TACOMA, Wash. - The day David Crable and his family moved into a two story Spanaway home, the fighting, began according to neighbors. That fighting soon made its way to the Pierce County court system.
Since 2007, the Crables have filed seven separate domestic violence protection orders. According to court records, in July 2007, brothers David and Jason filed orders against each other.
One year later, they appeared before a judge to ask the order be lifted. According to court papers, David wrote the brothers were getting along and wanted to "do the normal things brothers do in a life, camping, fishing.”
Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Lindquist called the filings "excessive" and said "what you have here, is two brothers and a mother using the court systems as a family counselor."
The court filings, and criminal cases of the Crable clan, fill Lindquist's desk. The county's top prosecutors say the family wouldn't always follow the court orders.
"The families would use the protection orders when it serves their purpose and then ignore the order when it serves their purpose," said Lindquist.
In 2009, David Crable was found guilty of malicious mischief and unlawful carrying of weapons capable of producing bodily harm. Prosecutors say Crable threatened his then 15-year-old daughter with a knife, shoved her face against the wall and slashed the tires of his brother's car. But prosecutors say the victim, Jason, recanted his story.
The case led the State Department of Social and Health Services to launch an investigation. The state found evidence of child abuse. According to investigators, the daughter's grandmother, Patsy Jo Crable, agreed to take the girl to Oregon to get away from the violence.
However, the teenager remained in Spanaway. In a court document dated July 2009, Patsy wrote "I will be moving to Oregon soon and David Crable will be moving back to the house to take care of his daughter.”
State DSHS officials say they were unaware the teenage daughter remained in the state.
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