A man convicted in 2021 for stealing a vehicle, breaking into an ex-partner’s house and threatening a man with a hatchet in Mineral was arrested in Centralia on Wednesday — five days after his release from prison — for allegedly threatening to kill his ex-wife and throwing her phone out a window when she called 911.
Deputies with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call from a woman in the 200 block of Joppish Road at 7:35 a.m. on Sept. 4, according to court documents.
The woman reported her ex-husband, identified as Amos Allen Schaeffer, 42, of Sumner, was “refusing to leave and was threatening to harm her and himself,” according to court documents.
Schaeffer had been released from the Walla Walla State Penitentiary five days earlier after serving his jail sentence for a 2021 conviction.
In that case, Schaeffer took a Nissan Sentra without the owner’s permission and fled from police on Jan. 31, 2021, then broke into a woman’s Mineral residence with a hatchet a few weeks later on Feb. 13.
Schaeffer was reportedly angry that a woman who lived at the residence had broken up with him and allegedly attacked a male resident, pushing him to the ground, hitting him in the face and allegedly threatening to “bury the hatchet in (the victim)’s skull” before driving away, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed in Lewis County Superior Court.
He was arrested Feb. 27, 2021, and pleaded guilty Aug. 25, 2021, to charges of residential burglary, fourth-degree assault, harassment, third-degree malicious mischief, second-degree taking a motor vehicle without permission and attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle. He was sentenced Aug. 25, 2021 to 29 months in prison, according to court documents.
He was released from prison on Aug. 30, 2024, according to Deputy Prosecutor Scott Jackson.
The victim reported Schaeffer arrived at her residence uninvited the night of Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024 and was “acting very erratic.”
Schaeffer allegedly threatened to kill her multiple times, eventually picking up a box knife inside the residence, holding it up to his own throat and then threatening to kill the victim with it, according to court documents.
Schaeffer allegedly told the victim “if the cops came, they would have to kill him,” according to court documents.
The victim reported she told Schaeffer to leave multiple times and attempted to distance herself from him as much as possible. He did leave the residence with the knife in the early morning of Sept. 4, but allegedly returned later that morning. She reported that “she was awakened by Amos in her room” and “he told her he was going to harm both her and himself.”
The victim then called 911, but while she was on the phone with dispatchers, Schaeffer allegedly took the victim’s phone and threw it out the window.
Dispatchers told responding deputies that they heard the victim crying and could hear a male voice yelling in the background. The male was heard telling the victim to hang up shortly before the line disconnected.
The victim reported she tried to climb out the window, but Schaeffer allegedly “grabbed her around the torso and threw her to the floor,” according to court documents.
Dispatchers attempted to call the victim back multiple times without success. They did eventually reconnect with the victim, who said Schaeffer “did not have a gun, but would be a problem for law enforcement” before Schaeffer himself got on the line and allegedly told the dispatchers “you were supposed to be hung up on, b—ch,” before hanging up, according to court documents.
Lewis County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Centralia Police Department officers responded to the Joppish Road residence and arrested Schaeffer, according to court documents.
When arrested, Schaeffer allegedly told a deputy “that he took his medication and it wasn’t working, so he took a ‘sh-t load of meth.”
Schaeffer was booked into the Lewis County Jail at 8:35 a.m. on Sept. 4, according to jail records.
He was charged Thursday, Sept. 5, with one count of first-degree burglary, felony harassment, unlawful imprisonment and interfering with domestic violence reporting. Each charge has a domestic violence enhancement.
Due to his recent release from prison, his extensive criminal history and the risk factors involved in this case, Jackson recommended that Schaeffer’s bail be set at $1 million on Thursday.
“I’ve been a prosecutor for 27 years … the lethality risk factors based on the facts of this case are at the top,” Jackson said during Schaeffer’s preliminary hearing on Thursday.
Defense Attorney Racael Tiller advised the court Thursday that the victim, who was present, opposed the charges filed against Schaeffer and said the allegations were inaccurate.
Given the information filed in Lewis County Superior Court, however, Judge Joely Yeager granted Jackson’s bail request.
“These are some of the most concerning facts I’ve seen in a while,” Yeager said Thursday. “I agree with Mr. Jackson that the lethality risk here is huge, not to mention the community safety risk.”
Yeager set Schaeffer’s bail at $1 million and issued a no-contact order prohibiting Schaeffer from having any contact with the victim — which Schaeffer immediately violated by calling out to the victim, who was in the courtroom, at the conclusion of his preliminary hearing.
Given that she had witnessed Schaeffer violate his conditions of release, Yeager immediately implemented a no-bail hold on Schaeffer, meaning he will remain in custody until his case is resolved.
Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 12.
