A substance use disorder professional who used to work at Green Hill School and most recently practiced in Thurston County was charged by the Washington state Department of Health (DOH) with unprofessional conduct last month after she allegedly failed to respond to a letter of cooperation regarding her involvement in a June 2022 incident where a former patient stole her car at gunpoint and committed a drive-by shooting in Centralia.
Former Green Hill School inmate Daniel Recinos, who was 20 years old at the time, was arrested July 19, 2022, for allegedly stealing a vehicle from his former supervisor at Green Hill School, Leandra Dishan Calhoun, at gunpoint on June 9, 2022. She reportedly drove to Seattle earlier that day to meet up with him and was driving him to her Olympia home when he stole the vehicle, according to DOH charging documents and previous Chronicle reporting.
Recinos, who had been released from Green Hill School in Chehalis about two weeks prior to the incident, allegedly drove the stolen vehicle to Centralia and fired three shots from the vehicle in the 200 block of North Washington Avenue.
No injuries were reported, but one bullet did strike the porch window of an occupied home in the area.
Recinos allegedly left Calhoun on the side of the road in Olympia when he stole her vehicle.
While officers with the Centralia Police Department investigated the crime scene in the 200 block of North Washington Avenue, officers with the Olympia Police Department and the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office attempted to contact Calhoun, who was found walking between her home and the area where she claimed Recinos held her at gunpoint.
She reported the incident to law enforcement at that time and stated she hadn’t called it in earlier because her phone and purse were still inside the vehicle, according to previous Chronicle reporting.
Law enforcement “noted that (Calhoun) appeared to be under the influence of an unknown narcotic during this interview ‘as her pupils appeared constricted and she spoke erratically,’” DOH stated in a statement of charges.
A DOH investigator attempted to speak with Calhoun on March 12, 2024, “regarding the events of June 8, 2022 and the allegations of unprofessional conduct related to her relationship with (Recinos),” according to the statement of charges.
The DOH alleges that Calhoun “declined to provide a statement” on March 12, did not respond to a DOH letter of cooperation “requesting information about her relationship with (Recinos)” by April 2, 2024, and has not “otherwise cooperated with the DOH investigation,” according to the statement of charges.
The allegations, if proven, would constitute unprofessional conduct, according to DOH.
Calhoun has an opportunity to defend against the charges before disciplinary action is taken.
Her substance use disorder professional trainee certification was first issued in November 2018 and expired in November 2023, according to a DOH database.
Recinos was charged with first-degree robbery and theft of a motor vehicle in Thurston County Superior Court on July 20, 2022, but the charges were dismissed without prejudice on Nov. 30, 2023, after Recinos was sentenced on a robbery case in King County Superior Court, according to court documents.
