A Washington judge today set bail at $5,000 for a Marine from Boulder accused of faking his disappearance in 2006 to avoid service in Iraq and ordered him to stay in western Washington.
Port Angeles, Wash., police arrested Lance Hering, 23, and his father, Lloyd, apparently as they were about to leave an airport in a rented single-engine plane on Sunday.
Lance Hering appeared in court at an extradition hearing this afternoon, said Barbara Christensen, Clallam County Superior Court clerk. If he makes bail, his conditional release restricts his travel to western Washington.
Hering has refused to sign a form waiving extradition to Colorado, said Ron Sukert, jail superintendent for Clallam County. Boulder wants him for violating probation in a 2004 burglary conviction, for which he was given a deferred sentence.
His father, who has been released from jail, attended the court hearing. “I love my son,” Lloyd Hering said, according to the Peninsula Daily News. He refused further comment.
Lloyd Hering, a pilot and flight instructor, was fueling the Cessna single-engine plane at the Port Angeles airport when police arrived, according to the Peninsula Daily News. The plane was rented from Air West Flight Center in Longmont.
Lloyd Hering faces a misdemeanor charge of aiding and abetting a criminal.
A tip from Boulder led to the arrest, said Boulder sheriff’s Cmdr. Phil West. “Two months ago, we had received a tip that he had been sighted and notified the local authorities at that time.”
The largest search in Boulder County Sheriff’s Office history ensued in the summer of 2006 after Hering, a lance corporal home on leave, supposedly fell in Eldorado Canyon and disappeared. More than 600 people were involved.
Five days later, his climbing companion, Steve Powers, confessed to the ruse.
Hering is wanted by the Marine Corps for desertion and could face a military court. In the aftermath of his disappearance, a Boulder County judge revoked Hering’s deferred sentence in a 2004 attempted-burglary case, meaning he will carry a felony conviction and could face civilian jail time as well.
Phone calls to the Hering home in Boulder were not answered today.
