PORT ANGELES — Two burglary suspects who triggered a police chase and massive manhunt Sunday are now in jail.
Matthew Tyler Charles, 27, was booked into the Clallam County jail Sunday night for investigation of first-degree burglary, unlawful theft of a firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Roxanne Rae Venske, 24, was arrested for investigation of first-degree burglary and eluding a police vehicle. She also was wanted on a pay-or-appear warrant that is apparently unreleated.
Clallam County Undersheriff Ron Peregrin said Charles and Venske were arrested at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday about a half-mile from a law enforcement command post that was set up along Dan Kelly Road in unincorporated area southwest of Port Angeles.
“They were together when they were arrested,” Peregrin said.
A third suspect, described as a “skinny white male,” remained at large Monday morning.
“We, of course, don’t feel that he was in the area where the containment was set up,” Peregrin said.
“The manhunt part of the event was shut down.”
Authorities continue to investigate the Sunday morning burglary of several firearms at a Cherry Street residence that a resident interrupted.
Officers and police dogs from the Port Angeles Police Department, Sequim Police Department, State Patrol, Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, Lower Elwha Police Department and U.S. Border Patrol set up a command post at the intersection of Colville and Dan Kelly roads.
Two Border Patrol helicopters searched the area, and at 2:15 p.m. two tracking dogs and several teams of tactical trackers in camouflage uniforms, carrying assault weapons, were deployed to the search area.
Clallam County Fire District No. 2 provided emergency medical services.
Earlier reports:
PORT ANGELES — Matthew Tyler Charles, one of three burglary suspects sought after a police chase and massive manhunt Sunday, is now in jail, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed.
Charles, 27, was booked into Clallam County jail in Port Angeles at 10:03 p.m. Sunday for investigation of first-degree burglary, unlawful theft of a firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm.
There were unconfirmed reports that the other two suspects were also arrested, but no other information was immediately available from the sheriff’s office.
First report:
By Arwyn Rice
Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles resident interrupted a Sunday morning burglary of several firearms on Cherry Street, triggering a police chase and a massive search of the woods west of the Elwha River.
The suspects are described by the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office as a Native American male, a “skinny” white male and a female wearing a red, black and white sweatshirt.
The Port Angeles Police Department released a photo of a possible suspect, Matthew T. Charles, 27, of Port Angeles, during a police search of the woods west of the Elwha River, and south of state Highway 112, near Dan Kelly Road.
Area residents were told to stay inside, report suspicious persons to 9-1-1 and to expect helicopters.
A second female suspect was initially reported by a witness to the burglary, but police have been unable to confirm the presence of a fourth person, said Clallam County Undersheriff Ron Peregrin.
Officers and police dogs from the Port Angeles Police Department, Sequim Police Department, State Patrol, Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, Lower Elwha Police Department and U.S. Border Patrol set up a command post set up at the intersection of Colville and Dan Kelly roads.
Two Border Patrol helicopters searched the area, and at 2:15 p.m. two tracking dogs and several teams of tactical trackers in camouflage uniforms, carrying assault weapons were deployed to the search area.
It all started at about 9:30 Sunday, when Dean Langdon, 39, of Port Angeles, came home to find two men who looked to be about 20 to 25 years old burglarizing a rental property he owns.
Langdon said he was returning from a morning softball game when he saw the two men in hoodies approach a rental house he owns on Cherry Street, then disappear, he said.
“They weren’t the renters, so I drove around the block and parked on the other side,” he said.
Langdon said he walked around the corner toward the rental house.
“I approached and heard them talking, and called 9-1-1,” he said.
Then he said he saw them come out of the house. One was carrying two shotguns.
“I knew one of them,” Langdon said, and added that he yelled to them that he had called police.
“The one with the shotguns pointed them toward me, so I stepped back. The guns were under a blanket, so I didn’t know if they were loaded,” he said.
The two suspects ran south on South Cherry Street, he said, and then a red or burgundy Pontiac Grand Prix driven by a woman came out of an alley between 11th and 12th streets, and the men jumped in the car, he said.
Police were on the scene quickly, and by then a police chase had already begun, Langdon said.
The suspects avoided a spike strip laid down to try to stop the fleeing suspects, and abandoned the car near the end of Colville Road before taking to the woods.
As of Sunday night, the hunt was still in progress.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
