PORT ORCHARD — A Sequim woman told investigators she did not intend to hit two U.S. Marshals Service vehicles or hurt anyone as she tried to drive away from officers looking for her boyfriend in a Bremerton park last week.
Colette Rapp, 38, and Patrick W. Nelson Jr., 40, were arrested and charged in Kitsap County District Court after Rapp allegedly hit two vehicles that were part of a marshals task force intent on arresting Nelson.
Nelson, a Forks native with a Bremerton address listed in court documents, had been wanted by several law enforcement agencies since mid-April for allegedly driving a sedan involved in an April 9 Bremerton-area gun store burglary.
Court records
Rapp has been charged with one count each of second-degree assault and third-degree assault against a law enforcement officer, according to court records.
She remained in the Kitsap County jail Saturday on $100,000 bail.
Nelson, who remained Saturday in the Kitsap County jail on $100,000 bail, has been charged with one count each of second-degree burglary, theft of a firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm stemming from the April 9 burglary.
Kitsap County court documents of police statements give this account:
Nelson was riding in a Chevy Blazer sport utility vehicle when Rapp clipped the bumper of a marshals sedan and hit head-on another car driven by marshals in Bremerton’s Forest Ridge Park at about 4:30 p.m. Monday.
The officer in the Pathfinder was injured and fired shots through his own windshield at the Chevy Blazer, grazing Nelson’s head.
The officer suffered a broken nose, concussion and laceration to his left eyelid due to the impact.
Nelson and the officer were treated and discharged from Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton.
Both SUVs were totaled.
Intent only to leave
After she was arrested, Rapp told investigators her intent was to drive around the marshals’ vehicles and leave the park with Nelson.
She said she accidentally hit the Pathfinder and did not know she hit the sedan because “it all happened so fast,” according to court documents.
On April 12, deputies arrested Nelson’s alleged accomplice, Matthew Howard Wright, 24, of Bremerton, at a mobile home park along state Highway 3 in South Kitsap.
Wright remained Tuesday 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.
Nelson and Rapp also have a criminal history in Clallam County, according to county Superior Court records.
Criminal history
Nelson was sentenced to nine months in jail in January 1999 after pleading guilty to one count of second-degree burglary.
Nelson was one of three people involved in the burglary of a west Port Angeles office and storage building in which a Cadillac, two inflatable rigid hull boats, trailers and other miscellaneous items were reported stolen, the documents said.
Rapp pleaded guilty in August 2002 to one count of fourth-degree assault for hitting a woman outside the former Delaney’s restaurant in Port Angeles during a fight in August that year.
Rapp was given a 334-day suspended sentence and 30 days of community service, according to Superior Court records.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
