Bail Set at $250K for Man Who Allegedly Threatened Man With Hatchet, Broke Into House and Eluded Police in Lewis County

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A Lewis County Superior Court judge has set bail at $250,000 for a Sumner man who allegedly broke into an ex-partner’s house and threatened a man with a hatchet on Feb. 13 after having eluded police a couple weeks earlier.

Amos Allen Schaeffer had allegedly taken a Nissan Sentra without the owner’s permission and was driving the vehicle on state Route 508 on Jan. 31 when officers attempted to pull him over for suspected involvement in a hit-and-run.

The Sentra reportedly drove “erratically” and engaged police in a 90 mph chase before officers lost sight of the vehicle, later finding it abandoned in a wooded area near mile marker four on state Route 7.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office had been investigating Schaeffer as the alleged driver of that Sentra that when, on Feb. 13, deputies were dispatched to a Mineral address on reports that Schaeffer had broken the glass on the front door of a residence with a hatchet and forced his way inside.

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.

Schaeffer was booked into Lewis County Jail just after 8 p.m. on Feb. 27 and has been charged with one count each of first-degree burglary, fourth-degree assault and third-degree malicious mischief — all felonies — along with one count of harassment, a gross misdemeanor stemming from the Feb. 13 incident, and one count each of second-degree taking a motor vehicle without permission and attempting to elude a police vehicle stemming from the Jan. 31 incident.

“It’s quite the little spree here,” said Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher of the charges during Schaeffer’s March 1 preliminary hearing in Lewis County Superior Court.

Meagher requested that bail be set at $50,000 — an increase from the $25,000 bail set over the weekend — out of concern for community safety. Judge Joely A. O’Rourke decided to set bail at five times that requested amount, due to Schaeffer’s history of domestic violence convictions and protection order violations, along with the fact that he was in community custody at the time of both incidents.

“I have significant concerns for community safety,” said O’Rourke. “The allegations are very serious.”

Schaeffer has an arraignment hearing scheduled for March 4.