PORT ANGELES — A Sequim man has been sentenced to close to six years in prison after pleading guilty to a string of burglaries and car thefts that reportedly began last December.
Jay J. Dodaro, 33, pleaded guilty Tuesday to four counts of second-degree taking a motor vehicle without permission, three counts of residential burglary and one count each of second-degree burglary and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
Dodaro was sentenced in Clallam County Superior Court to 72 months in prison, with about six months’ credit for time served, according to court documents.
He also was sentenced to pay $1,300 in court fees, as well as victim restitution that will be determined at a future hearing.
Captured behind Sunny Farms
Clallam County sheriff’s deputies had been looking for Dodaro on arrest warrants from Clallam, Jefferson and Thurston counties for about a week and captured him March 19 hiding in a shipping container behind Sunny Farms Country Store in the Carlsborg area.
The charges to which Dodaro pleaded guilty span five separate investigations, all conducted by the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.
According to Sheriff’s Office accounts, Dodaro admitted to stealing a number of vehicles during an interview after his March 19 arrest, starting with a 1995 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck reported stolen last Christmas.
Dodaro also admitted to burglarizing a Sequim home and stealing a GMC Canyon pickup truck between March 7 and 8 of this year.
Dodaro also told deputies he had stolen a motor home from Ocean Shores in Grays Harbor County and abandoned it at the Hungry Bear Cafe in Beaver around March 15 before burglarizing a Sappho home and stealing a 2000 Buick LeSabre from the home’s driveway.
Dodaro told investigators he had driven the Buick to the Sequim area, where he eventually was arrested.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
