Suspect Threatens Men, Children with Knife After Alleged Roadkill Incident

A man wielding a knife threatened to kill two men just outside Winthrop Sunday afternoon.

The Okanogan County Sheriff's Office received a call regarding the incident off of Bear Creek Road outside of Winthrop just before 3:00 pm, although the incident had reportedly happened an hour earlier.

According to the sheriff's office, Ryan Bell of Mazama is a photographer who is working on a project about harvesting roadkill. He had met 62-year-old Kenneth Bevis, who had located a deer and loaded it into Bevis' truck. The two then transported the deer to Pearrygin Wildlife Area to process the animal.

A sliver Dodge truck arrived a while later. 54-year-old Jan Bagge of Winthrop then allegedly exited his vehicle with a knife, advancing towards the two men while saying, "You must think this is really funny."

Sheriff Tony Hawley said Bagge chased Bell with the knife elevated and told Bell, "I'm going to kill you."

Bagge then reportedly turned his attentions toward Bevis, who had been attempting to explain that their actions were legal. After Bevis accidently fell onto his back, Bagge stood over him with his knife held above Bevis' head.

It was at that Bell was able to photograph Bagge with the camera he had been using to document the roadkill harvest. Bagge allegedly ran at Bell with the knife still in his hand, threatening to not only kill Bell but also his two children, who were in his vehicle.

Bell and Bevis were eventually able to respectively drive to safety.

Just before 7:00 pm, Bragge was arrested at his residence without incident. He was booked into Okanogan County Jail for Robbery 1st degree and Felony Harassment.