Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
ODESSA — A Ritzville man is being held in the Lincoln County Jail on $45,000 bail after allegedly kidnapping his son.
Nicholas Dale Kuest, 26, has been charged with first-degree kidnapping-domestic violence and theft of a firearm in a custodial interference case.
He is accused of allegedly taking his 1-year-old son from the Tri-Cities to his father’s house on East Weber Road southeast of town and south of Lamont and stealing a gun stored in the home.
Kuest entered a not-guilty plea during a June 6 arraignment in Lincoln County Superior Court.
Kuest was originally arrested by Ellensburg police outside a Dollar General store there on probable cause of first-degree kidnapping and theft of a firearm Sunday, May 28 as the County Sheriff’s Office began to work on an Amber Alert for the boy, according to records.
Kuest’s father originally called the Sheriff’s Office May 28 to say his son had taken an 18-month-old boy from the Richland area, taken the father’s firearm from his Odessa-area home and made statements that “no one better get in his way and he was not returning the child,” records state.
The son’s mother told Richland police Kuest took their son that same day, according to records.
The mother then said Kuest contacted her and said he was near Snoqualmie Pass and she might be able to see the child “in a couple of days.”
His cell phone was then tracked westbound on Interstate 90 near Vantage and was stopped by police in Ellensburg, records state.
The child was found safe in his vehicle and returned to his mother, the Sheriff’s Office said.
A stolen gun was also found in the vehicle, records state.
Kuest is scheduled to appear for a readiness hearing July 11.
A jury trial date is set for Aug. 2.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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