A 50-year-old man accused of shooting at deputies who were trying to evict him from a home near Munn Lake is being held in Thurston County jail in lieu of $1 million bail.
Deputies arrested Wen Yu on Dec. 29 after their attempt to evict him from a home near Tumwater escalated into a 12-hour standoff with the county’s SWAT Team.
Yu was initially booked into Thurston County jail on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder. However, the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged him on Wednesday with six counts of first-degree assault with a firearm and first-degree burglary.
Court Commissioner Nathan Kortokrax set bail for Yu on Wednesday after hearing arguments from Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Wayne Graham and public defense attorney Kevin Griffin.
Graham said Yu exchanged gunfire with at least six law enforcement officers on two or three separate occasions during the standoff. He further alleged Yu had numerous loaded firearms staged at almost every window, and equipment to build homemade firearm suppressors.
“Anytime an individual actively engages with law enforcement by firing a weapon, that is the definition of a safety concern in our community,” Graham said.
The SWAT Team reportedly had to take “extreme measures” to get Yu into custody without causing injury to anyone involved, including local residents, Graham said. He requested bail be set at $1 million.
In his defense, Griffin said Yu has lived locally for over five years without causing problems for the community. He said it would be unreasonable to set such high bail for a middle-aged man with no prior criminal history.
“I struggle to understand how a significant money bail addresses the issues raised by the state, except that it will keep this gentleman clearly in custody while the case is pending,” Griffin said.
Kortokrax imposed the bail amount Graham requested, citing a substantial danger that Yu may commit a violent crime. More than two dozen people attended Yu’s hearing in person.
Yu was originally scheduled to appear in court last Friday, but jail staff told the court he did not complete his booking process before his scheduled appearance.
A probable cause statement describes the initial investigation into the Dec. 29 incident from the perspective of law enforcement.
Yu occupied a home on the 7000 block of Desperado Drive Southeast near Tumwater. Deputies had first posted a three-day eviction notice on the front door on Sept. 8.
Deputies returned to enforce the eviction on Sept. 21. However, they reportedly backed down after Yu confronted them with an “unknown object in his hand” that they believed was a firearm, according to the statement.
A new three-day eviction notice was posted on the door on Dec. 20. Deputies then returned to enforce the eviction on Dec. 29 at about 10:30 a.m.
Deputies forced open the door and spoke to Yu. The statement alleges Yu was not compliant and refused to come out or negotiate.
A deputy then obtained a search warrant authorizing them to enter the home and remove anyone inside. But Yu allegedly began firing shots from inside the home at about 1:30 p.m., prompting Thurston County SWAT to respond.
Yu allegedly shot at law enforcement on “2-3 separate occasions,” but eventually surrendered, according to the statement.
Once inside the home, deputies reportedly found multiple firearms in almost every room and staged at almost every window. They also saw suppressor building equipment.
The statement says no one else was inside the home.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office was assigned to investigate the department’s use of force during the standoff.
