By Patrick Tepoorten

Andrew Isaman, 21, of Harris stands charged with making terroristic threats against fellow members of the Harris Fire Department and Harris Mayor Rick Smisson, and has been portrayed as a disgruntled individual on the verge of committing horrible, violent crimes. But, while some things are established fact, many others fall into a gray area that leaves much room for interpretation.

What is really in the journals?

It was widely reported last week that Isaman kept a "hit list" in a journal discovered at the Harris fire hall, as well as direct threats against Harris Fire Chief Will Lacina and Smisson and other city officials, and diagrams of a potential fire hall shooting.

But, according to Chisago County investigator Russ Frank, deputy Mark Stovern inspected the journals on April 6 and saw no evidence of a hit list. "There was nothing in there indicating a direct threat toward any individuals," added Frank. He characterized the contents of the journal as "life sucks" type of writings.

Had evidence of a direct threat been present, Isaman would have at least been interviewed, if not arrested, that day, according to Sheriff Todd Rivard.

But the Sheriff's Office made no attempt to do so and have not held on to the duffle bags alleged to contain evidence of threats. According to Frank, those bags have been returned to Isaman's family without further inspection.

It remains to be seen if investigators will seek to serve a warrant on the duffles' contents. Frank indicated that he may pursue that course.

Smisson stated last week that the journals contained diagrams, drawings, and names of people who "needed to die." He also stated that those threats were the driving force behind the lock-down of the fire hall and the presence of armed firefighters.

Lacina said on Monday that he inspected the journals only perfunctorily, and does not recall seeing any threats to individuals, hit lists, or plans to carry out an attack on the fire hall; only what he maintains is "disturbing" material. He also disputes an earlier statement attributed to him by the Post Review, in which he was reported to have said that the journals "contained threats directed at members of the fire department" including himself. Lacina insists he did not make such a statement.

He also contradicted Smisson's claim that the department was locked down because of perceived threats, saying the department had a history of break-ins in which things had been tampered with. He said that protecting the hall was as much for Isaman's benefit, in that if there would have been a break-in that weekend Isaman was sure to have been blamed.

April 7 events

According to a statement by firefighter Stan Brandon, Isaman told him in an early Sunday morning (April 8) conversation that he was "sitting in his yard all day (April 7) with a loaded shotgun debating on going up to the fire hall," and that, if he stayed in town, "something bad would happen."

Both Lacina and Smisson have reported that they felt threatened while at Isaman's parents' house that day. Brandon told police that Isaman had said that when Smisson and Lacina arrived at his house to serve notice to appear before the city council, he "went to get his shotgun" but by the time he returned they were gone.

But, in a Thursday, April 12, interview, Isaman told a different version of the Saturday, April 7, events that led to his arrest, one in which he didn't even know what was happening until late in the day.

Isaman said he responded to a fire call around dawn Saturday morning with the rest of the Harris fire department, but was given a direct order to go home by Lacina but was not told why.

Isaman claims that he obeyed the order, but returned in the late morning to get a pair of socks from his personal effects, which were stored in duffle bags at the fire hall. His sister, Jessica Arrigoni, verified that she was with him at that time.

Isaman found that his keys no longer worked in the fire hall locks, but he could hear people laughing inside. At some point, claims Isaman, Jeremy Melke emerged from the hall and told Isaman that he couldn't be there and that they would talk about it later. Isaman responded that he wouldn't be around later, he was scheduled to dee-jay at the Eagles Club in Rush City.

Isaman again returned to his parents' house, and along the way, expressed concern to his sister that he might be in trouble for something, but didn't know why. Once he arrived, he busied himself practice shooting with his pellet gun, an Auto Air 2 BB handgun.

When Lacina and Smisson arrived to serve Isaman with the notice, which was ultimately given to some juveniles outside the Isaman residence, Isaman claimed he was in his parents' house and did not even know why they were there. He insisted he didn't know his actions were being questioned by the department, or why, until after he read the letter, by which time Lacina and Smisson were gone.

According to Lacina, the notice to appear before the city council did not have much to do with the stored gun or threats, but was rather a cumulative list of procedure concerns. "It had nothing to do with the threats in the journal," said Lacina, who was hesitant to get into details because the complaints added up to a personnel matter and are protected.

Angered by the letter, Isaman claimed he wanted to go practice shooting to vent his frustration. He even took the Remington 12 gauge out of its case, but put it back. Shortly thereafter, he proceeded to Big Daddy's to "set up come (dee-jay) gear," and then went on to the Eagle's Club in Rush City to dee-jay from 8:30 to 12:30. Eagle's management has verified his presence there.

