PORT TOWNSEND — A Port Townsend man has been charged with attempted first-degree arson and felony harassment with threats to kill his wife following an alleged domestic altercation.
Christopher Owen Reeves, 32, is being held at the Jefferson County Jail following the Sunday morning incident, according to court documents.
His bail was set at $50,500 during a preliminary hearing Monday in Jefferson County Superior Court in front of visiting judge Jeffrey Bassett of Kitsap County.
Attempted first-degree arson is a Class A felony and harassment is a Class B felony. Reeves also was charged with third-degree malicious mischief, a gross misdemeanor.
He is scheduled to be arraigned at 8:30 a.m. Friday.
Port Townsend police responded to a home in the 700 block of Tyler Street just after 7 a.m. Sunday and found a car parked on the street with extensive damage to the driver’s side fenders and doors, according to court documents.
A woman reported Reeves had been drinking and became very angry with her. She told police Reeves threw furniture around the house, and a knife.
The woman alleged Reeves tried to light a fire in the living room and pointed police to a burned section on a broken end table.
She told police she refused to give him keys to the car because his license is suspended and he was drunk. In response, the woman said Reeves took a baseball bat and smashed the windows and side of the car, then left on foot.
Court documents state the woman was afraid for her life because Reeves “told her he was going to take her out to the coast and make her disappear.”
She later provided a written statement to police that stated Reeves “threatened to take her out in the street and smash her head in.”
A Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputy located Reeves in downtown Port Townsend while the officer was conducting an investigation at the house and placed Reeves into custody.
Reeves reportedly denied the altercation and setting fire to the table, and he claimed the woman was responsible for the damage.
Reeves had a 0.191 blood-alcohol content — more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 — when the responding officer conducted a preliminary breath test, according to court documents.
The woman also provided a preliminary breath test, which indicated there was no alcohol in her system, documents stated.
Reeves was booked just before 8 a.m. Sunday and allegedly violated a pre-arraignment domestic violence no-contact order when he used the phone in the booking room to call the woman, court documents stated.
The responding officer reported the call took place while the woman was sitting next to him, and he could hear yelling from the other end of the phone.
The officer removed a crossbow and a semi-automatic pistol from the residence, and the woman provided a vintage sword, according to court documents.
The woman also pointed out a hammer next to her side of the bed.
“[She] told me she fears Christopher so much that she keeps a hammer in reach to defend herself,” Port Townsend Police Officer Mark DuMond wrote in his probable cause statement.
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Jefferson County Managing Editor Brian McLean can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 6, or at bmclean@peninsuladailynews.com.
