PORT ANGELES — The Sequim man who allegedly tried to steal copper from the charred remains of the New Peking restaurant last week has been arrested for a second time for investigation of stealing $10,000 worth of copper pipe from a construction site.
Craig Steven Foster, 49, was booked into the Clallam County jail Wednesday on a first-degree theft investigation after Sequim police caught him allegedly moving a cache of copper pipe from the Grocery Outlet construction site at 1045 W. Washington St. between Costco Wholesale and The Home Depot in Sequim on July 5.
Two days prior to his latest arrest, Foster was charged with second-degree burglary and criminal trespass in connection with a suspected looting of the New Peking, the Gales Addition restaurant and lounge that burned down July 5.
Foster posted $500 bail on the New Peking burglary and trespassing case last Monday.
$5,000 bail
Clallam County Superior Court Judge George L. Wood on Thursday set $5,000 bail for the first-degree theft investigation involving the Grocery Outlet incident. Foster will be formally charged Monday.
Sequim police were called to the Grocery Outlet site July 5 when tools were found missing. A construction foreman then discovered that 114 pieces of 20-foot-long copper pipe also were missing.
Copper is a coveted metal for resale.
A Home Depot employee reported seeing a weighted-down white Cadillac leaving the construction site in the early morning hours of July 5.
A week later, the construction foreman said he found copper pipe in the shrubs and bushes near the site, court papers showed. Some of the copper had been cut, wrapped in tarp and stored in different locations.
After Foster was spotted carrying copper pipe across a field, Sequim police said they found several pieces of cut copper in the white Cadillac.
A citizen had phoned the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday morning to report a white Cadillac behind the damaged New Peking, where Foster was discovered inside a security fence covered in ash and soot, according to the charging documents.
Piping in car
Deputies found burned copper piping on the Cadillac’s rear floorboard and “numerous pieces of copper piping and copper wiring” in the Cadillac trunk, according to the charging documents.
Court papers allege that Foster had concealed “numerous bottles and cans of alcoholic beverages and energy drinks taken from the restaurant” under a blanket in the back seat.
State Patrol troopers suspected Foster of taking more liquor from the former New Peking bar two days earlier.
Foster, also known as “Cadillac Craig,” was accused of taking $4,000 worth of tools from a construction site in October 2005.
In April 2006, Foster was accused of selling methamphetamine to an Olympic Peninsula Narcotic Enforcement Team, or OPNET, informant.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
