Victims in botched search for fugitive file lawsuit

The victims of a fugitive recovery operation gone wrong are suing the bail bond company and the agents involved after being held at gunpoint inside their home.

Annette Waleske; her two children, Tayler and Quincey; and their friend Nathan Panosh filed the lawsuit Thursday against Regan Bail Bonds; the company’s owner, David Regan; and former bail bond agents Jason Stomps, Victoria Stomps and David Smith.

The lawsuit stems from a March 20, 2014, incident in which Jason and Victoria Stomps and David Smith reportedly forced their way into the Waleskes’ Vancouver home while in search of a fugitive. The Waleske children and Panosh were the only ones home at the time of the incident.

While inside the home, Jason Stomps and Smith reportedly brandished their guns and ordered Quincey Waleske, then 20, and Panosh, then 19, to handcuff themselves. None of the three people inside the house in the 1200 block of Northeast 65th Street was the fugitive being sought, according to court records.

Victoria Stomps, who was an employee of Regan Bail Bonds at the time of the incident, pleaded guilty in September to second-degree rendering criminal assistance and was sentenced to probation, court records show. Jason Stomps, who was an independent contractor and is Victoria Stomps’ husband, was sentenced in April following a jury trial to 15 years in prison for first-degree burglary, three counts of second-degree kidnapping and three counts of second-degree assault — all of which carried firearm enhancements.

Smith is scheduled to begin trial Sept. 21 on the same charges, according to court documents.

The lawsuit alleges assault, battery, false imprisonment, trespass and negligent conduct by the various defendants in the case, and seeks damages in an amount to be determined at trial.

The plaintiffs are being represented by Linda Williams of Kafoury & McDougal in Portland.