the weapons.
Instead, the sheriff's office issued a written "60-Day Notice to Transfer Firearm," requiring Zane Hogue to transfer ownership of the firearms to someone else, or the office would dispose of them.
Returning the guns
Lee sent a letter to the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office on April 1, calling the incident an "unlawful seizure," and in violation of the U.S. Constitution's Second and Fourth Amendments.
Later that day, Cowlitz County Undersheriff Troy Brightbill, who is running unopposed for sheriff in November, responded by email, stating that the sheriff's office would make arrangements for his client to pick up his property.
Lee said Zane Hogue's guns were returned that day.
The sheriff's office chose to hand over the guns after the immediate threat of litigation, the lawsuit states, but failed "to address the underlying training, supervision, review, and discipline failures that caused the violation."
"Once the Sheriff's Office recognized that the court had not authorized the seizure, the firearms should have been returned immediately," Lee said in a statement. "Instead, they continued holding them and even sent a notice falsely claiming he was prohibited from possessing firearms."
Timeline: Kelso man says firearms unlawfully seized after temporary protection order
Here is what the lawsuit and court records say occurred.
Skai Hogue is denied a protection order against her cousin
The protection order was filed after McCarthy unexpectedly ran into the Hogues on March 18 on Commerce Avenue.
He writes that he saw Zane Hogue staring at him while on the phone.
Later, while standing at the corner waiting to cross the street, another cousin pulled up to McCarthy, with Zane Hogue in the passenger seat, and threatened to fight him.
"Meet me in the alley. I will whoop all three of you," the male driver allegedly said to McCarthy and two others.
McCarthy writes that he believes Zane Hogue called that cousin to help intimidate him.
However, Cowlitz County District Court staff report a more permanent protection order against Zane Hogue was denied on April 20.
Skai Hogue also filed a protection order against McCarthy, but it was denied on March 27 in Cowlitz County Superior Court because a specific incident describing the need for protection wasn't listed in the petition, according to court records.
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