Crime & Courts

Drunk driver crashes, thinks he’s home

Police say an intoxicated Seabeck man drove into a ditch near Allyn and thought he was in his driveway.

Shawn Ferguson, 29, drove off state Route 302 near the intersection of East Coulter Creek Road around 10 p.m. July 9 and his car landed “with its nose within the south bound ditch and the rear bumper of the vehicle was just outside of the southbound fog line,” Mason County Sheriff’s Deputy J. Ogden wrote in a probable cause document.

Ferguson allegedly exited the crashed vehicle with a bottle in his hand, according to witnesses.

Washington State Patrol Sgt. H. Anderson was first on the scene.

Ferguson gave Anderson, who is a woman, his driver’s license and when Ogden, who is a man, arrived Ferguson kept referring to Ogden as “ma’am and then attempted to correct himself each time,” Ogden wrote.

“I told Shawn I could smell the strong smell of intoxicants and he advised he had consumed 4 to 5 drinks,” according to Ogden.

Ferguson refused a preliminary breath test and a field sobriety test, according to the document.

He was swaying and having difficulty standing, according to police.

“At times I reached up to make sure he did not lose his balance and fall into [the] traffic lane,” Ogden wrote.

“I also noted Shawn did not know where he was and where he was headed,” according to Ogden.

“Sgt. Anderson further advised he had spoken about having pulled into his driveway and that he clearly did not know where he was,” the document states.

Mason County District Judge George Steele approved a blood warrant and police took Ferguson to Mason General Hospital for the procedure, according to court documents.

“Shawn has a history of driving while intoxicated, and clearly appears to think it is not a big deal. I noted Shawn advise he had done nothing wrong when I told him he had been drinking and driving,” Ogden wrote.

Ferguson pleaded guilty to felony vehicular assault (DUI) in Mason County Superior Court in 2017 in connection with the death of James Gregersen, who died after being thrown from a vehicle when Ferguson drove off a forest service road near Spider Lake, according to court documents.

Ferguson was sentenced to nine months in jail and one year of probation, which ended in April 2019.

Ferguson has posted $5,000 bail and was arraigned July 22 for felony DUI.

Guest says cleaner stole credit cards

A housecleaner for a vacation rental home in Hoodsport was arrested on two counts of second-degree theft and two counts of second-degree identity theft July 17 in connection with stealing and using a guest’s credit cards, according to court documents. Charges are pending.

Gary Mascilak rented the house in June, and shortly after checking out received a fraud alert from Chase Bank for an unauthorized charge at Walmart, Mascilak told police.

Immediately after the first charge of $217.53 there was a second unauthorized charge for $305.73, according to a probable cause document.

Mascilak remembered leaving his wallet in a pillowcase at the vacation rental and called the home’s owner, Han Wu, according to the document.

Wu “believed his house cleaner may have stolen it,” and called MACECOM to report fraud, Mason County Sheriff’s Deputy Mikaela Limper wrote in the document.

Han asked his cleaners about the wallet, and they told him they had not seen it, he said. He checked the home’s exterior security camera and saw the cleaners leaving at 6:30 p.m. June 12 and the unauthorized charges on Mascilak’s card started at 7:28 p.m. that day, according to the document.

“Gary advised he told Han initially that he would not pursue charges if he got his belongings back, however due to it being a few days later and the cleaners are denying taking it, Gary wanted to pursue charges on whoever took and used his cards,” Limper wrote.

Han would not give deputies the cleaners’ names unless the theft was proven, according to the document, so Limper reviewed Walmart security footage of the person using the allegedly stolen credit card and compared it with Han’s footage of the cleaners. Limper said it was the same woman in both tapes.

Han then said Hoodsport resident Monique Garnes, 27, was his cleaner seen on the security footage.

Limper arrested Garnes at her home and she was released on personal recognizance.

Her initial arraignment is Monday in Mason County Superior Court before Judge Monty Cobb.

Woman arrested after hospital escape

A Shelton woman who was “coming down from fentanyl” ran out of Mason General Hospital after being arrested and taken in for evaluation, adding felony escape charges onto attempting to elude a police vehicle, according to court documents.

Police responded to a hit-and-run call July 12 on state Route 3 and attempted to stop the suspect, Carly Ballard, 38, who fled, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Trooper L. Gundacker pursued Ballard while she drove “60 miles per hour in the 30 mile per hour zone,” eventually calling off the chase when she entered a residential neighborhood, Gundacker wrote in a probable cause document.

Shelton Police Office C. Downs was able to arrest Ballard at her residence in Shelton and she “requested to be evaluated at the hospital,” according to the document.

While at the hospital, Ballard requested to use the restroom.

“The jailer turned his head for a second and Ballard ran out the other side. A nurse who was on the other side, ran up to the jailer and told him Ballard ran out of the hospital,” Shelton Police Office C. Pickens wrote in a probable cause document.

A K-9 unit tracked Ballard to her home on Washington Street in Shelton, where she was arrested, police say.

Ballard’s initial arraignment is Monday in Mason County Superior Court before Judge Monty Cobb.