PORT ANGELES — A Clallam County jail inmate told officers that he was purging himself of evil when they found him early Sunday morning naked and his cell mate beaten.
Lawrence R. Pearson, who is awaiting a June 29 trial on charges stemming from leading police on a 44-mile highway chase in April, allegedly assaulted his cell mate by hitting him in the face while he was in bed and smashing his head against the wall and toilet shortly after they finished a disagreement about the Bible, according to court documents.
Pearson, 47, of Ocean Shores, told the other inmate that he was evil and that he was going to “flush evil down the toilet,” said a probable cause statement filed by the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.
The cell mate was treated for a fractured jaw and eye socket at Olympic Medical Center and released Sunday.
A second-degree assault charge was filed against Pearson on Wednesday in Clallam County Superior Court.
Jail Superintendent Ron Sukert said a deputy heard Pearson yelling and banging on the cell while he was conducting an hourly welfare check at about 4:40 a.m.
Barricaded door
When the deputy arrived at the cell, between 40 minutes and an hour after the alleged assault, Pearson had stripped naked, wet the floor with toilet water, and barricaded the door with his mattress in preparation for a fight with deputies.
“He was just stripped down to a state of nudity and was prepared to fight with them,” Sukert said. “Why naked? I have no clue.”
He said Pearson told deputies that the was “purging himself,” in another apparent reference to evil.
Shortly afterward, the deputies were able to convince Pearson to surrender without further incident, Sukert said.
Sukert said Pearson is being held in segregation.
Assaults between inmates are not rare in the jail, he said, adding that he would classify Pearson’s actions as “fairly unusual.”
“It’s not something we deal with everyday,” Sukert said.
Pearson, who on May 12 was deemed mentally competent to stand trial, is also charged with attempting to elude law enforcement for leading police on a chase April 9 at speeds up to 100 mph on U.S. Highway 101.
It began in Sappho near the junction with state Highway 113 and ended at the corner of Lincoln Street and Lauridsen Boulevard in Port Angeles.
Port Angeles Deputy Police Chief Brian Smith said that when police asked him why he led them on the chase, he responded that he was trying to promote “brotherly love.”
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
