Orondo man in custody after SWAT team responds to taser attacks, standoff

ORONDO — On Monday, March 24, Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a call just before 3 p.m. for a disturbance on Orondo Spur off US97. Reports said that a man who was later identified as 39-year-old James Scott Martin of Orondo was threatening people and had assaulted others with a taser-equipped flashlight.

According to a Douglas County press release from Sheriff Kevin Morris, deputies and members of the Chelan County Behavioral Health Unit tried a number of times unsuccessfully to get the man to surrender before summoning the East Cascade SWAT and Crisis Negotiation teams. Traffic was shut down in both directions on US97 for the duration of the incident, with northbound cars being diverted through Waterville via Pine Canyon and southbound vehicles rerouted onto McNeil Canyon Road.

After a 3-hour standoff, Martin was finally subdued and taken to the Chelan County Regional Jail on suspicion of Assault in the Second Degree. He was later formally charged with the assault and with Malicious Mischief in the Second Degree.

This was not Martin’s first run-in with a SWAT team. In February of 2024, he was arrested after assaulting two people, one with a metal bar and one with a glass bottle, at a residence in the same area as this incident. In that instance, Martin also refused to come outside until SWAT arrived. He was subdued with a non-lethal 40 mm round in order to get him in custody.

It’s unclear whether the charges from 2024 are still pending.

In Tuesday’s release, Sheriff Morris acknowledged the contributions of East Cascade SWAT, Washington State Patrol, Washington State Department of Transportation, Chelan County Behavioral Health Unit, Rivercom, and Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media