RAYMOND — Tensions at a police call on May 13 on U.S. Highway 101 less than a half-mile north of Smith Creek Road outside Raymond took a turn after a deputy and a resident were in a confrontation.

The incident was all caught on bodycam from multiple officers who were on scene, and is under investigation.

The incident began after a husband called 911 to report that his wife was at risk for self-harm and that he was concerned for her safety. The woman previously attempted to hurt herself at the same location and spent several days in the hospital in serious condition.

A unit from the Pacific County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) responded to the scene and immediately requested backup from any additional units. The Raymond Police Department (RPD), South Bend Police Department (SBPD), and Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) rushed to the address.

According to body camera footage released to the Observer by the SBPD, SBPD Officer Jordan Dockter was about the fourth unit on the scene. His footage began about 6 minutes before arriving.

He is seen jumping out of his patrol vehicle and running to meet the other officers at the back of the residence — including PCSO Deputy Alex Bennett, RPD Officer Jayden Madrid, and WDFW Officer Lisa Ariss.

The units spoke with a “highly intoxicated” female who informs them that her husband did not want any officers inside the house. She also says, “There is lots of guns … and hey listen, there is a lot of guns, and he is not going to let you in.”

Officers also mention amongst themselves several of them were told to “get the f*** out.”

Tension escalates

Minutes later, officers met with the man, identified as Jimmy Boggs, on the side of the home. Boggs was holding his cell phone, recording the entire encounter. Bennett informed Boggs that he wanted him and his wife to be separated for the night.

Bennett recounts that he observed Boggs’s wife threaten to hit him.

“Would you be willing to go to a relative’s house for tonight?” Bennett asked.

“I do if you can guarantee her safety,” Boggs replied.

“Guarantee her safety? Well, I’m not going to sit here all night with her,” Bennett then stated.

Boggs and Bennett then engaged in tense a back-and-forth conversation, and Boggs then asked that, since the deputy did not have a warrant to, “get the f*** off his property.”

Bennett refused to leave the scene because he had concerns for the well-being of both individuals and wanted to get professionals from the Crisis Support Network on the scene to assist. Boggs then reiterated that he wanted them to leave since no crime had allegedly been committed.

“You are gonna leave,” Boggs said.

“No,” Bennett replied.

“You are, yeah you are gonna leave. Get off my property,” Boggs said.

“Are you threatening me right now?” Bennett asked.

“To get off my property, yes,” Boggs said back.

“You are threatening me?” Bennett asked again.

“To get off my property, yes,” Boggs replied.

Bennett then grabs Boggs’s left arm, and slams him into the side of the house while trying to put his arm behind his back.

Intervention

Body camera footage shows SBPD’s Officer Dockter rushing to intervene.

“Listen, listen, he wasn’t threatening you,” Dockter stated. “Just relax. There wasn’t a specific threat, OK?”

Dockter then asked Bennett to step away and cool off.

“He was not in the right to do that, and I agree with you, and that’s why I had him step off,” Dockter said to Boggs.

Dockter acted under legislation passed in the Washington State Legislature in 2021, RCW 10.93.190, “Peace officer’s duty to intervene.” This law requires an officer who witnesses another officer attempting to or engaging in excessive force to intervene and report the incident immediately to the officer’s supervisor.

According to the footage captured by Dockter’s body camera, he radioed in to dispatch requesting a sheriff’s office supervisor to respond to the scene. He would make two additional requests that did not acquire a supervisor throughout the footage.

“The new deputy … this is [Boggs] … just to let you know I am recording. He gets very agitated with us, and he records all the time. He was telling the deputy and me to get off the property and he started going ‘are you threatening me?’ He was like, ‘No, I am telling you to get off the property,’ and he was like, ‘So, you are threatening me?’ [Bennett] goes up, grabs him and slams him against the wall,” Dockter stated.

“So, I grab the deputy and was like, ‘Get off, that is not OK’ and that is where the issue lies,” Dockter added.

Off to hospital

The footage lasted just over an hour, including Boggs’s wife being picked up and transported to the hospital. The footage’s last few minutes show Dockter talking to Bennett, who is leaving the scene. Boggs and Dockter then have a final conversation before he gets into his patrol vehicle and clears the scene.

“So, he just informed me that he talked with a supervisor and the supervisor is going to get a hold of you in the morning,” Dockter stated.

“A complaint was filed,” PCSO spokesman Cmdr. Michael Parker said. “It is currently under investigation.”

Parker stated he was unable to offer further comments at the time and would release additional information once the investigation was complete.