SEQUIM — Clallam County sheriff’s deputies are seeking a way to remove from Otter Way several vehicles, travel trailers and various personal items left by a man now in jail.
“We do have a plan and are working with the prosecutor’s office on a legal remedy for removal” of the remaining vehicles and items, Brian King, chief criminal deputy for the Sheriff’s Office, said Friday.
The property, which was still on the road southwest of Sequim as of Friday, was left behind by John Dashti, 60, who squatted on the public roadway after being evicted this summer from his residence on the corner of Serenity Lane and Otter Way.
Dashti remained in the county jail on a trespassing charge as of Friday.
He also is charged with two counts of animal cruelty in the second degree, both misdemeanors.
Public, private
The vehicles and other items are located both on public right of way and on private property to the south of Otter Way owned by Bernard Flath, which complicates the removal process, King said.
“Basically, what it comes down to is we can’t remove items of personal property off of another person’s private property,” he said.
Flath “could call up a tow company, and anything that is on his property he could have removed, but the problem is, he has to incur cost to do that,” King said.
“We don’t want him to have to incur that cost because it has been created by another person.”
Some of the items are not owned by Dashti.
“We’ve identified that some of that property actually doesn’t belong to him” but was placed in his care by people seeking repair work, King said.
Those items cannot be picked up by their lawful owners because they are blocked in by Dashti’s vehicles, and the deputies can’t move Dashti’s items to access it without a court order, King said.
“This whole situation . . . is very unique,” he said.
“It is like nothing we have ever faced before.
“We are out there almost every other day.”
Property owner
Flath on Aug. 26 emailed a letter to the Sheriff’s Office saying he did not permit Dashti on his property nor allow him to store any personal property on the premises.
On Sept. 10, King spray-painted an orange line marking the boundary between the county right of way and woodlands owned by Flath.
“We had to go out there and survey the right of way and actually create a survey map with all of [Dashti’s] property in relationship to where it is on the public property and on the personal property of Flath,” King said.
On Sept. 15, deputies visited Dashti at the site and observed him about 18 feet south of the orange boundary line, said Deputy Benjamin Tomco.
Dashti was cited for criminal trespass in the second degree — a misdemeanor — and released.
On Oct. 2, District Judge Rick Porter ordered Dashti to stay off Flath’s property.
Dashti pleaded not guilty to the trespassing charge and was released.
That night
At about 10:14 p.m. that night, deputies arrived on Otter Lane after receiving a complaint from a neighbor who said Dashti was “slamming doors and yelling.”
Upon arrival, deputies said they observed Dashti once more on Flath’s land.
They arrested him on a second charge of trespass in the second degree and booked him into the jail.
He pleaded not guilty to the second trespassing charge Oct. 5.
Animal cruelty case
In late June, law enforcement officials confiscated nearly all of Dashti’s livestock — two donkeys, two sheep, two pigs, a Bernese mountain dog, 12 rabbits, various chickens and about 50 quail.
The animals were seized because of parasitic load, malnourishment, lack of basic care and unsanitary conditions, King has said.
Dashti was charged July 31. He pleaded not guilty. He is represented by Charlie Commeree, a Clallam Public Defender attorney.
A trial date has not been set, Kristina Nelson-Gross, Clallam County civil deputy prosecuting attorney, has said.
Dashti is scheduled for a review hearing Friday that will address the animal cruelty case and both trespassing cases, Nelson-Gross has said.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
