PORT ANGELES — Bond of $100,000 was set Monday for a 16-year-old boy who allegedly brought an unloaded handgun and a gun magazine with one bullet to Port Angeles High School on Friday.
Clallam County Superior Court Commissioner Brent Basden set the $100,000 bond for the Port Angeles High School junior, who remained incarcerated Monday in the county juvenile detention facility.
The teenager will face charges, as a juvenile, of first-degree theft, theft of a firearm and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, all felonies, and possession of a firearm on school premises, a misdemeanor, according to charging documents filed Monday.
“That is a higher bail than we would normally see for juveniles,” said county Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tracey Lassus, who had proposed $10,000 bond.
The boy, who had his first hearing in the case Monday, will be arraigned at 10 a.m. Thursday in juvenile court.
The charges carry maximum penalties of up to 30 days detention, a $500 fine and up to 150 hours of community service on each count.
Authorities said the teenager did not pose a threat at the school.
Residential burglary and first-degree theft charges are already pending against the boy in connection with the theft of a TV from his father, Lassus said.
“Knowing his father would not be looking to bail him out, we felt $10,000 was a reasonable amount,” she said.
“Based on the fact that the court has a history with this young man, and we have had compliance issues with his releases, we wanted to make sure he stays where he’s at.
“The taking of a weapon to school is a very serious, significant crime.”
The gun was discovered by school authorities in the boy’s backpack shortly before noon Friday in an autobody shop classroom, according to a Port Angeles Police Department arrest report.
A student gave a teacher a magazine containing a .32-caliber bullet and said the magazine belonged to the boy, who also had shown the student the gun, according to the arrest report.
The gun was found after a school security officer searched the boy’s backpack with his permission.
School Resource Officer Sky Sexton said in the arrest report that the boy admitted he brought the gun to school.
He said he stole the weapon, three rings that court documents said were valued at $8,000, and a coin from a house on Black Diamond Road, according to the arrest report.
He said he had access to the house through a friend of his father’s, the report stated.
“He did not plan to steal these items,” the arrest report said. “He ‘was there and it happened.’ ”
The teenager said he ” ‘might use the gun for protection, not to murder someone,’ ” according to the report.
Pete Peterson, county Juvenile Services director for 27 years, who attended Monday’s hearing, said he could not recall a similar case of a student bringing a gun to school.
School district spokeswoman Tina Smith O’Hara also said school officials could not recall a similar incident taking place at the district in at least the past 10 years.
The hearing Monday was done by video, with Basden in a courtroom at the county courthouse and the teenager at the juvenile and family services facility.
Before going back to his cell, the boy asked Basden if he could “say a few things” about the case.
Basden would not let him speak without the presence of the boy’s attorney, Suzanne Hayden of Clallam Public Defender.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
