Two arrested in apparent home burglary

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Deputies from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office stopped an apparent burglary in progress at a home in Port Hadlock just before 4 a.m. Friday.

The residence was being renovated at the time. Law enforcement responded to the home after motion sensors in the living room, kitchen, master bathroom, and family room set off a residential burglary alarm.

Sheriff Joe Nole said a neighbor had seen a flashlight being used inside the house.

When deputies responded to the home on North Maple Street, deputies heard a loud “bang” from behind the house.

Deputy Kyle Pernsteiner, one of the responding deputies, said he could see people inside the house who were using a flashlight off and on. Both were dressed in dark clothes.

“They were clearly rummaging through items in the house,” Pernsteiner noted in a probable cause report.

One of the intruders was stopped by a deputy at gunpoint after leaving the house, while the other person escaped through a side door and ran into the woods.

Port Townsend police were called in to assist.

The first person who was taken into custody was identified as Echo Season Haapala, 33. Nole said a large yellow crowbar and bright-red bolt cutters were found on the grass nearby. 

A black 1998 Isuzu Rodeo was discovered in the driveway of the home, and deputies determined the vehicle was owned by Michael D. Jones, who was listed as a transient in the sale document for the car.

Jones, 30, was found by a deputy at a home in Port Hadlock just before midnight Friday and arrested. 

CHOPPED LOCKS

During an examination of the burglarized home, deputies found that a padlock had been cut from a door leading into a kitchen, and the door and door frame had received extensive damage, with fresh tool marks that appeared to have come from a pry bar. The snipped padlock was found at the bottom of the door sill.

Another chopped lock was found on the ground near a glass double-door leading into the home. 

One of the windows in the door was popped open and broken, with fresh tool marks where it looked like a pry bar had been used.

Damage to the doors was estimated at nearly $1,000, and lumber and screws from inside the home for the remodel were used by officers at the scene to secure the entryways because the doors could no longer be locked.

During the investigation, deputies also found lumber that had been taken from inside and had been staged outside the house, near the Isuzu that had been parked nearby.

Jones said little to investigators when contacted later Friday, according to court documents.

He allegedly told officers that Haapala had possession of his car and he had been staying by himself somewhere else that day.

Law enforcement learned from another witness, however, that Jones had told her that same day that “they did some stuff, he ran, and she got caught,” and added, “I guess they were stealing wood.”

ARRAIGNMENT SCHEDULED

Haapala and Jones made their initial appearances Monday in Jefferson County Superior Court.

Both are facing charges of residential burglary, second-degree malicious mischief, making or having burglar tools, and making false or misleading statements to a public servant.

Deputy Prosecutor Chris Ashcraft asked bail to be set for Haapala at $2,500.

Attorney Lillian Powers, representing Haapala, asked that her client be released on her own personal recognizance. 

Powers noted that Haapala had been seeking therapy and had an appointment with Safe Harbor Recovery Center, was living with her mother, and had plans to attend college starting in April.

Allowing her to be released, Powers said, would give Haapala access to needed services.

Superior Court Judge Brandon Mack recalled that Haapala’s court history was largely limited to driving infractions, and granted her release.

Her arraignment on the charges was set for Friday, March 17.

LONG LEGAL HISTORY

During the initial appearance for Jones Monday, Ashcraft asked bail for Jones to be set at $10,000.

Ashcraft said Jones had a legal history of 21 prior convictions, including possession with intent to deliver, theft, and resisting arrest.

But Ashcraft noted Jones had also graduated from the county’s drug court program roughly a year ago.

“He did great in drug court for quite a while. Now it appears something else has gone wrong,” Ashcraft said.

Jones has a prior history of not showing up in court when ordered, Ashcraft said, and also noted repeated cases where he had fled from authorities trying to arrest him, including one incident where he escaped across the Hood Canal Bridge and crashed a vehicle in Poulsbo before fleeing that scene.

Attorney Julie St. Marie, Jones’ legal counsel, said the recommended bail amount was out of the financial reach of Jones, and suggested bail of $1,000.

Mack set bail at $10,000, but added that St. Marie could revisit the amount again at Jones’ upcoming arraignment.