Judge Sets Combined $500,000 Bail for Port Angeles Man Arrested After Two-Day Search

A Clallam County Superior Court judge set bail at a combined $500,000 on Thursday for a 30-year-old Port Angeles man whose arrest this week ended a two-day search, finding that the presumption favoring release had been overcome.

Aaron J. Hatfield was taken into custody at about 12:21 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 11, ending a search that began the previous afternoon after a reported domestic violence incident at a residence on South Bay View Avenue, according to the Clallam County Sheriff's Office. 

Court records show Hatfield had three open criminal cases in Clallam County courts at the time of his arrest, each involving domestic violence allegations, and was subject to a no-contact order and other release conditions.

At Thursday's preliminary appearance, one day after Hatfield was booked into the Clallam County jail, Judge Elizabeth Stanley read the charges against him and appointed a public defender to represent him. 

At the state's request, Judge Stanley imposed $250,000 bail in each of two cases, a combined $500,000.

Judge Stanley said the court was quite concerned about the allegations in the matter, about the likelihood of Hatfield committing a violent offense if released, and about his failure to appear, and found that the presumption for release had been overcome.

The state is expected to make formal charges and file criminal information at a hearing set for 1 p.m. Monday, Aug. 17.

In an email to the Herald on Wednesday, Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols confirmed Hatfield had been booked into the jail and said his office was awaiting investigative reports from law enforcement. 

Jail records show Hatfield was booked at 10:33 a.m. Wednesday and remained in custody Thursday at the Clallam County Correctional Facility, held on eight Superior Court booking entries and the District Court warrant issued Tuesday. 

The jail records describe the Superior Court entries as violation of a domestic violence court order with a previous conviction, residential burglary, interfering with the reporting of domestic violence, assault in violation of a court order, second-degree malicious mischief, third-degree assault on a police officer, unlawful carrying of a weapon capable of bodily harm, and resisting arrest, five of which are designated as domestic violence. 

"I appreciate the public's vigilance and assistance, as well as the hard work and dedication of our Deputies and the Port Angeles Police Officers involved," Sheriff Brian King said in a statement to the Herald. 

Sheriff King said the officers "put themselves in harm's way to safely take Mr. Hatfield back into custody," adding that Hatfield "is back in custody where he belongs."

The Two-Day Search

Deputies were dispatched at about 2:32 p.m. Monday, Aug. 10, to a residence on South Bay View Avenue, according to the Sheriff's Office. 

The reporting party told 911 that Hatfield had assaulted them, damaged a Ring security camera with an axe and broken a cell phone before fleeing west on foot into a wooded area, armed with a knife.

Clallam County issued a public notification through Everbridge, the emergency alert system used by the county, covering the area south of Bay View Avenue between Monroe Road and Mount Pleasant Road. 

Deputies and Port Angeles police officers searched Monday with a K9 tracking team and a drone but did not locate Hatfield, who was described as shirtless and wearing gray sweatpants.

On Tuesday, deputies responded to a citizen tip that Hatfield had been seen near Marsden Road in Port Angeles, then a second tip reporting him in the 100 block of South Brook Avenue, according to the Sheriff's Office. 

While officers were en route, a deputy located Hatfield in the yard of a private residence, the agency said. 

The Sheriff’s Office says Hatfield ran at the deputy at full speed and collided with him, causing both men to fall to the ground, then got up and ran southbound as deputies pursued him on foot before a deputy deployed a Taser. 

Deputies found a fixed-blade knife on Hatfield during a search incident to arrest, according to the Sheriff's Office. The deputy he collided with was not injured.

The Sheriff's Office said Hatfield was arrested on suspicion of five offenses: third-degree assault against a police officer, resisting arrest, residential burglary, assault in violation of a no-contact order, and third-degree malicious mischief, the latter three designated as domestic violence.

Witnesses Describe Encounter During the Search

Two people who say they encountered a man matching that description during the search provided recorded statements to the Herald. 

Blake McGowan, 22, and Kristen Muckley, 23, said they were sitting in a car while babysitting when they heard a noise and saw a shirtless man in gray sweatpants crawl out of the bed of a pickup truck parked at the property. 

Muckley said the man's sweatpants were soaked and that he gathered items from the truck bed, including a coffee container, before thanking the couple for letting him "stay the night" and saying he needed somewhere to stay, and that she told him to leave.

