Security breach at Coast Guard base examined

PORT ANGELES — Lee Daniel Renfro did more than illegally drive past a guard station and onto the Port Angeles Coast Guard base earlier this year.

Undetected, the Forest Grove, Ore., Navy veteran made it past a second watch shack at 5:30 a.m. March 28, then boarded the 210-foot cutter Active.

Renfro strolled into the Active’s commanding officer’s stateroom, took a shower — and smoked marijuana he had carried onto the cutter.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

He was apprehended three hours later while still on the vessel, according to a Coast Guard report of the incursion obtained by the Peninsula Daily News.

Found dead

At about 6 p.m. March 31, three days after he breached security at the Coast Guard base on Ediz Hook and boarded the Active, Renfro, 32, was found dead several miles away on Rayonier Inc.’s old pulp mill site in Port Angeles, which was closed in 1997 and is undergoing environmental cleanup.

An autopsy showed Renfro — who Coast Guard personnel described as confused and at times incoherent when they found him aboard the cutter — died of hypothermia.

Port Angeles police said there was no evidence of foul play.

His father, Steve Renfro — also of Forest Grove, Ore. — said in April that police told him it appeared that his son slipped and twisted his ankle while walking along the shoreline, falling backward on rocks and breaking four ribs.

He apparently tried to crawl to safety, his father said, but he was not spotted from the Waterfront Trail until after his death.

Coast Guard report

Titled Counter Terrorism and Internal Security — Special Inquiry, a May 25 report on how Renfro breached security at the Coast Guard station, home to the Active and other smaller patrol boats and helicopters, was obtained late last month by Peninsula Daily News under a Freedom of Information Act request.

While it was known Renfro had gotten onto the base last March, details about his activities there had not been revealed by the Coast Guard or Port Angeles police.

The newly released report describes the bizarre events surrounding a man who made it past two guard stations without detection and was finally discovered in broad daylight, high on drugs, standing on the deck of the Active in sweatshirt and jeans as if he was supposed to be there.

Renfro “trespassed and gained unrestricted access to [Coast Guard] Group Port Angeles and the [Coast Guard cutter] Active,” according to the report’s synopsis.

The Coast Guard also determined after a search of the Active that “no classified material was reported as being compromised,” according to the report.

In addition, the vessel’s weapons and munitions were stored in secured areas inaccessible to Renfro when he was on board, said Chief Petty Officer Robert Lanier, a spokesman with the 13th District Coast Guard in Seattle, headquarters for the Port Angeles facility.

‘Shouldn’t have happened’

“It was an incursion that shouldn’t have happened,” said Coast Guard Cmdr. Tony Hahn, commanding officer of the base, now Air Station/Sector Field Office Port Angeles, in an interview. Hahn took command of the base last summer, several months after the incident.

The report also contains 10 affidavits and statements. The authors’ names were redacted.

The incident began with Renfro driving his Ford Focus up to the gate at the base’s unmanned guard station.

Its camera was monitored from a base command center staffed by a Coast Guard seaman responsible for opening the gate who “saw a slight flash as [Renfro] pushed the button on the terminal,” he said.

“I believed this flash was the white reflecting from an ID card . . . The flash I saw turned out to be a ring on his finger.

“The individual then told me, ‘Lee going to the Active’ . . . I wasn’t able to get a good look at his face, since the camera is black and white when it is dark out, he didn’t look at the camera.

“I mistook this individual for what I thought was a cutter Active crew member, possibly a food service specialist.”

The gate was opened, and Renfro drove onto the base.

Sector Field Office Port Angeles conducts operations out of Coast Guard stations Port Angeles, Neah Bay and Quillayute River.

Activities include search and rescue, law enforcement-homeland security and resource protection for Washington’s northwestern coast around the Olympic Peninsula to the mouth of Puget Sound.

The Active, which reports to the 11th Coast Guard District in Alameda, Calif., is the largest and most completely outfitted of the local patrol boats.

Built in 1965, it features a helipad, sleeps up to 82 and has mounts for a 25 mm gun and two .50-caliber machine guns on the forward deck.

Its primary mission is law enforcement and search and rescue.

Discovered on Active

Renfro was discovered on the vessel at about 8:30 a.m. by Coast Guard personnel while he stood on the deck of the vessel at morning colors — the raising of the American flag.

When apprehended, Renfro “seemed to be a little confused,” the report said.

At first, he said he “was not ready to leave” when duty personnel tried escorting him off the vessel, but he was finally “detained” by boarding team members.

They frisked him and found a marijuana pipe and an empty Kodiak tobacco can that tested positive for marijuana and heroin, the report said.

A box cutter, a razor blade and an expandable police baton were found in his car.

