Former Sheriff’s Deputy Sentenced to Prison for Stalking and Violating No-Contact Order
A former sheriff’s deputy from Washington state has been given a hefty dose of justice for some pretty serious misconduct. Michael Phipps, who’s 50 years old, pleaded guilty to a laundry list of charges, including stalking, malicious mischief, violating a no-contact order not once, not twice, but three times, and even disclosing private images. It’s safe to say he had quite the rap sheet.
Locking Up the Perpetrator
The judge, TaTeasha Davis, laid down the law, slapping Phipps with a whopping 2 1/2 years in prison. That’s not your average time-out! And just so you know, this guy’s been locked up for 468 days already, with 345 of those spent on home monitoring. Yeah, he hasn’t exactly been living the high life.
Home Sweet Home? Not Anymore
To make matters even more interesting (and by interesting, we mean jaw-dropping), this former deputy caused a whopping $50,000 in damages to his own home in Eatonville. All that destruction happened back in May 2022. The shocking part? He was still living with his wife at the time, and she’d already gotten a protective order against him.
Stalking and Threats Galore
But wait, there’s more. Prosecutors didn’t stop at the property damage. They said Phipps knew about the protective order before it was served, and he wasn’t a fan. So what did he do? He sent explicit photos of his wife to her, with a little threat sauce on top – he threatened to show them to her boss and everyone they knew.
Violent History
In the protection order case, his wife also spilled the beans about a scary 2021 incident. She claimed that he fired a gun into the floor and grabbed her neck. That’s some serious business. To make it worse, she said he ended up getting involuntarily committed to a mental health facility after a few more incidents in February of the following year.
Downward Spiral
His lawyers said that he sought mental health treatment after the loss of some colleagues and his father. Unfortunately, the prescribed medications didn’t quite do the trick. So, what did he turn to? The bottle. Self-medicating with alcohol only added fuel to the fire.
Pink Slip from the Sheriff’s Department
Phipps got the pink slip from the Sheriff’s Department soon after he was arrested in California. Apparently, he ran into some trouble with the law down in Corona. The department’s spokesperson was clear: Phipps had a bit of a problem following department rules. And that’s why he was sent packing. He’d been on the force for quite a while – since November 2000!
California Getaway
After wreaking havoc at home, Phipps made a run for it to California, leaving quite the mess behind. When the police finally got into the house, they found water pouring out of light fixtures and vents. The upstairs toilet had seen better days, and the kitchen floor looked like it had been in a fight with an ax.
Paying His Dues
Phipps posted a hefty $100,000 bail bond in October 2022 and got to experience life on electronic home monitoring and alcohol tracking. But the judge also made sure he got some treatment for his substance abuse and post-traumatic stress. It looks like Phipps has quite a bit of work ahead of him to get back on track.