SHELTON, Wash. (AP) - A Mason County sheriff’s deputy accused of choking and biting his wife when she tried to rouse him from a drunken stupor pleaded not guilty Monday to a count of fourth-degree assault, a misdemeanor.
Jake Talton Delaney, 31, pleaded not guilty to the charge in Mason County Superior Court, the Kitsap Sun reported. His attorney, Alan Harvey, declined to comment.
Shelton police arrested Delaney on Jan. 18 after a neighbor visiting the couple’s house called 911 and told police she witnessed the assault. He was booked into the Thurston County Jail.
The neighbor said the couple had been mourning the death of their cat and Delaney was slumping over in a chair outside when his wife tried to help him. A Shelton police officer who tried to take a statement from Delaney described him as “extremely intoxicated.”
The wife told police she slapped Delaney in an attempt to wake him up, and the started choking her. She punched him in the face to get him to stop. While still trying to help him, Delaney bit her arm, according to court documents.
Delaney, who is free on $5,000 bail, was placed on administrative leave. He was hired as a deputy in December 2018 after serving in the Army and working as a deputy in Idaho.
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