Loren Culp’s back was broken during an arson arrest last week. The suspect is already out of jail.

Loren Culp, the 2020 Republican nominee for governor of Washington, is now a Klickitat County deputy. And last week, someone broke his back during an arson arrest in Lyle, Washington.

Here’s what happened, according to a news release from Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer. A man allegedly set fire to a barn belonging to one of Culp’s fellow Klickitat County deputies. When deputies moved in to arrest the suspect, a struggle broke out. Culp got hurt. Badly.

Culp confirmed on X that he walked away with a broken back.

“I am the Deputy with the spinal fracture,” Culp wrote on X. “This POS is out free tonight.”

KIRO Newsradio reached Culp at work Tuesday. He has returned to duty but was unable to comment further while on the job.

The suspect, 35-year-old Kiva Dobson of Lyle, was booked into the Klickitat County Jail on charges of first-degree arson, residential burglary, and first-degree reckless burning. He has since been released on bail.

Lyle arson: A deputy’s barn burns. His neighbor is the suspect.

It started the night of Feb. 17. According to Sheriff Bob Songer’s press release, a Klickitat County deputy returned home from an outing with his wife and young children around 10 p.m. They noticed a strong smell of gasoline. While they were trying to figure out where it was coming from, their barn erupted in flames.

Deputies and firefighters responded and put out the fire. The Klickitat County K9 team brought in K9 Zeus. According to the press release, Zeus “alerted to a track” at the barn and followed the scent directly to the neighbor’s house. Someone was visible inside, but nobody came to the door.

Fearing for their safety, the deputy and his family were put up in a motel. Their home was now an active crime scene.

Culp said WSP failed. WSP tells a different story.

According to Songer’s press release, arson investigators came in and collected evidence. Washington State Patrol (WSP) offered detectives to assist, and two WSP detectives joined the investigation. Based on probable cause, they wrote a search warrant for the neighbor’s property and had it signed by a local judge.

Then things got complicated, and two very different accounts emerged.

Songer’s press release stated that WSP SWAT was set to execute the warrant, but that “permission to execute that search warrant was not granted by upper-level, not local, WSP supervisors” despite multiple attempts. Culp echoed that on X, calling it a “total failure” by WSP upper command.

WSP Director of Public Affairs Chris Loftis pushed back on that characterization directly.

“Any inference that we denied a request for assistance is inaccurate,” Loftis wrote in a statement to KIRO Newsradio. “Ultimately, mobilization decisions must focus on safety and operational readiness.”

According to Loftis, WSP SWAT received the request near the end of the day on Feb. 18. At that point, the warrant had not yet been signed by a judge. WSP’s SWAT unit was in the middle of a day-long training operation on the west side of the state.

Loftis said a mobilization requiring travel over the mountain passes would have meant a 24-plus hour day for the team, which he called “tactically impractical and operationally unsafe.” WSP offered to assist either late Thursday or Friday. According to Loftis, KCSO was informed of those constraints and “decided a locally-directed Thursday operation would be the better option.”

Sheriff Songer didn’t wait. On Feb. 19, he called in all available deputies, including the KCSO Warrant Service Team, and they served the warrant themselves.

According to our research, the Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office covers more than 1,900 square miles and has fewer than 20 sworn deputies total. On any given day, fewer than six are on patrol. It appears Songer called in everyone he had.

Sheriff’s account: Dobson tried to run over deputies. Two got hurt.

According to Songer’s press release, when deputies moved to clear the property, a pickup truck came from the back of the property “driving toward deputies at the main house.” Deputies gave commands to stop. The truck slowed briefly, and a woman with a baby attempted to exit the passenger side. That’s when, according to the press release, the driver “hit the gas in an attempt to flee.”

The press release states the truck door swung open as Dobson turned a corner and “the female with the baby almost fell out of the truck.” Deputies blocking the driveway exit had to run to avoid being hit. The truck rammed the patrol car and stopped.

The woman got out with the baby and cooperated. According to the press release, Dobson exited the passenger side, raised his hands, and shouted “shoot me!” multiple times. When deputies moved to arrest him, “he resisted, and a struggle ensued.”

Two deputies were injured: one with a sprained wrist, one with a spinal compression fracture.

That deputy was Culp.

Dobson was taken into custody and transported to the Klickitat County Jail.

Dobson is out on bail. He wasn’t charged with assaulting the deputies.

Despite the allegations of arson and injuring two deputies during his arrest, Dobson has since been released. Culp made clear on X what he thinks about that.

“This POS is out free tonight,” he wrote. “Arson committed on a Deputies home, 2 Deputies injured during a search warrant. Upper command at the WSP; total failure!”

Klickitat County Prosecuting Attorney Rebecca Cranston confirmed to KIRO Newsradio that Dobson was charged in Klickitat County Superior Court on Feb. 23. The state requested bail of $250,000. The court set it at $150,000. With a bail bondsman, Dobson likely needed around $15,000 out of pocket to walk out.

When KIRO Newsradio asked Cranston directly whether Dobson was charged with assault on the deputies, her answer was short: “No, he was not charged with assault.”

Cranston noted that under Washington state law, “charges are filed only where sufficient admissible evidence exists to establish the offense beyond a reasonable doubt,” and that her office “will consider any additional charges should the investigation produce further admissible evidence warranting such action.”

Dobson also faces misdemeanor charges in a separate Feb. 20 case in Klickitat County West District Court involving law enforcement, with bail set at $15,000 in that matter.

KIRO Newsradio has reached out to the Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office for further comment and will update this story when a response is received.

Charlie Harger is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here. Follow Charlie on X and email him here. 

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