PORT ANGELES — A 49-year-old man is in Clallam County jail tonight for allegedly trying to loot copper metal and merchandise from the charred remains of the New Peking restaurant.
Clallam County sheriff’s deputies said Craig Steven Foster, described by the Sheriff’s Office as living in the “Sequim area,” was arrested for investigation of burglary and theft at the site of the destroyed restaurant and lounge at 2416 E. Highway 101 in the unincorporated Gales Addition district east of the city limit.
Sheriff’s Chief Criminal Deputy Ron Cameron said Foster had a number of items valued at less than $750 in his car, Cameron said.
The New Peking was destroyed in the early morning hours last Tuesday in a fire that closed U.S. Highway 101 in both directions during the commute between Port Angeles and Sequim.
The cause of the fire is under investigation and the remains are cordoned off by fire tape and surrounded by a temporary chain-link fence.
