Prosecutor's error frees man accused in church break-in

Botched communication by the King County prosecutor's office led to the mistaken release Wednesday of a Seattle man being held for breaking into a Rainier Valley church during a blood-smeared rampage that destroyed thousands of dollars worth of property last weekend.

Mistakenly sprung from the King County Jail, Daniel M. Saunders, 45, showed up Thursday at the Seattle Police Department's evidence room, where police say he assaulted officers who attempted to take him back into custody on a warrant issued to correct the error that let him go in the first place.

"He was supposed to be held in the King County Jail on $25,000 bail, but was mistakenly released due to a paperwork error," Seattle police spokeswoman Renee Witt said Friday.

"Once they figured out the error, a warrant was immediately put into the system and a BOLO (be on the lookout) was issued."

Now Saunders is back in jail, facing additional assault and resisting-arrest charges to go with recent burglary and vandalism charges brought against him Wednesday.

A spokesman for King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, who is taking responsibility for the mistake that freed Saunders, said Friday the prosecutor's office will make changes "to make sure something like this doesn't happen again."

"It was our mistake," said Dan Donohoe, Satterberg's spokesman. "It was due to a miscommunication here in the office that Saunders got released. We filed charges, but we didn't communicate that to either the court staff or the jail."

Instead, jail officials received a release order Wednesday, signed by a judge, telling them to let Saunders go, King County Jail Capt. Troy Bacon said.

After being freed, Saunders showed up at the public counter of the Seattle Police evidence unit in Georgetown the next day, seeking to pick up property the police had confiscated from him during his arrest last Saturday.

When officers then tried to rearrest him, Saunders "fought officers and attempted to take an officer's baton, another officer's Tazer (sic) and finally grabbed at a gunbelt," a probable-cause affidavit states.

Then, while wrestling with police on the ground, Saunders "armed himself with a screwdriver to use on officers" before police took control and handcuffed him.

Although police previously reported two officers were hurt in the fight, Witt said Friday the officers were not injured.

Authorities took Saunders to Harborview Medical Center, where he was treated for a head cut. He was booked into King County Jail about 11:30 p.m. Thursday for investigation of assaulting an officer, resisting arrest and the felony burglary warrant.

Saunders appeared in court Friday for a bail hearing, during which a judge ordered him held in lieu of $50,000 bail for the new charges pending against him, Donohoe said. On Wednesday, prosecutors charged Saunders with second-degree burglary and malicious mischief, after police said he hurled himself through the front window of the Unity Church of God in Christ in the 8300 block of Renton Avenue South on Saturday.

Saunders, who police say was naked at the time, allegedly crashed through the glass and cut himself extensively, before destroying a trophy case in the main lobby, ripping photos from the walls and smearing his blood on doors, walls and windows, a church pastor said.

Police said Saunders, who they say has hepatitis C, left behind a bloody trail at the scene that has forced authorities to declare the church a biohazard site. The congregation has been displaced for about a month for cleanup.

The Rev. James Hicks has said Saunders may have held a personal grudge against the church. In the summer of 1980, Saunders' older brother hanged himself from a tree on the same property, Hicks said.

Donohoe, the spokesman for Satterberg, said he can't recall another case when a suspect was released due to a communications mistake. Still, the office's Criminal Division will review the matter and adopt new procedures as needed, he said.

"We're going to implement some changes here," Donohoe said. "We regret the error."

This report contains material from The Seattle Times archives.

Lewis Kamb: 206-464-2341 or lkamb@seattletimes.com

Charles E. Brown: 206-464-2206 or cbrown@seattletimes.com