PORT TOWNSEND — A Jefferson County man has been accused of breaking into the county courthouse, stealing a county vehicle and equipment, and causing damage to the building.
Andrew Nicholas A. Gaikowski, 35, has been charged with eight felonies, including burglary, stealing a county vehicle, multiple counts of theft and malicious mischief for damaging the courthouse, according to court records.
Gaikowski pleaded not guilty at his arraignment hearing Friday in Jefferson County Superior Court, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Chris Ashcraft wrote in an email.
An omnibus hearing is scheduled for Sept. 26, followed by a pretrial evidentiary hearing on Oct. 10 and a trial on Oct. 20.
Gaikowski remained Friday at the Jefferson County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Just after 6 a.m. on Aug. 15, officers from Port Townsend Police Department and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) responded to reports of a suspected burglary at the county courthouse, 1820 Jefferson St., according to a declaration of probable cause signed by sheriff’s deputy Brian Anderson.
No suspect was located at the scene. Security video showed a man breaking a window and entering through the back of the building. The man made his way up the stairs to the Jefferson County Civil Office on the third floor.
The probable cause statement includes stills from the security video showing the man in the courthouse. He was described as wearing a dark covering over his head and face.
“The head covering appeared to be an inside out T-shirt, showing the white embroidered/iron on patch on the top of his head,” Anderson wrote. “Suspect wore a dark long sleeve shirt with some type of white wrappings/gloves on his hands. Dark green cargo style pants with dark blue/black tennis shoes with a white midsole and outsole.”
The man was carrying what appeared to be a short-handled hammer, which he used to break into the civil office.
After repeatedly striking the door-knob mechanism with the hammer, the glass from the entry door fell onto the man before falling to the ground.
The man climbed through the hole where the glass had been. Several minutes later, he exited the same way, carrying a small plastic trash can full of items.
Those items were later determined to be four body cameras, the same ones worn by sheriff’s deputies, along with the charging bank for the cameras, two stun gun batteries and a charging bank for stun gun batteries.
Law enforcement also found the keys to a silver 2011 Ford Crown Victoria, used by Juvenile Services.
After he exited the building, the man stole the vehicle, which is used for transporting juvenile inmates, according to the probable cause statement.
At about 9:19 a.m., Det. Sgt. Derek Allen located the vehicle in the parking lot at Rialto Beach in Clallam County.
“Detective Sergeant Allen and Hoh Tribal Fish and Wildlife Officer Phil Riebe conducted a high risk stop and ordered the subject seated in the driver’s seat to exit the vehicle which he did,” Anderson wrote. “Detective Sergeant Allen stated he immediately recognized the driver and sole occupant as Andrew Gaikowski.”
Gaikowski was taken into custody without incident.
Allen located the stolen items from the courthouse in the Crown Victoria.
In the vehicle, there was a can of butane fuel, a butane torch and a glass pipe. The glass pipe contained a white crystalline substance.
“Based on my training and experience believed to be methamphetamine,” Anderson wrote.
Allen located a pair of bolt cutters and a short-handled hammer in the vehicle too, according to the probable cause statement.
Gaikowski broke into the Jefferson County Courthouse in June and was cited for first-degree criminal trespass.
“Gaikowski told Detective Sergeant Allen, ‘Well I had a previous charge for breaking into the courthouse, I was going to do the same thing,’” Anderson wrote in the probable cause statement.
The declaration included a number of quoted admissions from Gaikowski: “I went there and broke a window,” he said. “I just thought it was cool stuff,” he continued. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with a bunch of cameras.”
The document noted seven prior convictions from 2005 to 2022, including multiple thefts, residential burglary and malicious mischief.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@peninsuladailynews.com.