Early Sunday morning, after work, Isaman went to Big Daddy's, where he ran into Brandon and expressed his anger and frustration with the letter. He disputes though, that he ever told Brandon he "went to get his shotgun" when Lacina and Smisson arrived at his house on Saturday afternoon. He did admit that he felt compelled to shoot the gun after reading the letter, but claimed to have meant only practice shooting. He did not deny out of hand that he may have made threats, but did not remember doing so. He further admitted that he had "had a couple of drinks" and was tired, suffering from a headache, and upset.

The Sheriff's report on Isaman's interview by Sheriff's deputies stated, "Isaman stated that he said something to the affect of him shooting somebody ... he does not recall saying a name of the person he was going to shoot."

Last Thursday, Isaman stated that he was frustrated by the letter and was merely "venting" to Brandon. "Stuff probably came out," he said.

He also insisted that he would have no reason to have a grudge against anyone in the fire department or at the city, and said that both Lacina and Smisson had recently offered him work.

Isaman had completed the necessary training to be an integral member of the department, including the first two levels of firefighter training and first responder training. Rather than harboring hateful thoughts about members of the department, Isaman said he "loves the people on the department," and that he "tried to stay as good with those guys as possible," because trust is the most important thing in an emergency.

Isaman talked of the department fondly, noting that his father served, and that he had been "hanging out" there since he was four years old. In light of the current situation though, he added, "I'm not going to get back on now."

Frank is currently in the process of locating and interviewing some juveniles that were present at the Isaman house when the letter was delivered by Smisson and Lacina. Witness testimony could be key to the case because, without the presence of threats in the journals, the legal case will rely heavily on what Isaman may have said at various moments on Saturday.

Were the bags at the hall with permission?

The driving force behind the Isaman incident is the presence of his personal belongings at the fire hall. But there is a discrepancy between what Isaman claims and what the department claims.

According to Isaman, the duffle bags discovered by fireman Jeremy Melke on Friday April 6 - the bags which turned out to contain a .22 caliber rifle, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and some personal journals - had actually been there for a few weeks. He said he had received permission from Lacina to leave them there while he was between residences. "Everybody knew they were there," Isaman said in the Thursday interview, although he was unsure if anyone knew the rifle was stored with the personal effects.

Lacina confirmed on Monday that he was aware Isaman had been storing belongings in the fire hall, but thought they had already been removed. He disputes though, that he ever gave his permission. He also stated that Isaman would not have been allowed to store a gun or ammunition there.

Isaman claims that Lacina also offered him the use of the fire hall to sleep in as well, but that he declined the offer.

That same night, Isaman had been bringing his guns to his parents' house, but was interrupted by a fire call. By the time he arrived back at the hall, it was too late to bring the last gun to his parents' house, and he simply forgot about it later, he said.

He did spend that first night in a tent behind the hall before relocating to his parents' backyard.

Lacina recalled offering to let Isaman stay at the fire hall that first night, but not on a regular basis. He did say that Isaman had been seen around the fire hall at odd hours, but could not confirm that Isaman had been sleeping at the fire hall at any time.

What now?

Isaman remains a member of the Harris Fire Department. A special meeting was called by the city and papers of termination have been drawn up, according to Lacina. But the papers aren't official until Lacina signs them and he has no intention of doing so until the legal process plays out and Isaman has a chance to defend himself.

Lacina claimed this week that he had tried, in the weeks leading up to the incident, to help Isaman secure a place to live, and even offered to drive him to the Chisago County Government Center to get the process started. He called the recent events "a bad situation" and encouraged people to step back and allow the legal process to play out. He added that Isaman has "a lot of good qualities," that being a firefighter was very important to him, and that he hopes Isaman "gets the help he needs."

In jail on a $30,000 bond, Isaman doesn't think he will be able to raise the money to get out. Before the interview concluded, he was asked if there was anything he wanted to add, anything he would like people to know. He said only that he wished he could get a one day vacation from jail, because he was going to miss his nephew's fifth birthday.

Correction

Last week's story "Harris man charged with terroristic threats" contained an error.

It was reported that Harris Fire Chief Will Lacina, "was at Big Daddy's" when he was approached about alleged threats made by Andrew Isaman. According to the police report, the meeting actually took place at the Harris fire hall.

Comment from Cheri Engler, 4/23/07

Another family destroyed in Harris.Keep the stories coming, I think that the people are finally starting to see the truth. This mayor and fire chief and others need to resign.

Comment from Frank, 4/26/07

When will this soap opera end? The land of misfit toys, seems like all the troubles stems from the Fire Department and or the Fire Department Management and the City Council or Mayor. Time to clean the mess up.