A U.S. Marshals Service task force specializing in arresting violent fugitives took an alleged domestic abuser into custody on Aug. 15 in what turned into a chaotic scene at an Oak Harbor home, according to court documents.

The chaos continued in Island County Superior Court Aug. 17 when the defendant, 37-year-old Steven Daves, threw a table and repeatedly swore at a judge while appearing via video from a room at the county jail. Corrections deputies had to escort him out of the room before he signed papers.

Judge Carolyn Cliff set Daves’ bail at $100,000 in a felony domestic-violence case from February and $250,000 in second felony domestic-violence case from this month.

In the first case, prosecutors charged Daves in Island County Superior Court Feb. 4 with two counts of assault in the second degree, which were charged as domestic-violence crimes. The charges include an aggravating factor that could allow a sentence beyond the standard range of 63-84 months in prison.

Early this year, Oak Harbor police received a report that a woman had been abused by her boyfriend Daves, according to police reports. Officers were able to contact the woman, who appeared to be very frightened and eventually went to the hospital for treatment.

The woman said Daves came over to her home on Jan. 23 and she told him she was done with him because he had been cheating on her, the report states.

The woman said Daves started having “creepy” conversations with himself about killing her. He then strangled her in her bedroom while telling her he was going to kill her, the report states. She said she was able to roll over and crawl away from him, but he started strangling her again from behind, according to the report. The woman said she was unable to breath and blacked out twice during the assaults.

Daves then punched her in the face, the report states. A doctor later diagnosed her with a fractured nose and referred her to a specialist for her injured eye, the report states.

Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Eric Ohme took the unusual step of asking the judge to issue an arrest warrant for Daves instead of a summons. The motion states that Daves would likely seek revenge against the victim for cooperating with police and might try to intimidate her into changing her statement.

In fact, court documents state that the Daves’ mother did speak to the victim about recanting.

The judge approved the $100,000 arrest warrant, but law enforcement wasn’t able to find Daves until this week. Deputies with the Island County Sheriff’s Office believed that his mother was harboring him at her home on Peacock Lane, court records state.

The Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force was called in to arrest Daves because he “was believed to be violent, armed, with prior weapon history and likely to flee/elude and/or resist attempts by law enforcement.” The task force is led by the U.S. Marshals Service and includes officers from other federal, state and local law enforcements agencies.

Members of the task force watched the house on Peacock Lane and saw Daves sitting in a Chrysler 300 parked next to a stolen Ford Focus. After the arrest signal was given, multiple officers attempted to arrest Daves, but he tried to get into the house ahead of them. They ended up taking him down in a doorway of a small room, with his legs sticking outside, a task force report states.

The report describes a “chaotic scene” with Daves resisting getting handcuffed and multiple officers trying to get control of him. His mother quickly approached, yelling at the officers and refusing to heed commands to step back. Officers handcuffed her to prevent her interference, the report states. Eventually, Daves was also handcuffed but refused to stand up when told, claiming his leg was broken, the report states.

Officers found a Glock .45 handgun in a backpack inside the Chrysler and a 30-30 rifle in the Ford. As a convicted felon, Daves is ineligible to possess guns.

Daves’ new girlfriend told police that he had held a gun to her head and punched her in the face when they were sitting inside a stolen pickup truck parked in front of the home a few days prior, a deputy’s report states. She said he took her bank card, stole her money and held her against her will at his friend’s home, the deputy wrote.

In this case, prosecutors charged Daves on Aug. 17 with assault in the second degree, unlawful possession of a firearm and resisting arrest. The assault charge has a firearms enhancement that would add an additional three years to a sentence.

If convicted of the charges, Daves could face up to 10 years in prison under the standard sentencing range.