One of the four men charged in a horrific assault of a Port Townsend man last week was awaiting trial on charges of residential burglary and second-degree theft at the time of the alleged kidnapping and torture.

All of the men arrested in the Nov. 20, 2020 assault — Isiah William Peoples-Morse, Zachary James Barbee, Giuseppe D. Glanz, and Robert John Cuevas — pleaded not guilty at their arraignments in Jefferson County Superior Court last week to felony charges of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree assault, and first-degree robbery.

But court records show Peoples-Morse was on bail on burglary charges when he was arrested earlier this month.

According to court documents, Peoples-Morse was arrested Jan. 22 after he allegedly broke into a 27-year-old Port Townsend woman’s apartment on Hancock Street and stole a Hewlett-Packard computer laptop, an Amazon tablet, two purses, sunglasses, and a pair of black ladies underwear.

The burglary victim told police she had come home to find her laptop missing and clothes had been strewn around the apartment.

She immediately identified Peoples-Morse as a possible suspect, and said that she “was suspicious of him based on his past behavior and possibly his desire to retaliate against her for reporting him to the police a number of other times in the recent past.”

The woman also thought Peoples-Morse was the person who had recently “keyed” her car.

A nearby resident told police she saw Peoples-Morse leaving the apartment with his arms loaded with items, including a bag that matched the description of a tan purse that had been stolen from the home.

Peoples-Morse, listed as a transient on court documents, had been hanging out with a man named “Mike” who lived in the Sea Breeze RV park, according to one of his relatives.

Police believed the “Mike” was actually Michael Pate, who lived in the RV park and his residence was known to officers as a place where young transients had been living.

When police went to Pate’s home, he guessed that they were looking for Peoples-Morse and had him come out to talk to officers.

When police asked for permission to search the home for stolen items, Pate said no but offered to search the residence and bring out anything he couldn’t identify.

Pate came back out “with a pile of property,” according to a probable cause statement.

The pile included a Hewlett-Packard laptop, a tan purse and other items he said he found in a clothes dryer.

An officer asked Pate if he had found the missing computer tablet, and Pate said no.

Peoples-Morse was arrested for residential burglary and theft, and allegedly asked officers if his situation would improve if he could help find the missing tablet.

He denied stealing it, but eventually told police it was in Pate’s truck.

Peoples-Morse also denied being at the complex where the apartment had been burglarized, claiming instead to be at the RV park and helping Pate work on his truck.

When questioned by police, Pate said Peoples-Morse hadn’t been at his home all day as Peoples-Morse had claimed, and had showed up just a short time earlier.

Police estimated the value of the items stolen at more than $1,650.

The burglary victim also told police that when she went to use the tablet, she discovered the thief has reset the device to “factory default” and all of her photos and other data had been removed.