FORKS — Two men and a woman are accused of kidnapping and torturing a man in Forks.
The alleged victim, James King of La Push, told police he had been picked up March 14, according to a probable-cause statement filed in Clallam County Superior Court.
He said he was held against his will overnight in a mobile home in Forks, where he was punched, hit with a flashlight, threatened with a blowtorch and told his ear would be cut off if he didn’t provide information about stolen marijuana.
Forks police arrested Forks resident Joseph Angel Garza, 26; La Push resident Sarah Ellisyn Burnside, 20; and Forks resident Curtis Price, 51, for investigation of first-degree kidnapping, second-degree assault and unlawful imprisonment.
Garza was charged Monday with second-degree assault with a deadly weapon, second-degree assault with a deadly weapon with a deadly weapon enhancement, unlawful imprisonment, intimidating a witness and heroin possession.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday.
Superior Court Judge Christopher Melly set a May 9 trial date and an April 8 status hearing for Garza.
Garza was being held Tuesday in the Clallam County jail on $30,000 bail.
Burnside was charged Monday with one count of unlawful imprisonment.
She will be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. Friday.
Melly on Monday denied a request from defense attorney Larry Freedman to release Burnside on her personal recognizance.
Burnside was being held Tuesday on $10,000 bail.
Price was charged Monday with single counts of second-degree assault-solicitation, intentional assault/reckless infliction of substantial bodily harm and unlawful imprisonment-solicitation.
He will be arraigned at 9 a.m. Friday.
Price posted a $30,000 bail bond Friday and was ordered to have no contact with the alleged victim, court papers said.
King did not report the kidnapping and assault until last Wednesday, making his initial report to La Push police and later speaking with Forks police.
He told Forks Officers Donald Ponton and Michael Gentry he delayed because he feared Garza would kill him.
Garza, questioned later, told police that 5 pounds of marijuana had been stolen from Price and Price had offered Garza several hundred dollars to find out from the alleged victim where it was.
Garza also said Price paid him to beat up King and “would pay him more if he did certain things like send a photo of James or break a rib,” the police report said.
“Joseph stated that he was offered drugs and money to find his stolen marijuana and hurt the people who took it,” the police report said.
King said Garza and Burnside picked him up at the Forks Library and took him first to the hatchery at the end of Bogachiel Way and then to a mobile home, according to the report.
He said Garza, while grilling him about the marijuana, hit him with the flashlight while they were outside the car at the hatchery, the report said.
In the mobile home, Garza held a blowtorch near King’s face and threatened to burn him, then made him grab the end of the torch and burn his fingers, King told police.
“Joseph hit him in the head multiple times with his open hand. At one point Joseph took a knife and held it to his ear and threatened to cut it off if he didn’t tell him where the marijuana was,” the police report said.
Forks police said King had “a fat lip, large deep blisters on two of his fingers and slight cut marks on his head behind his left ear. All of the injuries were consistent with his story.”
King also told police that throughout the night, Garza texted another person, whom King believed to be Price.
King said Garza threatened to kill him if he told anyone what Garza had done.
The next morning, Garza drove King away from the mobile home, the police report said.
They spotted a police car behind them in the area of Klahndike Boulevard. Garza drove to an area on nearby Terra Eden Street, jumped out and ran, the report said, adding that the officer didn’t contact anyone and left the area.
Forks Police Chief Rick Bart said Garza and the alleged victim had been in the car, and it is unknown where Burnside was at that time.
King “was scared and waited in the car for a moment. He then jumped out of the car and ran away,” the police report said.
The officers arrested Garza and Burnside at the mobile home. A man identifying himself as the owner said the two did not live there.
The officers found a blowtorch, a black knife, an iPhone, two flashlights and what appeared to be heroin, police said.
Burnside did not speak to the officers and asked for a lawyer.
After interviewing Garza, the officers arrested Price at his home, they said.
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Christi Baron is an editor with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach her at cbaron@forksforum.com.
