SNOHOMISH – Snohomish police are investigating new reports of telephone harassment linked to the October explosion of a ceremonial cannon at a Snohomish High School football game.
This time, at least some of the reported harassment allegedly came from a boy whose leg was seriously injured in the blast, according to people connected with the case.
The threats began after the injured teen allegedly told an adult friend that he overloaded the cannon, hoping for a bigger blast.
Police on Thursday confirmed that a new harassment investigation is under way, but shared few details.
“A complaint has been filed with the police department regarding harassment by people involved in the cannon explosion,” Snohomish police Sgt. Fred Havener said. “That investigation is ongoing.”
He declined to say who is being investigated or why.
Snohomish police and school officials have been investigating what caused the cannon to explode during an Oct. 6 football game. The five teens injured in the blast were members of Snohomish High School’s Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps.
The most seriously hurt was Brett Karch, 16, who, according to police reports, packed the explosive charges that were placed in the cannon. He also pulled the trigger.
Karch and his mother, Mary Bissell, were unavailable for comment. The boy previously told police he did not sabotage the cannon.
Karch’s attorney, Fred Langer of Seattle, is representing the boy in a civil claim for damages that the teen’s family has filed with the Snohomish School District’s insurance carrier.
“There is no physical evidence to suggest that Brett’s actions played any part in the cannon’s explosion,” he said in a prepared statement Thursday. “There is no evidence to suggest that any standard procedures utilized by the JROTC were altered in any way in the moments leading up to the explosion.”
In December, Karch was the focus of a Seattle newspaper’s story saying the boy was being harassed by people who feared his injury would end 30 years of celebrating Snohomish football triumphs with a cannon blast.
In news reports and press statements now widely distributed on the Internet, the Karch camp described Snohomish as a community apparently more concerned with protecting football traditions than with supporting an injured boy’s recovery.
A closer look reveals a more complex picture.
A Snohomish woman earlier this month was charged with telephone harassment in connection with an Oct. 20 phone call to Karch.
A neighborhood dispute, not irrational football spirit, appears to be at the root of the complaint, documents show.
The defendant, Dana Lynne Snyder, 41, had allowed Karch to essentially live at her home for much of 2005 and 2006, according to court papers.
Karch and his mother told police that Snyder was angry over the boy’s refusal to testify on her behalf in a nasty civil dispute involving Snyder and her neighbor, Everett police reports said.
The new harassment allegations also involve people who had previously provided Karch with a place to live.
Bruce Karr and his wife, Vicki Stevens-Karr, have operated The Farm Ministries in Snohomish for nearly 11 years. The ministry is a nonprofit outreach program for troubled youth.
The couple, both in their 50s, went to Snohomish police in December, and again this week, after members of their family received threatening and harassing telephone messages, they said.
In interviews and in a letter sent to police and school officials, the couple said problems emerged after Karch in October allegedly told Stevens-Karr he had deliberately overloaded the cannon to get a bigger bang.
The couple supplied Snohomish police with taped telephone messages left by a young man they believe is Karch.
On some messages, the caller threatened to physically assault one of their grandchildren, also a Snohomish High School student.
Langer, Karch’s attorney, on Thursday only would answer questions about the cannon explosion and efforts to determine what happened.
A Seattle public relations firm hired by Langer to assist the Karch family said questions about the new harassment complaint were beyond the scope of their representation.
The Karr family’s Snohomish ministry has a petting zoo and space for celebrations.
Karch worked there in 2006, performing some of his ROTC-required community service.
In May, he also spent two days living at The Farm, with his mother’s knowledge, after a family dispute, Karr said.
According to the Karrs, Karch was living away from his mother’s home in the days before the explosion and relying on them for evening meals and transportation.
The night of the blast, Stevens-Karr said the teen called from the hospital to tell her he’d been seriously hurt and asked her to visit. She went a few days later.
Stevens-Karr said she asked Karch if he knew why the cannon exploded.
“He told me that he had overloaded it,” she said, adding that she advised him to let authorities know.
“I said ‘Brett, you just have to tell the truth. Everything will come out right if you tell the truth,’ ” she said.
Stevens-Karr said that when she told Bissell, Karch’s mother, the woman hustled her out of the boy’s room at Providence Everett Medical Center.
After that, Stevens-Karr was banned from further visits.
Everett police reported that Karch told them Stevens-Karr had been yelling and accusing him of sabotage.
Karch told police that the woman’s grandson had made similar false accusations.
Stevens-Karr said she only ever wanted to help Karch.
“I treated him as if he was my grandson,” she said.
The Farm is sometimes used by local judges for teens needing to perform court-ordered community service, Karr said.
“It is just bizarre that we are listed as creepy people” in this case, he said.
Karr said he also is bothered by how the incident has played out.
Reports that people in Snohomish were tormenting an injured boy sparked outrage, including newspaper editorials and 400 e-mails to Snohomish city officials.
“To trash this community on the Internet around the world has been wrong,” Karr said.
Snyder, the woman charged with harassing Karch while he was in the hospital, has filed court papers waiving appearance at her arraignment today.
Her lawyer, David Seeley of Kirkland, said he can’t discuss the case until he reviews police reports.
Everett prosecutor Laura Van Slyck was provided a copy of the Karr family’s letter.
“The information hasn’t affected our charging decision, but we do plan to follow up,” she said.
Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431 or north@heraldnet.com.
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