Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Federal convict charged in August jail flooding

William Dean Bacon (Washington Department of Corrections)
An Ellensburg man in federal prison for a gun conviction has been charged with flooding the Spokane County Jail last summer. William Dean Bacon, 41, is accused of stuffing jumpsuits, blankets, sheets, towels, socks “and any other item he could fit into his cell’s toilet” in August, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office announced today. Bacon is charged with felony second-degree malicious mischief. Witnesses said he knotted the items and held onto them while flushing the toilet, then release the items when the water began pulling them, which clogged the plumbing, according to the sheriff’s office. Bacon repeatedly flushed the plugged toilet, flooding his cell and the sheriff’s offices located directly below, officials allege. Jail employees shut off water to that area of the jail and called Roto Rooter to unclog the pipes. Plumping and clean up costs totaled more than $2,000, the sheriff’s office said. Bacon was sentenced Aug. 6 to 10 years in federal prison for unlawful possession of a firearm. He’s since been transferred to a federal prison in Sheridan, Ore. Bacon has 12 felony convictions in Washington, including convictions in 1993 for rape, kidnapping and burglary, according to federal court documents.