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Rantz: Judge releases prolific offender who skipped 5 court dates
Oct 17, 2023, 6:14 AM

Image: A recent police pursuit of a suspect can be seen in Thurston
County. At the inset is then-Th...
A recent police pursuit of a suspect can be seen in Thurston County. At
the inset is then-Thurston County Superior Judge candidate Sharonda D.
Amamilo. (Images courtesy of Thurston County and a screenshot from
Thurston County Media)

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BY JASON RANTZ
The Jason Rantz Show, 3pm-7pm on KTTH
A Thurston County judge known for going easy on suspects recently
released a prolific offender who has already skipped five court appearances.

According to Sheriff Derek Sanders, the unnamed female suspect failed to
yield to Chehalis Tribal Police officers during an attempted traffic
stop. The driver was a suspect in a car prowl. When Thurston County
deputies joined to assist, Sanders says the “vehicle intentionally
swerved into the oncoming lane at one of our deputies, forcing the
deputy to also serve into the opposite lane to avoid a head-on collision.”

At this point, deputies could arrest the suspect for assault in the
first degree, a felony that allows law enforcement to engage in a
vehicular pursuit. That’s precisely what they did.

Suspect clearly was a threat
A deputy attempted a PIT maneuver as the suspect fled the Rochester
area, headed for Interstate 5. The first three attempts were
unsuccessful, but the fourth time was the charm. However, the suspect
was caught on dashcam video still resisting.

“The suspect vehicle rammed another patrol car before driving in reverse
and striking a patrol car with the open passenger door,” Sanders wrote.
“The suspect vehicle had to be pinned in to prevent further escape, and
the female suspect was taken into custody without further incident with
the help of K9 Igo. The vehicle was discovered to be stolen.”

She was booked for three counts of assault in the first degree,
possession of a stolen vehicle, attempt to elude, and DUI. But she
wouldn’t spend much time in jail.

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Judge trusts prolific offender who skips court dates
Thurston County Superior Court Judge Sharonda Amamilo released the
suspect on her own personal recognizance, on the promise she’d return
for a future court date. That doesn’t seem likely.

Sanders points out the suspect has failed to appear for court five
times. She’s also a prolific offender with 17 criminal convictions,
which include making false statements, theft, burglary, assault,
reckless driving, reckless endangerment, possession of drugs and felony
retail theft, according to Sanders.

Judge Amamilo is notoriously easy on criminal suspects. She was most
recently in the news for releasing a father accused of raping his minor
child over several years with just $10,000 bail. The prosecutor on the
case asked bail be set at $250,000.

Previous Jason Rantz content: Soft-on-crime Washington judges release
accused rapist, car thief

Activist judge puts us at risk
State Rep. Travis Couture, the Republican lawmaker representing the
district, is disgusted.

He says the judge is a “radical activist” putting the public in danger.
He accuses her of “continuing to destroy police morale, putting police
and the communities lives in danger, and emboldening criminal activity
by putting dangerous people back on the streets.”

“People across my district and (Washington) are tired of this revolving
door of crime with the catch and release system promoted by activist
judges, we need bail reform to ensure suspected felons are separated
from community for our safety, and we need voters to hold these judges
accountable at the ballot box,” Couture told the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH.

While judges have previously defended their soft-on-crime approach and
reluctance to impose bail on state guidelines, they hope you don’t read
the court rules. It is true that judges are required to offer a
“presumption that the defendant be released without posting bail.” But
judges may impose bail in cases where the suspect is a risk of
committing a future violent offense or is unlikely to appear at a future
court appearance.

In 2020, when Amamilo ran for office, she declared herself the “People’s
Judge.” Residents quickly found out the people she meant were criminal
suspects.

Listen to the Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-6 p.m. on
KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast
here. Follow Jason on X, formerly known as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.