A Bainbridge Island police officer was justified in trying to use a Taser stun gun on a 72-year-old woman who became combative with an officer as she investigated a 911 call about a trespasser in a Lynwood Center neighborhood.

Karen Summers Hellmuth was arrested Oct. 4 after she allegedly entered a neighbor’s property in a dispute over landscaping. Hellmuth allegedly told her neighbor that the homeowner was planting trees that would kill her trees.

Police were called to the neighborhood twice by Hellmuth’s neighbors after they heard her screaming.

Officer Mo Stich said she found Hellmuth talking to herself outside her trailer window. But after Stich introduced herself, she said Hellmuth became “agitated and aggressive” but was warned about trespassing on her neighbor’s property.

Hellmuth then jumped up and Stich, afraid that she would be assaulted, tried to use her Taser on Hellmuth. The stun gun darts missed, however, and a struggle ensued.

Hellmuth punched Stich and continued to resist, and another officer arrived less than a minute later and Hellmuth was finally subdued.

Police Chief Matthew Hamner said Thursday the incident was reviewed internally, as well as by the Poulsbo and Bremerton police departments, and the use of force was found to be justified.

A video taken by Stich’s chest camera was reviewed and confirmed the attempted use of the Taser was justified.

“Having said that, could we have done it differently? Yes,” Hamner said. “In hindsight, we could have.”

Stich, he said, would get additional training.

Hamner also said the entire department would be debriefed so officers could learn from the incident at an upcoming all-hands meeting.

“We are going to seize this moment and say, ‘Look, this is the baseline. When we deal with people with mental illness, this is what we want you thinking.'”

The department will also be adopting a policy on mental illness commitments in the near future.

The goal of any police encounter with the mentally ill should be to stabilize the situation and provide police services in a patient and compassionate manner, he said.

“That is the goal of this department,” Hamner said.

The recent incident has been frustrating, Hamner said, given the department’s focus on bettering its contacts with people with mental health issues.

“Dealing with the mentally ill has been a top priority for this agency since I have been here. Whether it’s through policy, whether its changing  state law, whether it’s having better policies and practices — whatever it took to do better, that’s what we’ve been working on.”

Hellmuth’s family is not upset over the incident, Hamner said.

Hellmuth’s daughter in California called Stich in October and Stich, in a memo to the chief dated Nov. 4, recounted that the woman said she was relieved her mother was in jail.

“Thank you for arresting my mother,” the daughter told Stich.

Stich said the daughter apologized and said her family had “been through hell trying to get her to get help and to take her medication. Once she gets to feeling better, she says she[‘s] fine and won’t take it. She then starts the downward spiral.”

The neighbor who called 911 also contacted Hamner and praised Stich.

“Officer Stich put herself at risk in order to respond to us and the need of our small neighborhood,” the neighbor said in an Oct. 21 email. “We want to be on record as expressing our gratitude for the actions taken by the officer and for her courage and competence in addressing, what for us had become a scary, stressful and unpredictable situation.”

Hamner also noted that Stich is much smaller in stature that Helmuth, who does not fit the stereotype that some people may have of a 72 year old.

“Quite honestly, Karen is very hardy, well-conditioned and in good shape … and has many years of training in the martial arts,” Hamner said.

Hamner said he had actually met with Helmuth for 45 minutes in his office roughly two weeks before the incident. Officers had been giving her rides from Winslow back to her South End home and she came in to say thanks.

“She wanted to compliment the officers; how understanding they all were to her, how they’ve helped her, how they’ve assisted her,” Hamner said.

But Hamner said she was also known to the department for previous disputes, and recalled one she had several years ago with the Buddhist temple.

On one occasion when officers were called, three officers equipped with a ballistic shield responded because Hellmuth had armed herself with large Samurai swords. Hellmuth was taken in on a mental health pickup order.

Hamner said Thursday that the video of the most recent incident will be released after the criminal investigation on Hellmuth is completed.

He also said Stich has been an outstanding officer in the department and has done much to assist the elderly. Hamner pointed to a file thick with thank-you letters and complimentary correspondence involving Stich.

“Mo is not this tough, 250-pound linebacker from San Jose State, a 25-year-old guy who is ready to tase someone,” Hamner said.

“Mo was in fear,” he said.

Hamner said it was inconclusive if the Taser malfunctioned, but also said a spark test had not been done recently on the stun gun.

Nervousness and stress by the officer as the Taser was fired may also be a factor in the Taser not being effective, Hamner said.

Stich was the only one injured in the incident, he added.

The use of stun guns is not common in the department, and Tasers are used only once or twice a year, Hamner said.

The criminal charges against Hellmuth are still pending.

Even so, Bainbridge police are not anxious for a conviction in the case, Hamner said, and instead hope that Hellmuth gets help.

“Mo wasn’t trying to hurt Karen; she wanted to help Karen,” Hamner said.

“She did not have any evil intent. She had no desire to hurt. She wanted to get her help.”