Man threatens suit over warrant mix-up

COEUR d’ALENE — A Washington man is threatening to sue Kootenai County over an incident that resulted in his arrest and, he says, left his son traumatized.

On a sunny day last week in Oak Harbor, Wash., David Michael Shipley found himself in a bind.

A day earlier, the 38-year-old followed his daily routine, completing small construction jobs before heading home to hang out with his son.

The next day, however, he was taken to the ground, he said, held at gunpoint by local police, handcuffed, arrested in front of family members and neighbors, and put in jail for failing to appear in Kootenai County criminal court for a burglary charge.

But there was a problem: He wasn’t the suspect.

“I didn’t even know what they were talking about,” Shipley said told The Press on Friday.

Police had an out-of-state warrant with his name on it.

It was a mistake, but Shipley ended up behind bars until his employer paid the $5,000 bond for his release.

He was assigned a court date 400 miles and six hours away in Kootenai County and began making arrangements to sell belongings to pay for an attorney to represent him in Coeur d’Alene’s First District Court. Failing to appear would heighten his predicament, he surmised.

“My son goes to school. I have a job. I can’t just pack up and head to Coeur d’Alene for a court date for something I did not do,” he said.

He was in a jam.

The court faux pas was cleared up Friday when the Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office contacted Shipley to apprise him of the mistake.

“They apologized. They said it was human error,” Shipley said.

The allegations on the court paperwork — which a niece who lives in Spokane obtained copies of from Kootenai County court records — accused Shipley of stealing a Nintendo game console valued at $199 and a $40 Pokemon game from Best Buy in Coeur d’Alene.

“I haven’t even been to Idaho in four years,” Shipley told police.

His name was on the warrant because of a clerical error. Coeur d’Alene Police had charged someone else named Michael S. Shipley, 27, of Spirit Lake with burglary in the Best Buy case, according to police reports.

“Michael Shipley admitted his involvement in this case and was charged with burglary via summons,” Coeur d’Alene Police Detective Jared Reneau said.

Michael Shayne Shipley, who goes by Shayne Shipley, was caught allegedly attempting to steal the console and Nintendo game before Christmas last year, police said.

Officers contacted store managers and used surveillance video to identify the Spirit Lake man, who appeared at the Coeur d’Alene Police Department for a recorded interview in December. Michael Shipley reportedly told police he had found a master key used by retailers to unlock security devices on retail items. He had used the key to unlock the security device on the items at Best Buy during a visit to the Wilbur Avenue store in December.

When he was confronted inside the store by managers, he said he would pay for the items, but instead fled Best Buy in a red Kia with Kootenai County license plates.

But then a faux pas at the county level resulted in the Oak Harbor man’s name appearing on a summons that used Michael S. Shipley’s Spirit Lake address.

When neither man appeared in court, a bench warrant was issued for the Oak Harbor man and electronically filed on a law enforcement data system that is accessed by police throughout the Northwest.

Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh said the incident is unfortunate, but has been resolved.

“It was my office’s responsibility to make sure the correct person was identified in the case paperwork, and it was an error here that led to Mr. Shipley’s arrest,” McHugh said. “I am looking into why it happened in order to make sure this kind of error doesn’t happen again.”

Michael Shayne Shipley did not respond to efforts to contact him via Facebook or email regarding the warrant or his alleged involvement in the case that left David Michael Shipley frustrated, and threatening to sue the county.

Don Jensen of Oak Harbor, Shipley’s employer, said the courts will reimburse part of his bail money for the mess-up, but not all the money he paid on Shipley’s behalf.

“Here is the problem,” Jensen said. “David was arrested in front of his son, neighbors and the manager of the place where he lives ... They made an assumption. How would you like that to happen to you?”

Jensen said he plans to file suit against the county for the clerical mistake that led to Shipley’s arrest.

“I want to send a message,” he said.