Victims concerned for man who threatened to blast Lakebay Marina

A man who threatened to detonate explosives at the Lakebay Marina Resort and fired a shotgun in the air there last year was sentenced Tuesday to a year of probation and to continue his mental health treatment.

Russell Beery, 57, pleaded guilty in January to threatening to bomb or injure property and to felony harassment.

His threats Aug. 4 drew a SWAT team, bomb experts, divers, marine units and an airplane to the marina, where Beery was holed up on a 30-foot boat.

Law enforcement told several groups of boaters nearby to stay put on their boats during the standoff. Beery eventually asked to talk to Pierce County Superior Court Judge Frank Cuthbertson, who agreed to chat, and that led Beery to eventually surrender.

Victim statements given to the court suggest the people affected by Berry’s threats that day are quite supportive of him.

“I have to say I liked Russ and I think he just had a bad day,” one statement read. “We miss him and hope for the best.”

Another victim wrote that the shots fired and the threats were a cry for help, and that Berry had told someone he wanted the police to come and get him.

“I do not believe, in spite of Russell’s threats, that he intended to harm anyone,” that victim’s statement read.

Residents near the marina said Beery lived on the boat and did maintenance jobs for moorage there.

Charging papers say he smelled of alcohol when he was arrested, and said “the New York crew was out to get him and that they were after his kids,” and that “the community was full of socialists who had the government in their pocket.”

Beery, who has no known prior criminal record, gets credit for 105 days he served in jail. He was sentenced by Judge Jerry Costello.

This story was originally published February 23, 2016 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Victims concerned for man who threatened to blast Lakebay Marina."