Man faces charges of aiding shoplifter

A Liberty Lake man jailed for aiding a shoplifting suspect he thought was being assaulted says he did nothing wrong and plans to fight criminal charges.

Police arrested Scott E. Hughes Friday afternoon on a third-degree felony assault charge after he interfered with two security officers attempting to detain a woman seen stealing cosmetics.

“He intervened in what he thought was criminal conduct on behalf of the people who later turned out to be security guards,” said Doug Phelps, Hughes’ lawyer. “He never saw a badge or any identification.”

Hughes, 33, was in the parking lot of the Broadway Avenue Wal-Mart with his wife and 4-year-old daughter about 2:20 p.m. when he spotted what he thought was a woman being attacked by a man and woman, Phelps said.

Instead, it was two Wal-Mart loss prevention officers, James Biehl, 20, and an unidentified female, trying to take a suspected shoplifter back into the store. Police says Hughes shoved Biehl in the back, causing him to lose his grip on the suspect. She then escaped in a car, knocking the female security officer to the ground and hitting a parked car before fleeing the lot, according to police. The female officer suffered “significant head injuries,” said Sgt. Dave Reagan, spokesman for the Spokane Valley Police Department.

Police stand by the arrest.

“It’s a bona fide felony assault on that security officer,” Reagan said. “Basically, he aided and abetted in a robbery because he assisted in her escape.”

Police handcuffed Hughes and took him to the Spokane County Jail, where he spent the night before posting 10 percent of a $15,000 bond. His wife and daughter took the family car home, Phelps said.

Reagan said several witnesses say it was clear the two were security officers detaining a shoplifting suspect.

Reagan said Hughes gave police two reasons for continuing to interfere with the officers after they told him they were with store security. One was that he didn’t believe them, the other is that his wife told him private security guards don’t have the right to physically detain suspects, which isn’t true.

“If you think an officer is violating someone’s rights, the A plan is to be a good witness,” Reagan said. “Because you just might be wrong.”

Phelps emphasized that Hughes tried to help the officers after he realized they were with security. But at that point, the shoplifter was driving away, Phelps said.

Reagan said a license plate of the suspect’s getaway car taken by a witness was incorrect, and that the incident occurred just out of the frame of the store’s security cameras. A Wal-Mart store manager could not be reached for comment.

A father of three, Hughes works at Altek Inc., a manufacturing company in Liberty Lake.