Benton sheriff didn’t report all guns, says his wife. 15,000 rounds of ammo also found

The estranged wife of Benton County Sheriff Jerry Hatcher says she’s afraid a temporary protection order against him will be lifted and claims he’s misled the court about turning over all his guns.

The sheriff was supposed to surrender his firearms and any concealed weapons permits in early October as part of the initial protection order granted to his wife in the couple’s divorce case.

But Monica Hatcher, in a new court filing, details her recent discovery of 10 more guns, including a loaded M4-style rifle with a silencer, and 15,000 rounds of ammunition in their bedroom and the garage.

Monica Hatcher, who also is an avid hunter, said the rifles, shotguns and 15 cases of ammunition did not belong to her.

Two of the guns and 14 cases of ammo are the property of Benton County, intended for active-shooter training.

Jerry Hatcher moved out of the couple’s Badger Canyon house 10 days before she filed last fall to end their eight-year marriage.

He told the Tri-City Herald he has lots of sheriff’s office equipment at home — a vest, radio, badges and holsters — and said the guns and practice ammo were there to grab for the shooting range when he was available.

The sheriff said having the property at his home is not illegal nor does it violate department policy.

Jerry Hatcher argues that even though the court order five months ago was for him to turn in all of his weapons, he was prohibited from contacting his wife and did not have access to his former home.

She contends he knew about the guns and was required to reveal that to the court and the attorneys so they could be turned over to Kennewick police.

Monica Hatcher said in the documents that she tried to arrange for some of the weapons to be seized by police, but just recently found more guns in the house.

She argues in the recent court filing that she has felt continuous pressure from the sheriff and his attorney to drop the restraining order.

She said she remains fearful and still isn’t sure that he has surrendered all his weapons.

“I believe that it has been (Jerry Hatcher’s) intention to overwhelm, intimidate and create fear in me, in his attempts to force me to give up; historically these tactics had worked numerous times,” she wrote. “However, I have become much more aware and stronger through the steps I have taken to improve my strength.”

“I know that as long as (he) believes there remains even a slight possibility of the protection order being removed, than he will not stop doing everything in his power, regardless of the fact that I do not wish to have any contact with him of any kind in the foreseeable future,” she wrote.

Monica Hatcher said her husband — who had to turn in his service pistol as part of the court order — has ramped up the pressure by claiming he does not feel safe while on duty without a weapon.

She called that an “unwarranted tactic” because he is surrounded by numerous law enforcement officers at work “who clearly are armed and would protect and serve ALL, including the (sheriff), should the need arise.”

An elected sheriff is not required to leave their position in Washington, even if they cannot carry a pistol.

Sheriff says he complied

The sheriff told the Herald he has complied with the divorce court order, turning over the weapons in his possession, and made Kennewick police and his attorney aware of what was left at the house.

He claims it was up to his wife to arrange for the hand-over to police.

Monica Hatcher also contends in her declaration that none of the weapons left in the house were properly secured inside gun safes, including the loaded M4-style rifle with a silencer that she found under the bed and a loaded shotgun discovered behind a bedroom door.

She wrote in the document that in all the years she has lived with Jerry Hatcher, he didn’t keep loaded weapons that way.

Even more concerning, she wrote, is the guns were so carelessly stored while her young granddaughter was visiting the house.

She put them in another room and had a friend remove the ammunition until they could be picked up by Kennewick police.

But it wasn’t until she discovered more guns and the 15,000 rounds of ammunition in the garage in January that police retrieved everything.

Jerry Hatcher told the Herald his wife is “trying to paint a picture ... that is just not factual.”

“There is no trying to hide anything. I have been above board,” he said. “I have been as compliant and as patient as I can be in (these) situations.”

“It’s important to understand my wife had exclusive control of our residence and the property within. I had not been there for five months,” he told the Herald.

Domestic violence allegations

Monica Hatcher filed for the divorce in September and sought the restraining order two weeks later, alleging she is a victim of domestic violence and threats. She says he choked her in 2017 after she confronted him about his having an affair.

While only temporary, the protection order has been re-issued three times while the Benton County Superior Court divorce case is ongoing.

Another hearing on the divorce is scheduled later this month. If they can’t agree on a settlement, a trial is scheduled in June.

In the meantime, Jerry Hatcher’s attorney, Mason Pickett, has subpoenaed Monica Hatcher to turn over all text messages and call and message logs from her personal and work cellphones. Pickett also plans to question her as part of the divorce proceedings.

Jerry Hatcher told the Herald his wife is lying to keep the civil protection order in place.

He says she didn’t want the protection order but was pressured into it by Benton County Prosecutor Andy Miller and County Commissioner Jerome Delvin. He maintains she’s not afraid of him.

“Protective orders are for people who need protections against acts from another, not to be used as a tool to gain leverage in a divorce,” he wrote in a statement to the Herald on Tuesday.

He said he’s had absolutely no contact with her, but claims she broke the order last fall by approaching him at a mutual friend’s house and expressing her love for him. He told her he could not stay and left.

“She’s trying to make it into something it’s not. It’s that simple,” he said. “My attorneys talk to her attorneys, that’s the way divorces go. I don’t know what pressure she could actually be perceiving.”

Guns and ammunition found

Monica Hatcher said late last year she was packing up what was left of her husband’s personal items and clearing out part of the garage when she saw more guns and ammunition that she had no idea were there.

She wrote that she thought most of the guns were removed by the sheriff last summer. That was after they argued about an increasing number of guns in the home and their accessibility when her grandchildren were around.

The court filing includes black-and-white photocopies of pictures that Monica Hatcher says she took of the guns and ammo found in the garage.

Jerry Hatcher initially surrendered his sheriff’s office-issued pistol and two personal hunting rifles in storage cases. And the next day, he turned over another pistol.

On Oct. 15, after his trip to Montana, Hatcher again called Kennewick police to say he had more guns to surrender, but they were in his vehicle in his garage and a repairman’s truck was blocking the garage door, police reports show.

Commanders Scott Child and Trevor White drove to Hatcher’s home to retrieve the five guns.

Child’s report says they were preparing to return to the station when Hatcher said that his estranged wife had several more of his guns in her house. It is not clear from the documents what other guns he was referring to.

Marital strife

Monica Hatcher’s 64-page filing said she never intended for the couple’s marital strife to become public, and is saddened “to see the numerous and ongoing difficulties involving (Jerry Hatcher) and many others within our community.”

But she also said she had believed he would not fight the divorce “given his previous long-term activities leading to my decision.”

Her original request for a restraining order said he strangled and threatened her in December 2017 during a fight about his extramarital affair. She also said he was pushing her to lie to protect him and forcing her to send a false statement to the county prosecutor.

Jerry Hatcher was briefly charged with felony witness tampering and assault, but the charges were dismissed when Spokane County prosecutors said Washington State Patrol detectives needed more time to investigate.

This story was originally published March 2, 2020 at 8:34 PM with the headline "Benton sheriff didn’t report all guns, says his wife. 15,000 rounds of ammo also found."