By Mike Carter
The Seattle Times
TACOMA, Wash. — The 34-year-old man suspected of possible involvement in the shooting death of a Pierce County sheriff’s deputy late Sunday was ordered held without bail during a court hearing Tuesday in Tacoma.
John Nourse, a spokesman for Prosecuting Attorney Mark Lindquist, said the county was requesting the no-bail hold “while we review the case” against the 32-year-old suspect. He is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
Court Commissioner Meagan Foley barred the media from photographing the suspect, conceding to arguments by his defense attorney, Mary Kay High, that the man’s identity may be an issue in the criminal case. High pointed to statements by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department saying initial descriptions of the second suspect did not match her client.
However, Deputy Pierce County Prosecutor Gerald Ausserer told the court that identity was no longer an issue since detectives recovered potentially incriminating text messages between the man and his girlfriend. Those texts messages were outlined in a document filed by prosecutors and relied on by Foley in her decision, but not made public by the court or prosecutor’s office.
The man is suspected of being involved in a break-in at a Frederickson-area home and the subsequent chase and shootout late Sunday night that ended in the death of Deputy Daniel McCartney and another suspect, identified as Henry Michael Carden, 35. A handgun was recovered from the shooting scene; detectives believe it was used to kill McCartney.
The suspect being held in jail was arrested Monday morning by a Washington State Patrol trooper involved in holding a perimeter around the shooting scene. He was several blocks away, and did not fit the initial description of the suspect. However, the man gave the trooper a false name and was initially arrested for obstruction, sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Ed Troyer said Monday evening.
He was booked into the jail Monday morning on outstanding felony warrants out of Shelton, Troyer said.
In the meantime, the county mounted a massive manhunt for the second suspect even as investigators obtained updated information from witnesses of a second man that matched the individual arrested by the WSP in the morning, Troyer said. The man was not armed when he was arrested; however, Troyer said a second weapon was found near the shooting scene.
McCartney, 34, of Yelm, a Navy veteran with three young sons and just three years on the department, was shot and killed after responding to a call about a burglary in Frederickson late Sunday night.
Meanwhile, The News Tribune of Tacoma reported Tuesday that a 52-year-old woman suspected of driving the two alleged burglars to the Frederickson-area home has been arrested. She was booked early Tuesday into Pierce County Jail on suspicion of first-degree rendering criminal assistance, the newspaper reported.
The woman was located late Monday and voluntarily spoke with investigators, Troyer told The News Tribune.
Also Tuesday, hundreds lined the route as a solemn procession accompanied the slain officer’s body from the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office in Tacoma to Mountain View Memorial in Lakewood. A memorial service for McCartney is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 18.
Donations to McCartney’s family can be made through tpcrimestoppers.comby using PayPal, or visiting any TAPCO Credit Union location, the Sheriff’s Department said.
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