PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles man who was the subject of a two-day manhunt by local law enforcement after an attempted purse-snatching left a woman injured is expected to be arraigned today.
Michael Thomas Riley, 25, is set appear in Clallam County Superior Court at 1:30 p.m. after he was charged Wednesday with one count each of second-degree robbery, hit-and-run-injury accident and forgery.
Riley was wanted by Clallam County sheriff’s deputies starting Oct. 13 after he allegedly stole a 30-year-old woman’s purse from her shopping cart while she was loading groceries into her car in the east Port Angeles Walmart parking lot at about 8 p.m.
Victim gives chase
The woman chased after Riley, the Sheriff’s Office said, and tried to slam his arm in the door of the pickup truck he ran to after taking her purse.
Riley drove away with the woman still hanging onto the truck’s steering wheel, the deputies said, after which she suffered cuts and bruises from falling to the ground.
Riley left the parking lot and turned west on U.S. Highway 101, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
John Troberg, the deputy prosecuting attorney assigned to the case, said Thursday the hit-and-run charge stems from Riley allegedly causing the woman injury while driving the truck.
Investigators ultimately identified Riley by finding the truck and after Riley allegedly tried to pass a check taken from the woman’s purse at a Port Angeles convenience store, deputies said.
Riley turned himself in to deputies at the county courthouse the evening of Oct. 15 after they and Port Angeles police failed to catch him during a foot chase through a Port Angeles neighborhood the night before.
Charged in other cases
Riley will appear in Superior Court today on two other criminal cases, one of which involved Riley allegedly stealing another woman’s purse from her shopping cart Oct. 3 while she was in the U.S. Highway 101 Safeway.
Riley pleaded not guilty to one count each of second-degree and third-degree theft in that case Oct. 16. He had been released from jail on his own recognizance Oct. 14.
The other case stems from Riley allegedly stealing a lawnmower and brush cutter from a Sequim man who had hired him to do yard work, according to Superior Court records.
The Sequim man called 9-1-1 on Oct. 15 to report that his Honda lawnmower and trimmer/brush cutter, valued at $399 and $329, respectively, were missing from his shed, according to a report filed by Deputy Amy Bundy.
The man told deputies he last saw the two pieces of equipment weeks before when Riley helped him start the lawnmower and last saw Riley on Sept. 23.
Bundy said she found that Riley pawned the lawnmower in Port Angeles for $100.
Riley was arrested Oct. 17 and pleaded not guilty Oct. 25 to one count each of first-degree trafficking in stolen property and third-degree theft, according to Superior Court records.
________
Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
