Jail standoff ends safely

SWAT and tactical units respond to a situation at the Clark County Jail late on Monday night. (Troy Wayrynen/The Columbian)

SWAT officers tossed a flash-bang distraction device into a cell at the Clark County Jail late Monday, about an hour after an inmate allegedly took his cellmate hostage by holding a sharpened plastic utensil to his throat.

About 10:30 p.m., as the diversion device detonated, SWAT members rushed into the cell and captured inmate Michael A. Jacobson, 20.

His cellmate and hostage, 21-year-old Kenny Madarash of Vancouver, suffered only a superficial cut to his arm, said Sgt. Scott Schanaker with the Clark County Sheriff's Office.

Both men remained in the jail early today, with no new charges immediately filed against Jacobson.

The incident surfaced about 9:10 p.m. Monday, when custody officers heard Jacobson banging on his metal bed to get their attention, Schanaker said.

Jacobson then demanded to speak to news reporters, to be moved to another cell and to have food from a fast-food restaurant delivered to him.

Next, Jacobson grabbed Madarash, standing behind him while holding the sharpened plastic utensil to his throat, Schanaker said.

Emergency dispatchers radioed for members of the interagency Southwest Washington Regional SWAT team.

Over the next half-hour or so, about a dozen SWAT officers were seen unpacking their heavy weapons and protective gear. They then jogged into the jail's sallyport on the south side of the building, where inmates normally are brought to be booked in. New bookings were suspended during the crisis.

Officers also radioed for a floor plan of the jail and mugshots of the inmates involved.

When the flash-bang was detonated in the cell, it was heard by news reporters standing on the sidewalks behind the jail.

The sheriff's Major Crimes Unit was called to investigate the crime scene and recover evidence.

Schanaker said Jacobson had been extradited from his home in Idaho in June, to face a Clark County felony charge of second-degree rape of a child. He was to appear in Superior Court on the rape charge Nov. 11.

Schanaker said in a bulletin that Jacobson "had difficulty transitioning" into the Vancouver jail and, until Monday night, had been kept separate from other inmates.

As for Madarash, he's being held on a warrant from the state Department of Corrections, charging he violated conditions of release after a previous conviction, the bulletin said.