A Clackamas County Sheriff's Office major crimes detective will be allowed to keep his weapons despite being accused today of fourth-degree assault domestic violence in an incident involving his wife, with whom he has a five-month-old baby.

Steven P. Hyson, 41, appeared in Clark County District Court moments after Judge Vernon Schreiber issued a warrant for his arrest. Hyson arrived about 1:42 p.m., 15 minutes after the judge had noted Hyson had signed paperwork saying he would appear at 1 p.m.

When Hyson appeared accompanied by Vancouver attorney Thomas C. Phelan, Schreiber quashed the warrant and one that would have held Hyson without bail.

Hyson, a Vancouver resident, was arrested early Sunday but was later released on bail.

According to reports from Clark County sheriff's deputies who went to the couple's east Vancouver home, Hyson's 36-year-old wife said they had been arguing about his time spent at work while she is home with the baby and a 7-year-old. She told Hyson late Saturday that she wanted to go dancing with her sister but would be home at 1:30 a.m. so he could get to work by 2 a.m. Sunday, the reports said.

She told deputies that Hyson called her cell phone at 1:45 a.m., but she told him she wanted to stay out, the reports said. Hyson called his office, saying he was unable to come in to work.

When his wife got home about 2 a.m., the two argued. Hyson said she began slapping and punching him while he was holding the baby, spilling a cup of coffee and striking him in the face with an apple.

She told deputies that he punched her in the left eye with an orange from the fruit bowl, and a deputy noticed a slight redness under her eye, the reports said. She admitted verbally abusing him and slapping him once.

She went outside and called her sister, telling her she would not call 9-1-1 because of Hyson's job, the reports said. Police indicated she thought her sister might have called 9-1-1.

Hyson told deputies that in the past, his wife had threatened to call police and claim he assaulted her and that he would lose his job and go to jail, the reports showed. He said he has a tape of such a threat, the reports said.

Tests showed Hyson's blood alcohol level at zero; his wife's was 0.121.

In court today, Phelan, the attorney, asked that in contrast to usual procedure, Hyson be allowed to retain his weapon because of his job and for his personal protection, and the judge agreed. He owns a 9-mm, semi-automatic Glock pistol and a 12-gauge Remington shotgun, police reports showed.

Schreiber set arraignment for March 5. If convicted, Hyson faces a maximum penalty of a year in jail, $5,000 fine and the loss of his right to possess a firearm. He was ordered not to contact his wife of six months, but the two can communicate through a third party about their child, property and any potential divorce, the judge said.

Hyson has been placed on paid administrative leave from the sheriff's office, where he has worked since August 1996.

He has a "commendable work ethic and record," Detective Jim Strovink said in a prepared statement.

After a short stint with the Portland Police Bureau, Hyson joined the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office in August 1996 and was promoted to detective in 2001. He was demoted during a 2002 budget crunch but quickly reinstated.

He is the president of the Clackamas County Peace Officers' Association, a non-profit labor organization representing the workers of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office and several other agencies. His term runs through 2010.

In 2002, Hyson solved the "Sunnyside Rapist" case on his own time on his last day as a detective. He also was assigned to the Ward Weaver case involving two murdered Oregon City girls.

-- Holley Gilbert; holleygilbert@news.oregonian.com