McGowan said the man claimed he had been beaten up the night before and had been drinking. When the man rubbed his face and appeared to be holding something, McGowan said, he drew a pistol and ordered him to leave, and the man responded, "Just shoot me." 

Neighbors called 911, both witnesses said, deputies took a report, and law enforcement located the man afterward.

McGowan provided the Herald a 20-second cellphone video he said he recorded during the encounter.

It begins pointed at the ground as the person recording walks, with an object partially visible in his hand, and a voice can be heard saying, "No, man, don't," before the camera rises to show a person walking away down a gravel driveway, past a fence line and hedges, and out of view behind trees.

Out on Bail in Multiple Pending Cases

Tuesday's arrest came one week after Hatfield was released from custody when bail was posted in two of the open cases.

On Aug. 4, prosecutors filed a criminal information in Clallam County Superior Court charging Hatfield with five counts stemming from a reported July 30 incident at a residence on South Bay View Avenue: residential burglary, assault in violation of a protection, restraining or no-contact order, third-degree assault, hit and run resulting in injury, and theft of a motor vehicle. 

The first three carry domestic violence designations alleging offenses against an intimate partner, and the theft count alleges Hatfield took a Toyota 4Runner. 

Residential burglary and theft of a motor vehicle each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine, and the remaining counts carry maximums of five years and $10,000, according to the charging document.

According to the Sheriff's Office arrest reports, deputies responded to the residence on July 30 after a woman reported that Hatfield struck her with a vehicle as he was leaving the property. 

A responding deputy documented lacerations to her chin and lip, a chipped front tooth, scratches and swelling around her nose. 

The reports state that a domestic violence no-contact order listing Hatfield as the respondent was in effect, that Hatfield returned to the residence later that day, and that deputies arrested him that evening at a Whidby Avenue address after obtaining a warrant.

At a July 31 preliminary appearance, Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Stanley found probable cause, set bail at $50,000 and imposed conditions including a no-contact order and an order to surrender weapons, according to court minutes. 

A separate complaint charging Hatfield with violating a no-contact order, a gross misdemeanor, was filed the same day in Clallam County District Court I, where bail was set at $1,500.

Hatfield was arraigned in Superior Court on Aug. 7 and pleaded not guilty to all five counts, court records show. 

Judge Stanley set a three-day trial beginning Nov. 2 and a status conference for Oct. 9, and signed an updated no-contact order presented by the state.

Recusal and a Missed Hearing

The Superior Court case initially came before Judge Brent Basden, who recused himself on Aug. 4, the day the information was filed. 

The recusal notice states only that the decision followed consideration of the Code of Judicial Conduct, and the case was reassigned to Judge Stanley. 

The Herald has asked Judge Basden to clarify the basis for his recusal and has not received a response.

According to the criminal complaint, the no-contact order Hatfield is accused of violating was issued by Clallam County District Court I in an earlier case charging him with fourth-degree assault, designated as domestic violence, over an alleged June 26 offense. 

Jail records show Hatfield was booked July 1 in that case and released the next day by court order. He pleaded not guilty on July 2, and his release conditions included no contact with the protected person.

A pretrial hearing in that case was set for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, roughly an hour after Hatfield was taken into custody. 

Court records list the result as a failure to appear, and Judge David Neupert issued an arrest warrant the same day citing failure to comply and failure to appear, with bail set at $2,500 cash only or a $25,000 appearance bond.

State Seeks Contempt Finding Over Firearms

Separately, prosecutors are asking the court to hold Hatfield in contempt over the weapons surrender order in the Superior Court case. 

In a motion filed Wednesday, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Steven Johnson stated that the court held a compliance review hearing on July 31 with Hatfield present, and that Hatfield signed a Declaration of Non-Surrender. 

The motion states the state subsequently received Department of Licensing records showing Hatfield is the current owner of three firearms. 

A licensing certification attached to the motion, from an Aug. 4 records search, lists a 9mm Glock pistol purchased in 2021 and a Smith and Wesson semiautomatic rifle under currently owned firearms, with the rifle appearing twice under an identical serial number. The certification notes the system records purchases, not ownership.

The motion asks the court to order immediate surrender of any firearms and concealed pistol licenses, and 30 days in jail until Hatfield surrenders weapons to the Sheriff's Office and files proof with the court. 

Judge Stanley signed an order requiring Hatfield to appear Aug. 20 at 9 a.m. for a contempt hearing, where he must show why the court should not approve the state's requests and find him in contempt.

The Herald will continue to follow the cases as they move through the Clallam County courts.