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

Director of Community Detox arrested on assault charge

The executive director of Community Detox Services is suspected of being drunk and grabbing a woman outside of a Liberty Lake bar earlier this month and pinning her against a car. The woman told police she met Jon D. Schlenske, 41, in the bar and accepted his offer of a ride home because she was drunk. The woman said Schlenske grabbed her arms and held them above her head while backing her against his SUV in the parking lot of True Legends Bar and Grill. She told police that she pushed him away, but then got in his car anyway because he is much larger than she is and she was afraid of him, according to court documents that outline Schlenske’s arrest. Community Detox is a non-profit organization that receives more than $1.5 million in local government contracts, including from Spokane County, to provide drug and alcohol treatment to people with addiction. It recently changed its name to Spokane Treatment and Recovery Services. Schlenske has worked at the organization for 13 years and became executive director last year. Defense attorney Chris Bugbee, who represents Schlenske, said he believes a felony charge of unlawful imprisonment has been dropped and that a misdemeanor assault charge may also be dropped. “I think there’s a misunderstanding that occurred here,” he said. Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell did not immediately return a call about the status of the case. Spokane County Commissioner Todd Mielke said he had been informed of the arrest, which he called “extremely unfortunate.” He said the County will not involve itself in the issue unless it affects the organization’s ability to meet its contractual oblications. Mielke praised the work that Schlenske has done at Community Detox. “He’s somebody that’s been very dynamic, an out of the box thinker when it comes to treatment programs,” Mielke said. Police officers said Schlenske was staggering and obviously drunk when they approached him in the gas station parking lot across from the bar. Both he and the woman initially said that nothing had happened and Schlenske said the two were on a date. He repeatedly begged the officers not to arrest him, saying he was the CEO of Spokane Detox. One of the officers offered Schlenske a courtesy ride to a nearby hotel where he was staying. Body camera video shows that as Schlenske was getting in the car he said “Please don’t take me to jail.” After Liberty Lake police drove Schlenske away, the woman told another officer that Schlenske had assaulted her. A witness corroborated her statement. Schlenske was then arrested in front of the hotel he was staying in, and said over and over again: “I didn’t do anything wrong.” He also refused repeated commands to get back into the police car until the officer convinced him to comply. Body camera videos show that Schlenske spent much of the trip to the Spokane County Jail shouting at police Officer Jeff Jones. He repeatedly said he didn’t do anything, then started saying he wanted to kill himself. “Do you hear me?” he shouted. “I’m going to kill myself.” Schlenske then began threatening Jones. “You have no (expletive) idea what the (expletive) I’m going to do to you,” he said. When Schlenske arrived at the jail he was argumentative with corrections staff. Liberty Lake Police Chief Brian Asmus said that after officers left the jail they received a phone call informing them that Schlenske had “failed” the booking process and became so unruly that he was put in a restraint chair. Schlenske is due in court Monday.
Staff reporter Kip Hill contributed to this report.