A second young Coupeville man was arrested in connection with a July 27 burglary that left a resident paralyzed.
Codie Burley, 19, was arrested Saturday at his home — where he allegedly tried to flee with his infant daughter — and is being held in jail on $150,000 bail.
Monday, the other suspect, 20-year-old Paul Schmakeit, appeared in Island County Superior Court. He’s facing first-degree burglary and second-degree assault charges.
His attorney, Craig Platt of Coupeville, asked the judge to reduce his bail from $150,000 to $500 on the condition that he be placed on electronic home monitoring.
Platt explained that Schmakeit has very strong ties to the Coupeville community. He graduated from Coupeville High School in 2013, was a Boy Scout and worked at the grocery store. After school, he had been working at Whidbey Island Bank until he quit to start college, Platt said.
“The allegations have struck everyone as being very out of character,” he said.
Platt also pointed out that bail was originally set when he was arrested on suspicion of more serious charges. He said the allegations were serious, but there was no evidence of malice or forethought; he said it was “best described as an accident,” apparently referring to the assault.
Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Eric Ohme, however, said that a high bail was appropriate because Schmakeit fled to Canada — and allegedly blew through the border with a handgun — after law enforcement was closing in on him.
Ohme suggested that bail be reduced to $100,000; Judge Alan Hancock agreed.
A deputy’s report on Burley provides new details about the crime.
The victim, 68-year-old Dennis Phillips, was confronted by a man — later identified as Schmakeit — inside his Greenbank home, the report states.
Phillips grabbed a shovel and went after the intruder. He later told detectives that Schmakeit tackled him to the ground, landing on top of him, the deputy’s report states.
Phillips was unable to move or feel his legs and was on his back for about five hours until a friend rescued him and called the police. He suffered from a prior back injury and was left paralyzed by the assault, according to the report.
Investigators believed that the burglars were targeting marijuana being grown at the home, according to the Island County Sheriff’s Office.
The state crime lab recovered fingerprints from a “plastic grow box” at the residence and identified the prints as belonging to Burley, the report states.
Before he was arrested, Schmakeit allegedly told a friend that he assaulted the older man when he was fleeing the house with a crossbow and a tray of “shatter,” which is a concentrated form of THC. He allegedly told the friend that “it’s bad doing these botched jobs with Codie,” the report states.
Deputies went to Burley’s house on Aug. 29 and arrested him. Burley allegedly tried to flee out the back door with his infant in his arms but stopped when he saw a deputy.
Burley whispered to his mother while he was hugging him goodbye. She started to reach into his pocket but a deputy stopped her; he found that he was trying to conceal a bag of pot, the report states.
