A Vancouver man appeared Friday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of helping a couple kidnap their 5-month-old boy from the custody of Washington Child Protective Services.
Michael G. Fuller, 33, is accused of renting a motel room for the family Nov. 27-28 and providing other assistance, so that authorities wouldn’t be able to find them.
The baby, Jaxon Smith, and his parents, Kasey McKernan, 31, and Summer Smith, 36, still hadn’t been located as of Friday.
Fuller faces charges at his Friday arraignment of first-degree kidnapping and second-degree rendering criminal assistance.
Judge Daniel Stahnke held him on $75,000 bail and appointed Vancouver attorney Clark Fridley to defend him.
When social worker Karen Johnson tried to take Jaxon into custody Nov. 27 at a residence at 1221 N.E. 104th Ave., Smith pulled the baby out of her arms and handed him to McKernan, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in court.
Johnson tried to retrieve the child, but Smith held her back by grabbing at her face and holding her legs, court records say.
A second social worker, Angela Gomez, told McKernan not to take the child because there was a court order for Jaxon’s removal from the home.
McKernan lunged at Gomez with a closed fist and said “(I’ll) knock you the (expletive) out,” court records say. Gomez followed McKernan out of the residence as McKernan continued to threaten her, court records say.
He jumped into a truck with Jaxon, while Smith brought the vehicle’s keys. She then fled with McKernan and Jaxon in the truck, court records say.
That night, Fuller rented a room for the family at Howard Johnson Inn and Suites, 9201 N.E. Vancouver Mall Drive, after Smith told him CPS had tried to take Jaxon, court records say. Fuller said he visited the room several times and saw them smoking methamphetamine, court records say. At Smith’s request, Fuller agreed to dispose of the couple’s truck in a parking lot at Walmart, 221 N.E. 104th Ave. He said he also kept in touch with the couple and alerted them that Vancouver police had been at his home, court records say.
