Colville man jailed pending federal charges

A 40-year-old Colville man faces a three-count federal indictment, including one count that he threatened to kill the family of a federal law enforcement officer.

Travis Eugene Krausse was arraigned Tuesday in U.S. District Court. Magistrate Judge Cynthia Imbrogo ordered him held in jail until a detention hearing on Thursday.

The magistrate said she couldn’t immediately release Krausse, as his attorney requested, because of his criminal history and unrelated pending state charges accusing him of violating a protective order obtained by his neighbor.

In the indictment returned last week by a federal grand jury, Krausse is accused of using heavy equipment to damage U.S. government property, specifically wetlands located in Rabbit Creek Meadow and North Fork Mill Creek within the boundaries of Colville National Forest.

The alleged incident occurred on Sept. 2, 2007.

The second count of the indictment alleges that on the same day, Krausse threatened to kill the family of a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer who was dispatched to investigate the damage to the wetlands.

“If I lose my job because of this, I will kill your … family,” Krausse allegedly told the officer, according to the indictment.

The third count of the indictment alleges Krausse had a loaded 30.06 bolt-action rifle in the pickup on the day of the incident.