Tonasket is a little town in Eastern Washington, about 20 miles south of the U.S.-Canada border, with a current population of around 995.
Tonasket was named after Chief Tonasket of the Okanogan tribe. Many descendants of the families that first settled Tonasket still reside there. A son of one of those early pioneer families, Walter H. Brattain, attended Tonasket schools and went on to share the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of the transistor.
Another well known Tonasket native goes by the name of Tootsie. I call her Tootsie Tonasket. Tootsie left a bizarre message on my phone Friday evening.
The message said, "The police have surrounded my house and are yelling at me to come out with my hands up. Do I have to?"
I did not hear this message til Saturday morning. I called Tootsie, but no answer. Today I called again and Tootsie answered.
I thought the police using Gestapo Stormtrooper type thing was something more prone to happen in my current location in Texas, not in bucolic rural Eastern Washington.
Tootsie's next door neighbor, we'll call him Worm, called the police to report that someone had shot a deer behind his house. Worm told the police that he's seen Tootsie's son Blade and Blade's friend, Nosh, hiking the backyard hills, armed with rifles.
So, with no eye witness account of someone shooting a deer, several Okanogan Sheriff cars and a couple Game Warden cars showed up at Tootsie's, with someone knocking on her door, demanding to be let in. Tootsie refused. Tootsie insisted they needed a search warrant. The Gestapo then yelled at Tootsie to come out with her hands in the air. Tootsie refused, called me and went back to playing Farmville on Facebook.
After awhile Nosh voluntarily walked out. Nosh was handcuffed and thrown into a sheriff's car, where he was interrogated. The Gestapo took Nosh out of the car 3 times, each time tightening the handcuffs, to the point it was extremely painful.
Also inside the house was Nosh's well connected girl friend. The girl friend tried to leave. The police acted threatening.
While this was going on Tootsie called Delbert, her ex-husband, as of this past Thursday, to ask Delbert to come over to be a witness to the bizarre scene.
Nosh's girl friend, unable to leave, came back inside, and called her lawyer in Seattle.
While Nosh's girl friend was talking to the lawyer Delbert arrived. By then there were more police vehicles and a SWAT team, which had stationed snipers on the hill behind Tootsie's house.
Delbert was ordered out of his car. Then handcuffed. Then searched for weapons. Delbert was led over to the Game Warden Gestapo agents who knocked Delbert to the ground, badly hurting his knees.
Around that time Nosh's girl friend's lawyer had called to Okanogan sheriff, telling the sheriff to either charge Nosh, or let him go.
Nosh was set free.
Meanwhile another sheriff showed up with the search warrant that Tootsie insisted they produce before she'd let them in.
As Tootsie's house was searched, looking for a deer shooting rifle, Delbert was hauled away and booked into the Okanogan jail. Where he spent the night. Charged with resisting arrest.
The police eventually found a 22 caliber rifle in Tootsie's son Blade's room. They also found a couple bullets and spent shells and other items I'm forgetting. All supposed evidence of the "deer murder."
Delbert is talking to a lawyer about suing whoever needs to be sued. Same with Nosh. Tootsie is also going to talk to a lawyer.
Tonasket is one crazy town. All this activity because someone found a dead deer and saw someone walking around the area with a rifle? Aren't there concepts like "probable cause" or something like that before you go intruding on people like this?
Like I said, Okanogan Gestapo Stormtroopers.
I'm embarrassed this took place in Washington.
4 comments:
I live in Tonasket. I was born and raised in this area, left for several years and returned here to raise my family. I am from one of those families who have have been here for generations. One of my close relatives is in law enforcement here. I consider your story here to be like listening to one kid's side of the story: never come to conclusion until you hear the other side of the story.
Newton,
Did you not come to a conclusion while only hearing one side of a story? Fact. Deer killed. No eyewitness to the killing. Fact. Large number of law enforcement descended on a Tonasket home. With no evidence and no probable cause. Fact, 2 people were handcuffed, one simply for arriving on the scene. Fact, the first person handcuffed got legal access which led to his immediate release. Fact, the person who arrived on the scene to be handcuffed was roughed up to the extent he is having trouble walking. What possible scenario can be conjured to make this an appropriate, legal, police action?
so fig snootun was personally involved? she knows more then anyone? should be telling us this story. full detail... only be her side and not ALL the others. gotcha babe! people see things totally differently. personally know some watching it all go on. they saw things differently. and why were guns drawn at those innocent cats over and over? who cares how long that stranger or anyone else has lived in that town? or who knows who and who was there... that`s hear say. they have NOTHING to do with the story. again, duh not personally involved... so hush baby hush. someone was violated. some are tramatized... someone/s have done wrong...
wow is this story serious?? whatever the author is smoking needs to be shared with the rest of the world cuz it must be some killer stuff...
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