PORT ANGELES — A 27-year-old Sequim transient charged with assaulting a sheriff’s deputy and who was mistakenly released from jail Monday, then turned himself in Wednesday, was ordered to undergo a mental health assessment Thursday in Clallam County Superior Court.
Matthew Kevin McDaniel, 27, will remain in the Clallam County jail on $10,000 bail and will have to have a mental health assessment done at Peninsula Behavioral Health before being released, Superior Court Judge Erik Rohrer decreed Thursday.
A public defender was appointed for McDaniel, who will be arraigned at 9 a.m. next Friday in Clallam County Superior Court.
McDaniel originally was sought by Clallam County sheriff’s deputies and other North Olympic Peninsula law enforcement officers for allegedly assaulting Deputy Mark Millet.
He was arrested just before midnight Sunday at Railroad Bridge Park in Sequim after allegedly shoving and shouting obscenities at Millet as Millet was trying to evict McDaniel from the park, according to law enforcement accounts.
McDaniel was charged Tuesday in
Clallam County Superior Court with one count of third-degree assault on a police officer, a Class C felony.
Clallam County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John Troberg requested a $20,000 bail in light of a new report that indicated that McDaniel made threats to law enforcement and himself after he was arrested.
The report had not been filed as of Thursday afternoon.
Investigators reported that they found a loaded Springfield XD .40 pistol with 16 rounds of ammunition, along with evidence of alcohol and marijuana, while searching McDaniel’s car after they impounded it.
McDaniel was booked into the Clallam County jail for the first time Monday and released shortly thereafter due a mistake, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Mark Nichols had said.
Nichols attributed the mistake to staffing constraints and unusually high level of cases that had accumulated over the weekend.
Nichols had said McDaniel was released with the intent of charging him at a later date.
Law enforcement officers mounted a manhunt Tuesday for McDaniel without finding him; he walked into the lobby of the Clallam County jail Wednesday morning and turned himself him, Chief Criminal Deputy Ron Cameron said at the time.
McDaniel, who has been described as a transient, was reportedly sleeping in his vehicle in Railroad Bridge Park Sunday after dark when Millet tried to evict him from the park, which closes at dusk.
According to the arrest report, Millet attempted to calm down McDaniel before getting out of his vehicle.
“The look on his face and in his eyes appeared to be full of rage,” Millet wrote.
McDaniel, who is 6-foot, 265 pounds, exited the vehicle and pushed the lawman away after Millet tried to control him, the document said.
Millet drew his Taser stun gun and gave McDaniel orders, but McDaniel squared up and continued yelling obscenities, and Millet subdued McDaniel by firing his Taser into his mid torso, court papers said.
In a phone call Monday night, McDaniel told the Peninsula Daily News he recently lost his job as a welder and has been living out of his vehicle.
Reporter Joe Smillie contributed to this report
Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
