PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles felon who has had unwanted attention on the Internet has not yet been found, but the intense public awareness that has been created can only help police, Port Angeles Deputy Police Chief Brian Smith said Wednesday afternoon.
With his name and face plastered on the Internet from London to India, Travis A. Nicolaysen, 26, has nowhere to go, Smith said.
Nicolaysen is wanted by the state Department of Corrections for parole violations, having failed to check in with his parole officer since January, and also is a suspect in an assault on his girlfriend that occurred March 28.
Nicolaysen escaped officers during two foot chases April 4 in a residential neighborhood near Olympic Medical Center, with officers and a police dog tracking him from Caroline Street to the Waterfront Trail.
His story went national Monday after a Peninsula Daily News article noted he was still updating his Facebook account while on the run from police.
Facebook group
A new Facebook group called “Help Find Travis Nicolaysen” has sprung up, and dozens of posts have appeared on Nicolaysen’s Facebook page urging him to turn himself in.
The Police Department makes about 400 warrant arrests each year, but they rarely receive as much attention as Nicolaysen’s, Smith said.
Anytime the community can become so aware of a wanted criminal, it helps, he said.
It is only a matter of time before he is in custody again, he said, noting that Nicolaysen has a history of 15 arrests.
Nicolaysen has been convicted of five felonies, police said.
Those convictions include domestic violence, residential burglary, theft of a firearm and court-order violations.
Nicolaysen stands 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds, the state Department of Corrections said.
He has long, wavy brown hair frequently worn in a braid or ponytail and tends to wear a mustache with a short, full beard or goatee, police said.
He also has a small teardrop tattoo under the outer corner of his left eye and tattoos on the left side of his neck, both forearms and both calves.
Anyone with information about Nicolaysen’s whereabouts is asked to phone the Port Angeles Police Department at 360-452-4545.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
