Stuart Gray Piff, 35, of Friday Harbor, was charged with two controlled substances charges, violation of a contact/protection order, and unlawful harboring of a minor in San Juan County Superior Court on Jan. 14.
Deputies were unable to locate Piff and a bench warrant for his arrest, with a surety bond set for $25,000, was ordered.
According to court documents, on Jan. 3, a Friday Harbor deputy allegedly discovered a missing and endangered 17-year-old juvenile sitting on the floor by the front passenger seat of Piff’s car, which was parked near the Little Store. There are currently a total of three no-contact and protection orders filed in both San Juan District and Superior courts stating there shall be no contact, directly or indirectly between the minor and Piff.
Piff’s father arrived at the scene and stated that Piff called him and told him he saw the minor-victim in his car and ran. The deputies at the scene advised the father to tell Piff to contact the Sheriff’s Office.
After the minor exited the car, the deputy saw a pink vaping device near where she had been sitting. The cartridge of the device contained a brown liquid substance. After obtaining a search warrant from District Court Judge Carolyn Jewett, deputies searched the car, according to court documents.
During the search, deputies allegedly found a clear glass pipe resembling a pipe used to ingest methamphetamines; a bottle with multiple types of pills and a white crystalline substance; a black bag that contained small baggies of a white crystalline substance and a digital scale.
A presumptive field test kit indicated positive for the presence of methamphetamines, according to court documents.
Case background
The initial protection order stemmed from an incident on June 10, 2019, wherein deputies responded to a report of a domestic assault. According to the juvenile victim, Piff choked the victim several times and slammed her head onto the floor while calling her names. The responding deputy located red marks on the left side of her neck and a lump on the back of her head that was “tender to the touch.”
Piff was charged with assault in the fourth-degree.
On Sept. 24, 2019, Piff was charged in district court with escape in the third-degree, “bail jumping,” for not complying with the requirements of his electronic monitoring. On Sept. 26, 2019, two San Juan Island deputies were dispatched to a home on Roche Harbor Road regarding a wanted person and a possible order violation. Piff was found inside the house with the victim from the assault case. The victim also had a felony juvenile warrant out of Oregon for her arrest.
Piff was charged with violating a no-contact order, criminal assistance in the second-degree, and unlawful harboring of a minor.
According to the determination of probable cause, on Nov. 15, 2019, a deputy pulled over Piff’s vehicle because of a misdemeanor warrant out for his arrest. After placing him into custody, the deputy took an inventory of the car and allegedly found a white crystalline substance in a container in the driver’s side door. After obtaining a search warrant, an additional clear container with a white substance was allegedly discovered. Both tested positive for methamphetamines, according to the deputy. Piff’s license was also suspended at the time of his arrest. He was sentenced on Nov. 21, 2019, for that charge.
Piff pleaded guilty to assault in the fourth-degree, bail jumping and solicitation to commit a violation of the Uniform Controlled Substance Act on Nov. 27.
