Bizarre 'stand off' ends without incident
By CHANSE WATSON
Managing Editor
KELLOGG — Here’s an odd one to lead you into 2018.
The Kellogg Police Department reports that officers responded to a residence on the 200 block of E. Riverside Avenue in Kellogg on Dec. 15 for a possible domestic disturbance. The actual situation they walked into had the potential to be much worse.
Dave Wuolle, KPD chief, explained that Officer Robert Cline approached the front door of the home early Friday morning when he heard a female voice inside screaming for help.
Cline attempted to make entry, but stopped when Shawn Thomas Whalen, 53, pulled a shotgun out of a case inside the home, racked in a shell, and pointed it at him.
Not looking to antagonize him further and simply to not get shot at, Cline immediately went back to his patrol vehicle and called for backup.
Officers began preparing as additional units arrived and started to establish a perimeter around the home. As this was happening, Whalen barricaded the front door.
Just as the incident was starting to shape into a full on stand-off and hostage situation, Cline was able to obtain Whalen’s cellphone number and call him in an attempt to end things peacefully. Surprisingly, he did just that in no time at all.
When Whalen answered the phone, Wuolle explained that “my officer said, ‘Kellogg police, we need you to come out!’” to which Whalen replied, “OK, I’ll be right out! Give me a few minutes!”
True to his word, Whalen proceeded to take down the front door barricade and come outside with no weapons and his hands up. As soon as he was taken into custody, officers went into the home and found Whalen’s wife with her hands and ankles bound with duct tape.
When he was being arrested, Wuolle said that Whalen told them she was inside and taped up.
Other than being bound, the victim was not harmed in any other way.
From arrival to rescue, the entire incident lasted roughly 15 minutes. Definitely not a standard “stand-off,” if you could even call it that.
As for Whalen’s motivations for his actions, Wuolle stated that he told police he wanted to keep his wife from “draining his bank accounts or moving to Nevada.”
“Strange call, just a strange call,” Wuolle said. “That was probably one of the most peculiar situations I’ve ever had in my career.”
Whalen has no history of mental illness and no major prior criminal acts.
Although it was certainly an odd ending and situation, Wuolle was pleased with how things concluded.
“I’m glad it turned out the way it did…my officer did the right thing and nobody got hurt.”
Initially charged with 2nd degree kidnapping and aggravated assault, the Idaho repository shows that Whalen currently has a felony charge of “Assault or battery upon certain personnel — Aggravated Enhancement,” and a misdemeanor charge of “Assault-Domestic Violence Without Traumatic Injury Against a Household Member.”
He is also being charged with violating a no contact order after he called the female victim from jail.
Total bond has been set at $202,500.