State prison guard accused of urinating on jail computer

OLYMPIA, Wash. – A state prison guard who was arrested after a drunken brawl at a nightclub may also be charged with urinating on a municipal jail computer, police said.

Willie M. Shannon, 26, of Lacey, employed at Washington Corrections Center in Shelton, was transferred to the Thurston County Jail, where he was booked for investigation of first-degree malicious mischief and then was released after posting bail, according to police reports Monday.

His employment status was unclear. A state corrections spokesman said the personnel office at the prison had closed by the time he was asked about the case Monday by The Olympian newspaper.

Shannon, Sean W. Dack, 25, of McCleary, who works with Shannon at the prison, and Randy M. Hinchcliffe, 38, of Olympia, who has previous felony convictions and knew Shannon from the prison, were arrested after fighting early Sunday morning at The Vault, police St. James Costa said.

Describing all three as apparently intoxicated, investigators found Shannon and Hinchcliffe had been thrown out of the club after punching and shoving each other, and Dack joined the fray after initially seeming to be trying to break it up, Costa said.

Dack and Hinchcliffe were cited at the municipal jail for disorderly conduct and released, but Shannon, while confined in a holding cell, relieved himself through a protective screen onto a nearby computer workstation, according to police reports.

Damage to the computer, monitor, fax machine and other hardware was estimated at $1,500, and other equipment was rendered unusable because of the contamination, Costa said.

Shannon apologized afterward, Costa added.