A man who tried to escape police by bursting into a crowded Mountlake Terrace classroom Dec. 18 was charged with a firearms violation Monday, his second of the year.
James John Hansen III, 33, of Brier has six prior convictions. He was wanted for failing to show up for sentencing on being a felon in possession of a firearm when he ran into a Mountlake Terrace Elementary School classroom after a brief car chase with police. He was carrying a loaded semiautomatic handgun, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Jim Townsend said in Superior Court papers.
Hansen was tackled by a police officer and only quit fighting after being blasted with pepper spray, prosecutors said. Nine children were treated for the effects of the spray at an area hospital. Hansen’s daughter was in a classroom nearby.
Townsend plans to ask that Hansen’s bail be maintained at $250,000.
The man’s criminal record stretches back to 1994 and includes felony convictions for possession of stolen property, eluding police, violating conditions of work release and three counts of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
As a convicted felon, Hansen is barred from possessing firearms. His most recent conviction on that charge came this summer, and he has been wanted since August for failing to show up for sentencing.
Hansen told police he purchased the pistol at a gun shop and was carrying the weapon for protection, court papers show.
He’s now charged again with second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. If convicted, it will be his fourth time before a judge on that charge. The offense doesn’t count as a strike under Washington’s three-strikes repeat offender law.
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