Three of four Clark County Jail inmates accused of possessing makeshift knives made first appearances in Clark County Superior Court on Monday.
Thomas J. Keys, 42; Scott D. Lavelle Jr., 23; and Apolonio Luna-Ruelas, 23, all appeared on suspicion of being a prisoner in possession of a dangerous weapon. A fourth inmate, Zacheriah A. Douglas, 23, was scheduled to make a first appearance on the same allegation but his hearing was rescheduled.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Clark County sheriff’s Deputy Wayne Phillips was dispatched to the jail at 707 W. 13th St. for a call about several inmates having concealed weapons inside the jail. Corrections officers said they found the handmade weapons during a search at about 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
Douglas allegedly had concealed a pointed plastic object, commonly called a “shank,” that was about 6.5 inches long. An officer reportedly found the weapon in the front waistband of Douglas’ pants during a search of his cell, court records said.
Officers also found a similar shank under Keys’ bunk bed, hidden along the bedpost. Keys and Douglas share a cell, according to the affidavit.
Another officer said he found three yellow spoons, two of which had been shaved down to resemble a knife. The third spoon also was rounded off, as if someone was shaping it to become a weapon, court documents said. Two of the spoons were found on the bunk used by Luna-Ruelas. He told officers that the rounded spoon was his, but he didn’t know anything about the other spoons, according to court documents. The third spoon was found in a bunk used by Lavelle, the affidavit said.
Keys is in the jail awaiting sentencing after being convicted earlier this month of three counts of first-degree assault, three counts of second-degree assault, and one count each of first-degree robbery, first-degree malicious mischief, attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, hit-and-run, theft of a motor vehicle and attempting to harm a police dog. He robbed an east Vancouver convenience store at gunpoint and then led police on a pursuit that ended with him slamming his vehicle into a patrol car last September.
Lavelle has been in the jail since June on charges of second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, first-degree robbery, first-degree attempted kidnapping, possession of methamphetamine with the intent to deliver, attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. All of the charges stem from a daylong crime spree on June 25. Lavelle allegedly fled from Clark County Sheriff’s Office deputies in Felida during a drug investigation, carjacked a woman at gunpoint and led authorities on a car chase through Hazel Dell and west Vancouver.
Luna-Ruelas has been in custody since November on charges of first- and second-degree assault and first-degree robbery. Luna-Ruelas and a co-defendant are accused in the stabbing of a man at a Hazel Dell bar after allegedly stealing the man’s cellphone and wallet. He’s also facing a charge of second-degree assault stemming from a May 2015 case in which he allegedly attacked another inmate, court records stated.
Douglas, who’s been in the jail since May 2014, faces two counts of first-degree murder and one count each of first-degree attempted murder and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, according to court records. He is accused of fatally shooting Craig Moritz early on Feb. 4, 2014, after luring him to a van under the pretense of a drug transaction and then trying to rob him.
On Monday, Judge Scott Collier ordered Keys, Lavelle and Luna-Ruelas be held in lieu of $100,000 bail. The defense attorneys representing them in their pending cases also were appointed to represent them in this case.
They are scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 25.
