PORT ANGELES — The U.S. Marine Corps appears to be in no hurry to send an AWOL fugitive with long, blond hair and a scraggly beard from Port Angeles to the brig.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge Ken Williams on Monday set a $5,000 bail for Lance Hering, the Colorado Marine who was arrested Sunday by Port Angeles police at William R. Fairchild International Airport on Sunday.
Williams ordered that Hering provide proof of a local address prior to posting bail. He also was ordered to remain in Western Washington.
Hering is fighting extradition to Colorado. Because the crimes in Colorado do not pass the threshold of a homicide or major felony, Boulder County will not send its own investigators to Port Angeles, authorities there said.
As Port Angeles authorities continued their investigation, it wasn’t clear on Monday when the Marines will step in.
“All I can tell you is he’s in the hands of civilian authorities,” said 1st Lt. Curtis Williamson, a spokesman in the public affairs office of the 1st Marine Division in Camp Pendleton, Calif., where Hering was assigned before he disappeared in 2006.
“As for the next step, they’ve got to determine whether he’ll be facing civilian charges first, or military charges first.”
Hering, 23, had warrants from Boulder County, Colo., as well as being sought by the Marine Corps after he went missing while on leave after a tour in Iraq.
” If he faces military charges first, he won’t be facing them in the 1st Division,” Williamson said.
After being declared a military deserter for more than 180 days, a Marine is referred to another unit for court-martial, Williamson said.
Hering, who appeared in Clallam County Superior Court on Monday, disappeared at Eldorado Canyon State Park near Denver on Aug. 30, 2006.
Brig in Bangor
Sean Hughes, a spokesperson for Navy Region Northwest, said the Marines will make contact with Port Angeles law enforcement officials before moving forward with their case.
“Then it’s a matter of arranging transportation to the brig here at Bangor,” Hughes said.
The submarine base at Bangor in Kitsap County has a Marine Corps contingent.
Port Angeles Deputy Police Chief Brian Smith said late Monday that the Marines have not contacted Port Angeles authorities.
“I don’t have any new information,” Smith said. “We’ll continue to work on our case with any new information that comes forth.”
Hughes said Hering could face a court-martial for desertion.
Washington charges
Hering, who faces Washington state charges of being a fugitive from another state, is scheduled to reappear in Clallam County Superior Court on Friday at 9 a.m.
According to The Denver Post, the Boulder County sheriff received a tip two months ago with information that Hering had been seen in the Port Angeles area.
“We knew that he would turn up eventually,” Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle told the Boulder Daily Camera on Monday.
“The case against him is basically made.”
The Camera reported Monday night that Hering was on the verge of turning himself over to authorities before his arrest.
“When arrested, Lance was on the last leg of his long and lonely journey as a fugitive,” Hering’s attorney, Alex Garlin, told the newspaper.
“He was just days short of his planned voluntary surrender. He knew what he had to do and was in the process of doing it.”
Private pilot
Hering’s father, Lloyd Hering, a private pilot who was arrested with his son at the Port Angeles airport on Sunday and charged with the misdemeanor of aiding and abetting a criminal, attended Monday’s court hearing.
Law enforcement officials believe Lance Hering staged his own disappearance to avoid serving a second tour in Iraq.
He was wanted in Boulder for violating his probation in a 2004 burglary conviction.
After Hering disappeared in 2006, about 600 searchers from more than 40 different agencies combed Eldorado Canyon, about 30 miles northwest of Denver, for about five days.
It was the largest search in Boulder County history, and well-documented by Denver-area news media at the time.
Lance Hering’s friend, Scott Powers, then told authorities that Hering had fallen while they were climbing in the canyon.
But a man matching Hering’s description was seen on a security camera at a Denver Greyhound bus station buying a ticket.
Feared returning to Iraq
Powers, in a past interview with the Boulder Daily Camera, said Hering feared a return to Camp Pendleton because he thought men in his unit would kill him for something he witnessed or possibly videotaped in Iraq.
Eight Marines with Lance Hering’s unit were charged with conspiracy, kidnapping and murder involving an Iraqi civilian on April 26, 2006, the Daily Camera reported.
Hering served in the Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment.
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
