Anchor Pub ex-owner arrested again, released on Oregon sex crime warrant

EVERETT — Former Anchor Pub owner Christian Sayre was arrested Monday for the fifth time in the past year, facing charges that he has sexually assaulted over 20 people.

He was released from custody Tuesday without being required to post additional bond.

The Everett Police Department received a faxed notice Monday that Sayre was wanted on a $1 million felony warrant out of Washington County, Oregon. Police arrested Sayre just before 3:30 p.m. Monday at his home down the street from the pub and booked him into the Snohomish County Jail, Everett officer Ora Hamel said.

The new Oregon warrant listed Sayre as wanted for six felony sex charges: three counts of first-degree rape, one count of first-degree sodomy, one count of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration and one count of first-degree sexual abuse.

Sayre owned the historic bar on Hewitt Avenue for six years before he was first arrested in October 2021 for investigation of two counts of second-degree rape and one count of indecent liberties. Over the following months, other people came forward, mostly women, reporting they were sexually assaulted by Sayre sometime in the past 20 years.

An investigation turned up women who reported in recent years that they went to the bar in the 1000 block of Hewitt, “where they only had a few drinks but had no recollection of what occurred afterward,” according to the Everett Police Department. “Upon waking up, the victims believed they had been sexually assaulted.”

Further police investigation this past year increased the number of charges to 22 felonies: 16 in Snohomish County and six in Washington County, Oregon, where Sayre used to live.

Each time he has been arrested on new charges, he has been able to post bond. Court papers say he has been required to stay at home, wearing a GPS ankle monitor and an alcohol ankle monitor.

In March, the state of Oregon issued a warrant for Sayre’s arrest and requested his extradition to face charges there. Oregon withdrew its request in June, and Sayre was not extradited.

On Friday, attorneys in Washington agreed to push the trial date to 2024. Three days later, Oregon reissued its request to extradite.

Defense attorney Laura Shaver on Tuesday filed a motion asking a judge to release Sayre from custody, pending Gov. Jay Inslee’s signature on a warrant to send the defendant to Oregon.

“Essentially, Oregon is upset that our trial date is not until January 2024,” Shaver said in a phone interview. “So basically they re-filed the case they already filed.”

Snohomish County prosecutors did not object to his release, since it appeared there were no new charges. Superior Court Judge Millie Judge approved the defense request for release.

One woman, who said Sayre sexually assaulted her in 2016, told The Daily Herald that news of his arrest Monday made her cry “happy tears.” Those emotions were replaced with fear hours later, when he was released.

Each morning when the Island County woman wakes up, she said, the first thing she does is check the jail log to see if Sayre is in or out of custody. The woman, who asked not to be named for safety reasons, said her trips to Everett are rare these days because being back in the city is too traumatic.

The woman went to the Anchor with her mother and a friend one night to watch live music. She began talking with a group at the bar. Sayre was there, and he reportedly bought her shots and drinks. He told the bartender to “make sure her drink was never empty,” the charges say. She began to feel disoriented, she reported, and later, she came to believe she was drugged.

Most of the memories she retained were violent. She said she veered in and out of consciousness as he sexually assaulted her in his home. Years have passed, and the trauma of that night still haunts her.

“The horror of that night has never left,” she said.

She said she believed Sayre was going to kill her the night he raped her.

“This is going to be a lifelong struggle for all of the survivors of his abuse,” she said, adding that it’s a good day when she has no problem getting out of bed.

Sayre’s repeated arrests and release have taken a toll on the woman’s mental health. The most recent time Sayre got out of jail was July 20, when he posted $300,000 bond, on top of $700,000 he posted earlier.

The woman said she was disappointed in the way authorities have handled the case. Each time Sayre has been released from custody, she said it feels like the wound of her trauma is reopened and the public is put in danger. She said the only thing that would give her peace is seeing Sayre sentenced to life in prison. Any lesser sentence, she said, would be a “slap in the face” to her and the many other survivors.

“I have no faith in the justice system,” she said. “Absolutely none whatsoever.”

Sayre’s next Snohomish County court hearing has been scheduled for Nov. 9.

A state business license now lists the owners of The Anchor Pub as Cameron McCaffree and Jeremy Kohl. The bar has been shuttered since Sayre’s first arrest.

The Daily Herald plans to follow developments in this case. If you have a story to share related to the investigation, please contact reporter Ellen Dennis at 425-339-3486; edennis@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @reporterellen.