Man sentenced in assault case

A man charged with attacking a process server attempting to give him paperwork in connection to a Washington state case was sentenced last month to reduced charges after agreeing to a plea deal in the case.

As part of the plea deal, Darryl William Thorn, 38, agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disturbing the peace and a misdemeanor charge of malicious destruction of property.

Thorn was sentenced in early March to 180 days for the disturbing the peace charge, which had been amended from an original charge of felony assault. In addition, Thorn was sentenced to 217 days for the misdemeanor charge of malicious destruction of property to be served concurrently with the disturbing the peace charge.

The disturbing the peace charge carried a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. The malicious destruction of property charge carried a potential maximum fine of $10,000 and a year in jail.

Thorn was given credit for time served in both cases, amounting to !80 days for disturbing the peace and 217 days for destruction of the server's memory card, which contained the data from the dashcam video.

The man, who told court officials he was moving out of state, was placed on unsupervised probation.

Thorn was originally charged with a count of felony assault, two counts of felony burglary, felony robbery and felony destruction of evidence. The burglary and robbery charges each carried a potential sentence of five years to life and a $50,000 fine each. The destruction of evidence charge carries a one to 10-year sentence and the potential for a $50,000 fine.

According to court records, Thorn was charged after an employee of Spokane Investigative Services attempted to serve him in late July with paperwork requiring that he attend a contempt hearing in Snohomish County, Wash.

According to the probable cause affidavit, as the server spoke to a woman at the door of the home and asked for Thorn’s whereabouts, the man allegedly “came barreling out of a porta-potty at him.”

The man then told Thorn he only had paperwork for him and that “there was no need to be aggressive,” according to the documents.

When Thorn didn't slow down, the man ran for his car, making it to the driver's seat with Thorn right behind him, according to court documents.

According to court records, Thorn then allegedly punched the victim in the face several times, stole his dashcam recorder, as well as his phone, which was sitting in his breast pocket recording the interaction. Thorn then kicked him in the ribs and left with the phone and dashcam.

Thorn refused to return the man's phone unless he first deleted the video of his attempt to serve the paperwork. The man eventually complied with Thorn's request because he was concerned about his safety.

Thorn denied ever taking the phone and dashcam and claimed he had only gotten aggressive because the man was recording his wife at the door and was on his private property. However, he did admit to a “scuffle” between himself and the victim.