Yakima County jail officer accused of using police database to stalk wife

A Yakima County corrections officer is accused of looking up information on his estranged wife in a law-enforcement database.

Anthony David Alexander-Manuel, 45, is also accused of using other officers’ logins to view the database, violating a no-contact order by viewing his wife’s Linkedin profile twice and trying to access her Airbnb account. Those actions were considered violations of a no-contact order against Alexander-Manuel, according to a Yakima police probable cause affidavit.

Deputy Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Quinten Bowman asked for $25,000 bail, a reduction in the $75,000 bail set over the weekend, but more than the Pretrial Services’ recommendation that Alexander-Manuel be released on supervision.

Bowman said the circumstances of the case were worse than the typical stalking cases.

“(Alexander-Manuel’s wife) is absolutely terrified of this gentleman, that he was willing to risk his job and use the full force of the government in order to stop her,” Bowman said, “that he has access to weapons and that he may very well kill her if he is given the opportunity.”

He’s been employed by the jail since October 2022 and is currently on paid administrative leave, jail officials said.

Alexander-Manuel’s wife called Yakima police Sept. 30 to report a violation of a no-contact order she had against Alexander-Manuel. In addition to no physical contact, it also barred Alexander-Manuel from putting her under physical or electronic surveillance, harassing her online or trying to track her digital communications, according to a probable cause affidavit.

She told a YPD Special Assault Unit detective that Alexander-Manuel had viewed her Linkedin profile twice, the affidavit said.

She said that she got notifications from Airbnb that someone was accessing her account with the wrong password, which she believed was an attempt by Alexander-Manuel to track her trips, the affidavit said.

Detectives also asked the jail staff to check if anyone accessed information on Alexander-Manuel’s wife in Spillman, a database that allows police agencies to share information, as well as in another law-enforcement database.

The records check showed that eight people looked for Alexander-Manuel’s wife in the database a total of 33 times between Aug. 22 and Oct. 2, none of them with Alexander-Manuel’s login credentials. Of those, 13 were part of the investigation into the allegations against Alexander-Manuel and 14 were not related to the case. A police officer found Alexander-Manuel’s jacket and was trying to find him, the affidavit said.

In the other cases, surveillance video showed Alexander-Manuel was using the computers, and the other officers said that Alexander-Manuel didn’t have their permission, and one said they didn’t know Alexander-Manuel, the affidavit said.

Corrections officers have training on using the databases, which includes using them appropriately and not using other people’s login credentials, the affidavit said.

“The behavior here with the computers could have drastic consequences for the jail and the county,” Bowman said. “It likely needs to be reported to the (Washington) State Patrol due to the inappropriate access to criminal justice information. And for the defendant to risk all of that in order to be able to stalk (his wife), shows a level of dedication to his mission, and that makes this worse than a normal no-contact order violation by a long shot.”

Alexander-Manuel is being held in an out-of-county jail on suspicion of stalking and first-degree computer trespass.

Defense attorney Melissa Derry said she did not believe there was probable cause for a violation of the no-contact order, and accessing Spillman would not qualify as surveillance or cyber-harassment.

She also challenged Bowman’s use of the victim’s fear to support a high bail.

“If this court were to base bond amounts on what the alleged victims wanted, then everyone would be in custody under massive bond amounts all the time,” Derry said.

Instead, it should be based on the individual’s history and whether there would be a possible risk. She asked that he be released on court supervision.

Yakima County Superior Court Judge Sonia Rodriguez True said the order in place does not seem to be sufficient to protect Alexander-Manuel’s wife, and set bail at $25,000 noting the potential for escalation in the case.