Seattle, WA – Maurice Clemmons, the 37-year-old Tacoma man being sought for questioning in the killing of four Lakewood police officers this morning, has a long criminal record punctuated by violence, erratic behavior and concerns about his mental health.
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Nine years ago, then-Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee granted clemency to Clemmons, commuting his lengthy prison sentence over the protestations of prosecutors.
“This is the day I’ve been dreading for a long time,” Larry Jegley, prosecuting attorney for Arkansas’ Pulaski County said Sunday night when informed that Clemmons was being sought in connection to the killings.
Clemmons’ criminal history includes at least five felony convictions in Arkansas and at least eight felony charges in Washington. The record also stands out for the number of times he has been released from custody despite questions about the danger he posed.
Clemmons had been in jail in Pierce County for the past several months on a pending charge of second-degree rape of a child.
He was released from custody just six days ago, even though he was wanted on a fugitive warrant out of Arkansas and was staring at eight felony charges in all out of Washington state.
Clemmons posted $15,000 with a Chehalis company called Jail Sucks Bail Bonds. The bondsman, in turn, put up $150,000, securing Clemmons’ release on the pending child-rape charge.
Clemmons lives in Tacoma, where he has run a landscaping and power-washing business out of his house, according to a police interview with his wife earlier this year.
He was married, but the relationship was tumultuous, with accounts of his unpredictable behavior leading to at least two confrontations with police earlier this year.
During the confrontation in May, Clemmons punched a sheriff’s deputy in the face, according to court records. As part of that incident, he was charged with seven counts of assault and malicious mischief.
In another instance, Clemmons was accused of gathering his wife and young relatives around at 3 or 4 in the morning and having them all undress. He told them that families need to “be naked for at least 5 minutes on Sunday,” a Pierce County sheriff’s report says.
“The whole time Clemmons kept saying things like trust him, the world is going to end soon, and that he was Jesus,” the report says.
when will the justice system get a back bone and start coming down hard on these dangerous habitual criminal types? I firmly believe if someone kills a public servant it should be automatic death sentence.
and he was out of jail for what reason??
savage is gonna have a field day tommorow
Instead of gun control,how about perpetrator control. If you keep letting them go.then they keep on commiting crimes. The cops arrest them and the political hacks,[judges,governors, etc] let them . Kill them all,let G-d sort them out!
he was seventeen at the time of the crime, that is why Huck pardoned him.
its hard to tell at the time of the pardon what will be in the future.
but i sadly admit this is probably the end of Huckabee’s chances.for President
They should decrease money fraud sentences and never let go a murderer… The justice system is so cruel in the USA, how could you give some life sentencing for money fraud & for criminals like him pardoning, people like him shouldn’t in their life have the opportunity of seeing the sun again.
I hope israel will think twice before making a Shalit exchange for 1000 of these criminals.
of course Huck will say, “if I only knew then what I know now.” Too bad you weren’t sitting with those angels when they were killed in cold blood starting out their day protecting jerks like you.
goodbye pastor mike huckabee who was another self righteous republican who had no business running for president.
you violated a principle of showing his picture instead you should have described him as a little old white lady with tennis shoes
holy moly, this guy is shooting cops, beating his wife, messing with kids, running two home businesses and he is a career criminal to boot!
remember this article when Huckabee will run for president
Look’s like Huck will have a hard time running!! I think Bibi should think twice before releasing all of those prisoners. I feel very bad for the Shalit family but one person is not going to be worth all the future bombings. In 2005 ( I think) they released 250 and 171 are back at bombing. If they release 980 what will we get?? I rest my case.
As the late Lee Atwater would put it, it’s not even 2010, and Gov. Huckabee has already chosen his running mate for the 2012 elections.
this is not the first criminal Huckabee let loose that went one to commit more crimes. Remeber the story of serial rapist Wayne Dumond? Huckabee pushed for his “early release” despite all the warnings and his past…and the guy went on to rape again… and kill. goodbye huckabee.
After doing more research and seeing that the media distorted the story to make Huck look bad, I take back my previous comment though I still don’t like the man.