Harger: A King County deputy takes a knife to the arm. The suspect posted bail and skipped court

According to charging papers, a man at the Thriftway on Ballinger Way in Shoreline told an employee, “I kill him, I kill the police, they kill me, everybody dies today.”

His name is Daniel McCullough. Prosecutors said it all started Oct. 30, when the manager asked him to move his bus. Charging papers said he’d already threatened to slit the manager’s throat, as my colleague Luke Duecy reported.

When King County deputies showed up, he ran. I’ve watched the body camera video. McCullough pulls a knife from his sleeve and swings it at the deputy who tackles him. The blade catches the deputy in the arm. Even pinned to the ground, the deputy said in his statement, McCullough kept making that same stabbing motion.

McCullough told investigators the deputy got cut when they both fell on the knife. He’s entitled to that defense. I’ve seen the video.

So let’s lay it out. He allegedly announced he was going to kill a cop. Then he stabbed one.

And within days, he was back on the street.

Shoreline man accused of stabbing a deputy walked out for about $2,500

At McCullough’s first court appearance on Oct. 31, prosecutors asked for $75,000 bail. According to KOMO News, they called him “an obvious danger to the community.” They were right. District Court records show King County District Court Judge Brian Todd set bail at $25,000 instead.

A bail bond typically runs about 10%. So do the math. Threaten to kill a store manager. Threaten to kill the police. Stab a deputy. Your ticket out the door is about $2,500.

$2,500. You’d pay more than that for a used Buick.

McCullough skipped court, and the $150,000 warrant came too late

And then what happened? Exactly what you’d expect. He was supposed to show up for his arraignment in King County Superior Court on Nov. 5. He didn’t. Court records show Judge Nelson Lee issued a bench warrant and raised his bail to $150,000. That’s six times what he walked out on, and double what prosecutors asked for in the first place.

Too late. He’s gone. As of my last check, he’s still out there, and police don’t know where he is.

That deputy went to work, did his job, and took a knife for it. The man accused of stabbing him is free.

Washington Supreme Court bail proposal would loosen the rules

You’d think a case like this would have everybody in a hurry to tighten things up. Nope. On Tuesday, the Washington Supreme Court heard arguments on bail rule changes written by public defenders. They’d loosen things.

I get the argument. Katie Hurley of the King County Department of Public Defense told the justices that when you’re broke, bail turns into jail, Luke reported. Nobody should lose their job and their apartment sitting in a cell over a few hundred bucks.

And to a point, I agree. If the charges are minor and everybody agrees the person isn’t a danger to anybody, sure, let them go home.

But run McCullough through the proposed new rules.

At his first hearing, nothing changes. He still walks out for about $2,500.

Now he’s on the loose. And if these rules pass, the next time police find somebody like him, a judge might not be able to raise his bail just because he skipped court. Under the proposal, a judge would need to find a “high likelihood of willful flight to avoid prosecution.” Missing court, by itself, isn’t enough to show that.

A man accused of threatening to kill the police, who stabbed a deputy, skips his court date. And that might not be enough to raise his bail.

Seriously.

2 fixes for King County judges and the Washington Supreme Court

First, when someone’s accused of threatening to kill people and hurts someone with a weapon, and a judge sets bail lower than prosecutors asked, that judge should explain why. In writing. Where you and I can read it.

Second, if the Supreme Court can spell out exactly when a judge can hold someone who skips court, it can spell out just as clearly when to hold someone who’s shown he’s dangerous.

I hope Daniel McCullough turns himself in peacefully, before anybody else gets hurt. And I hope the next guy who tells a grocery clerk “everybody dies today” and then stabs a cop doesn’t get a $2,500 ticket out the door.

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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