PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles man has been sentenced to four years in prison for a firearms conviction and still faces additional charges in Utah, according to the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team.
Marshall P. Dietrich is scheduled to serve four years in the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton following his conviction of one count of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and possessing a stolen firearm.
Dietrich remains under the supervision of the Utah Department of Correction Adult Probation and Parole, the release stated.
Dietrich was arrested May 9 after the Port Angeles Police Department was contacted the day before by a probation officer in Utah who said a wanted subject likely was in the Port Angeles area.
The probation officer said Dietrich was on probation in Utah and had fled to Port Angeles, according to a press release.
He also said Dietrich was believed to have stolen a vehicle that contained a pistol.
A check of Dietrich’s criminal history showed a previous felony elude attempt, which included an assault on law enforcement officers.
A Port Angeles police officer spotted the unoccupied stolen vehicle May 9 in the 700 block of South Lincoln Street and obtained a search warrant for it. A pistol holster was located, but the firearm was missing.
At about 3:15 p.m. on May 15, Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team (OPNET) members located Dietrich at an apartment building at that address, the release said, adding that upon seeing Port Angeles police officers and Clallam County sheriff’s deputies arriving, he fled on foot northbound on Lincoln.
As he fled, Dietrich was seen reaching into a backpack, but a plainclothes OPNET detective tackled him and pinned his hand in the backpack, according to the release. Other OPNET detectives assisted in prying Dietrich’s hand out of the backpack and off of the stolen firearm.
Dietrich was booked into the Clallam County Jail for the active fugitive warrant out of Utah, pending the extradition process.
The new charges of possession of a stolen firearm, first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen motor vehicle were added on May 16.
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Reporter Brian Gawley can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at brian.gawley@ soundpublishing.com.
