A man wanted on an active Department of Corrections escape warrant was safely taken into custody Monday after climbing 80 feet up a tree in Port Townsend and threatening suicide during an hours-long standoff, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies first located the suspect around 9 a.m. on May 26 near Mill Road.
In addition to the escape warrant, the man was also a suspect in two separate burglary and theft investigations in Jefferson County.
Deputies found the man’s vehicle hidden in the woods and called for additional units.
Before reinforcements arrived, the suspect spotted a patrol car and ran away toward the nearby Caswell Brown Village neighborhood.
Using a drone, deputies tracked the man as he climbed a large cedar tree, climbing approximately 80 feet in an attempt to avoid arrest.
Deputy Ash Moore with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and Officer Fudally with the Port Townsend Police Department led negotiation efforts after the man refused to come down and repeatedly threatened to take his own life.
For nearly eight hours, the two worked to deescalate the situation, eventually persuading the man to descend from the tree safely.
Medics evaluated him at the scene before taking him to Jefferson Healthcare as a precaution.
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