Under questioning in a base training room, Renfro said he “thought the gate was opened and he was able to just drive through so he could go look at the water from the Active,” the report said.

‘Meant no harm’

Renfro “stated he meant no harm,” the report said.

He said he parked his car, walked straight to the vessel and boarded it without talking to or seeing anyone, he said.

Then he walked through the galley and some main passageways until he saw the commanding officer’s stateroom.

“He entered the CO’s stateroom and proceeded to take a shower and use the toilet,” the report said.

Renfro told his questioners he then smoked the last of his “medicine” there because his knee hurt.

Asked if he had a prescription for the marijuana, he said no.

“He did not see any person on-board until he saw a CG member going to do morning colors,” the report said.

While in the training room, Renfro tried to escape, was tackled and was put into hand and ankle restraints.

While there, he mumbled, rocked from side to side and made “unrecognizable statements,” the report said.

Conversation with God

Renfro “seemed to be having three to four conversations with himself, the most prominent one being with God,” said one seaman.

“He continually asked ‘God’ to stop time for him.”

In addition, according to the synopsis, “it was apparent Lee Renfro was under the influence of an illegal drug, physically and by his own admission.”

Finally, after questioning, Coast Guard personnel drove Renfro to the home of his brother, Donald Renfro, in Port Angeles, at about 4:30 p.m.

The incident was reported to Port Angeles police.

Neither Donald Renfro or Lee Renfro’s father could be reached for comment for this article.

The Coast Guard had wanted the Department of Justice to review the incident, the report said, but after Renfro’s death, the Justice Department was not interested in investigating when no charges were possible.

After Renfro’s death, the Coast Guard turned its attention to “where did this guy come from, what was his involvement with the Coast Guard, how did he get on the base,” Lt. Collin Bronson, public affairs officer for Coast Guard District 13 in Port Angeles told the PDN last April 18.

________

Senior Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.

More in News

Levi Oravetz, 9, and his father Adam Oravetz put pre-measured rice and lentils into a funnel to be packaged for families in Ecuador. More than 100 volunteers from Independent Bible Church of Port Angeles packed 65,000 meals on Saturday. Almost $23,000 was raised by the church to buy the supplies. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Meals for Ecuador

Levi Oravetz, 9, and his father Adam Oravetz put pre-measured rice and… Continue reading

Comment now open on whale hunt

Makah Tribe seeking permit for 2025, ’27

Clallam awards $10,800 in historical grants

Genealogical society, history center to receive funds

Port Townsend council approves funding to repave city’s Tyler Street

Contractors expect project to be done in 30 to 40 days

A Quillayute Valley Scholarship Auction one-day record was set on Saturday with $75,000 and an all-time record with auction items and cash donations totaled $218,002. The funds raised will go to Forks High School graduates for college and trade school scholarships. Forks High School class of 2025 seniors, in the yellow shirts, mill about the crowd, showing off auction items. Guest auctioneer Elliott Mann takes bids from the audience. Almost 900 items were auctioned during the two-day event. (Christi Baron/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
New records set

A Quillayute Valley Scholarship Auction one-day record was set on Saturday with… Continue reading

Mary Ann Dangman of Sequim reads a plant description at a vendor booth for One Earth Botanical of Camas at the 26th annual Soroptimist Gala Garden Show at the Sequim Boys & Girls Club. The event on Saturday featured numerous display and vendor booths devoted to plants, gardening and outdoor activities, as well as a slate of guest speakers and workshops. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Garden show

Mary Ann Dangman of Sequim reads a plant description at a vendor… Continue reading

Port Executive Director Paul Jarkiewicz, left, City Fire Chief Derrell Sharp and Port Angeles City Manager Nathan West, right, pose in front of the city’s newly purchased wildland urban interface fire engine. (City of Port Angeles)
Port Angeles partners with port to purchase fire engine

Through partnership with the Port of Port Angeles, the… Continue reading

Family members of the late Mike McAleer, from left, McAleer’s wife, Shannon Burke, son Michael McAleer and daughter Colleen McAleer, accept the Clallam Economic Development Council’s Olympic Leader Award at Friday’s annual EDC Gala at 7 Cedars Casino in Blyn. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Former volunteer named Olympic Leader at EDC gala

Mike McAleer served on boards, provided support

Jefferson County discusses rules for rental units

Public comments to be accepted through Friday

U.S. Rep. Emily Randall, D-Bremerton, speaks about current issues during a town hall meeting on Saturday in the Little Theater at Peninsula College in Port Angeles. Several hundred people attended, including an overflow audience in the Pirate Union Building. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Town hall

U.S. Rep. Emily Randall, D-Bremerton, speaks about current issues during a town… Continue reading

Firefighters rescue woman from house fire

Firefighters and neighbors rescued a woman and three dogs following… Continue reading