PORT ORCHARD — Authorities continued Saturday to seek a Forks native suspected in the April 9 burglary of a Bremerton-area gun store.
Kitsap County sheriff’s deputies believe Patrick W. Nelson, 40, drove a vehicle involved in the gun store burglary.
A second-degree burglary arrest warrant for him was issued Tuesday,
Nelson, whose last known address is in Seattle, is originally from Forks and still has family and friends in the area, Clallam County Sheriff’s Sgt. John Keegan has said.
On Thursday night, Kitsap County deputies recovered nine of the 14 firearms stolen from Boerner Fire Arms on state Highway 3, said Deputy Scott Wilson, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office.
The firearms, all semi-automatic handguns of varying makes, models and caliber, were found inside a South Kitsap residence, Wilson said.
The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, Forks police and LaPush police joined eight Kitsap County detectives in a Tuesday evening/Wednesday morning sweep of several residences between Sequim and south of Forks that Nelson is known to frequent but did not find him.
Considered dangerous
Nelson is considered dangerous.
He is described as white, with brown hair and blue eyes, standing at 5-foot-9 and weighing 210 pounds.
Anyone with information about Nelson’s whereabouts is asked to phone 9-1-1 or Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office Detective Aaron Baker at 360-337-5611.
Nelson is a convicted felon under the supervision of the state Department of Corrections, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Nelson’s criminal history includes multiple narcotics charges, eluding a pursuing police vehicle, third-degree assault and taking a motor vehicle without permission, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
On April 12, Kitsap deputies arrested Nelson’s alleged accomplice, Matthew Howard Wright, 24, of Bremerton, at a mobile home park along state Highway 3 in South Kitsap.
He remained Saturday in the Kitsap County jail on $250,000 bail, booked for investigation of first-degree burglary, theft of a firearm and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
