The nephew of a South Whidbey cop killer threatened to murder a deputy after he and a friend were arrested for an attempted burglary July 22, court documents indicate.

The alleged threats and other crimes could land Ryan Hutchinson, a 24-year-old Langley resident, in prison.

Prosecutors amended charges against Hutchinson in Island County Superior Court Aug. 4 to include threats to bomb or injure property, residential burglary, harassment (threats to kill) and first-degree malicious mischief.

The charges were amended again Aug. 11 to change residential burglary to attempted residential burglary.

Hutchinson pleaded not guilty. If convicted of the charges, he could face from 13 to 17 months in prison.

Hutchinson’s alleged partner in a trailer break-in, 31-year-old Jeremy Galton of Clinton, was charged with attempted residential burglary, documents indicate.

Island County Deputy John Sawyer wrote in his report that Hutchinson threatened to kill him, to harm his daughters and blow up his home with C4 explosives while the deputy is sleeping.

Hutchinson told the deputy that he “will be the next … Island County deputy killed by a Hutchinson,” Sawyer wrote.

Hutchinson is the nephew of Darrin Hutchinson, Sr., a South Whidbey man who shot and killed deputies William Heffernan and John Saxerud Nov. 14, 1987. The deputies had taken Hutchinson to the breathalyzer room at the county jail in Coupeville when he pulled out a pistol.

Darrin Hutchinson confessed to the shooting. A jury found him guilty of two counts of aggravated first-degree murder and the judge sentenced him to life imprisonment without the possibility of release or parole.

In the recent case, Sawyer wrote that he responded to a vandalism report at a home on Humphrey Road in Clinton. A witness reported seeing Ryan Hutchinson and Galton breaking into a trailer home while the owner was gone, Sawyer wrote. The witness chased after the two men and took a photo of them.

Deputies found the two suspects and arrested them a short time later.

Hutchinson was immediately combative. After being placed in Sawyer’s patrol car, Hutchinson broke out the rear side window and hung out the broken window while screaming and spitting, the report states.

Sawyer stopped the car and a group of deputies placed Hutchinson in restraints. He threatened to blow up the deputies along with a propane tank at the precinct office, the deputy wrote.

According to the report, Hutchinson spit on the deputy and told him he has AIDS. Then he continued to threaten Sawyer and Sawyer’s family as they drove to Coupeville, the report indicates.

In court last week, Galton asked to represent himself. His attorney told the judge that Galton refuses to speak to her, but Judge Alan Hancock denied a motion to allow the attorney to withdraw from the case.

Galton signed his scheduling order with a big “X.”

Galton was in court again Aug. 11. Judge Hancock released him from jail with the condition that he engage and continue to participate in any mental health of other treatment programs through Compass Health.

In July, Hancock set Hutchinson’s bail at $40,000.