Police: Unhappy homeowner threatened to blow up Index bridge

INDEX — Frustrations have been brewing since a mudslide closed down access to a rural neighborhood near Index in 2013.

One man got so upset at the homeowners association last week that he called the Snohomish County Public Utility District and threatened to blow up a newly built bridge to the neighborhood, court records show.

The 37-year-old was being held Monday at the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of making a bomb threat, a felony under state law. His bail was set at $20,000.

The Mount Index Riversites community is reached by a private road that is not maintained by county or state government. Mount Index River Road, the sole road into the neighborhood, has been blocked by mud and debris since last winter, affecting about 100 homes.

Those who live at Mount Index Riversites have been walking and using all-terrain vehicles to get to and from their homes.

Earlier this year, the homeowners association and the PUD agreed to share the costs of building the bridge to the neighborhood off 217th Place SE, over the South Fork Skykomish River.

The PUD doesn’t own the bridge but will use it for access related to a potential nearby hydropower project at Sunset Falls, a spokesman said.

The bridge is scheduled for a final inspection Thursday morning and expected to open later that day.

The suspect in the threats case called the PUD’s customer service line just before 9 a.m. Wednesday, according to the arrest report.

During a 14-minute conversation, he reportedly told the PUD employee he felt like he was being extorted and held hostage, records show. He said he had been stuck at Riversites for 231 days.

The man allegedly told the employee that he had purchased material online to make explosives and planned to blow up the bridge.

A Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy went to the man’s home on Friday morning to follow up. He worked with firefighters to get past the slide area.

“When (the man) came outside, he put his arms behind his back and asked if he was under arrest,” the deputy wrote in his report.

The man also allegedly told the deputy, “Oh, you must be here about the bridge.”

The man told the deputy he had not purchased any explosives and did not plan to bomb the bridge, sheriff’s spokeswoman Shari Ireton said Monday. The man said he was unhappy with news that he might have to pay additional money to the homeowners association to be able to use the new bridge.

A county prosecutor on Monday asked the judge to maintain the man’s bail amount because of the threat “to society and to the community.”

The mood in the neighborhood has grown tense as the months have passed.

Homeowner Jeff Smith and his neighbors have been hiking in with groceries, gas and supplies, he said.

The homeowners association spent about $50,000 trying to clear the road after the initial mudslide. But that effort was abandoned as debris kept flowing over the road. The damage to power lines has caused numerous outages.

Folks are looking forward to the new bridge, Smith said.

“It’s gone from despair to hope,” he said. “We have this bridge built and it’s ready to open. It’s kind of like waiting for the dawn.”

After the fatal Oso mudslide on March 22, the Index mudslide also was named in federal, state and county disaster declarations.

That allowed the homeowners association to move more quickly through permits. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for 10 a.m. Saturday.

The suspect in the bomb threat has two misdemeanors in Nebraska and no criminal history in Washington, lawyers said in court Monday.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.