BELLFLOWER, Calif. — The Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s office has asked for the help of the governor in extraditing from California a man wanted on multiple domestic violence charges.
Andrew David Nilsson, 27, who has been wanted by the Port Angeles Police Department since Oct. 3, is sitting in the Los Angeles County jail after having been arrested in November.
The Clallam County Prosecutor’s Office charged the Port Angeles man with one count of harassment/threats to kill and one count each of second-degree assault/strangulation, unlawful imprisonment, harassment/threats to kill and fourth-degree assault, all of which are domestic violence-related and involved single individual.
The charges against Nilsson stem from a series of incidents that the Port Angeles Police Department said occurred from Sept. 26-30.
Nilsson allegedly physically assaulted one person at least twice and later threatened others with death via numerous phone calls, police said.
John Troberg, Clallam County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, said Nilsson has so far resisted extradition, so Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly has written Gov. Chris Gregoire asking that her office ask California Gov. Jerry Brown’s office to order Nilsson be extradited.
Troberg said such action is relatively routine, adding that he does not think the upcoming shift from Gregoire to Gov.-elect Jay Inslee will slow the process at all.
“I don’t see any reason why [extradition] wouldn’t happen,” Troberg said.
“It’s just a matter of when.”
Arrested in L.A. suburb
Nilsson was arrested Nov. 19 in Bellflower, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles, after a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy approached Nilsson and a woman identified as Francine Chouinard while the pair were sitting in a car in a business district of the suburb at about 7:30 a.m., said Lt. Minh Dinh of the Sheriff’s Office.
The deputy approached the car and, after speaking with Nilsson and Chouinard, discovered an arrest warrant for Nilsson during a computer check, Dinh said.
Nilsson and Chouinard, described as Nilsson’s girlfriend, both were arrested without incident for investigation of possessing illegal fireworks, Dinh said.
A handgun thought to belong to Nilsson also was recovered, Dinh said, though the deputy did not have any reason to believe Nilsson had it illegally.
During Nilsson’s booking that same day, Dinh said Nilsson destroyed a sprinkler head in the jail cell he was being held in, flooding one or two other cells.
“We had to call the fire department for that,” Dinh said.
Nilsson has been charged with one count of felony vandalism because of the jail cell incident, Dinh added.
Troberg said he expects Clallam County to foot the bill for extradition, though he said the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office could seek restitution from Nilsson if he’s convicted or apply for reimbursement from the federal government.
The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, which would handle the extradition, could rely on an interstate shuttle that transports prisoners between counties for extradition, Troberg explained, or the Clallam Sheriff’s Office would have to fly a couple of deputies to California to pick up Nilsson and fly him back.
In October, Port Angeles police officers served an arrest warrant at Nilsson’s house in the 200 block of East Eighth Street but did not find him.
Police did find a small explosive device, which eventually was taken and disposed of by the State Patrol bomb squad.
Nilsson was thought to have been armed with an AK-47 while he was on the run from police, but the L.A. County sheriff’s deputy did not find any weapon besides the handgun when Nilsson was arrested, Dinh said.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.