A 64-year-old Oak Harbor man is accused of displaying a flare gun to a secretary in a law office, leaving a threatening message for an attorney and leaving a bizarre message on a police officer’s voicemail, court documents state.
Prosecutors charged James McClure in Island County Superior Court Oct. 10 with harassment (threats to kill) in connection with a voice message he left for a Coupeville attorney.
A judge set McClure’s bail at $50,000.
Prosecutors amended the charges Oct. 20 in relation to allegations that McClure showed a flare gun to an employee of an Oak Harbor law office, court documents show. The charges were amended to include harassment (threats to kill), unlawful display of a weapon and telephone harassment.
On Oct. 20, the judge increased McClure’s bail to $100,000.
The sequence of incidents is different than the sequence of charges.
In the first incident on Sept. 15, Sgt. Sean Maggorian received an odd voice mail, allegedly from McClure, that the officer found threatening, especially since it mentioned his family, according to court papers.
“Dig out the treaty of Carlisle Barracks of federal law and see what will happen to your wife and offspring once you’re in where you belong,” McClure said, the police report states.
On Oct. 1, McClure went into an Oak Harbor law office and asked to see attorney Margot Carter. He became agitated when a secretary told him the attorney wasn’t there, according to the report by Officer Ron Hoffkamp.
McClure said “look what I’ve got” and opened his jacket, exposing the flare gun, Hofkamp wrote. McClure also pulled out several shells from his pocket, the report states.
Then on Oct. 7, Coupeville Marshal Dave Penrod investigated a threatening voice recording that was left for attorney Craig Platt. The caller said the attorney was “dead meat.”
Penrod wrote that he recognized the voice as McClure’s.
But McClure denied he made the call or threatened anyone. He suggested that a relative, who is an “electronics genius,” may have made the calls, possibly using “voice mimicking tools.”
The News-Times could not reach of McClure for comment.
