SEQUIM — Clallam County Sheriff’s Office deputies serving a federal warrant for a Sequim resident caught their man Sunday — and also found Richard Ivan Huggins, a Port Angeles-Sequim transient wanted for vehicle theft and for eluding police in a vehicle chase last Thursday.
At 11 a.m. Sunday, Sheriff’s deputies, with the assistance of U.S. Border Patrol agents, approached an unidentified location on Barnes Road near Sequim to serve Charles Aslin, 40, of Sequim with a federal warrant, said Ron Cameron, chief criminal deputy for the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.
Instead, they found Huggins, Cameron said.
Huggins made no attempt to resist arrest.
“It makes you wonder why he ran in the first place,” he said.
Cameron also said that deputies recovered a golf cart that had been stolen from the Dungeness Golf Course.
Other items were also located that were suspected to have been stolen.
As deputies continued to look for suspected stolen articles at the scene, Border Patrol agents assisted by standing by as security on the perimeter.
At about 3:10 p.m., Aslin returned to the location, and he was taken into custody by Border Patrol agents.
It was not immediately known Sunday what charges were attached to the warrant for Aslin.
“He had scratches. It looked like he had been in the woods,” Cameron said.
Huggins, 28, was sought after a high-speed, off-road chase in a stolen vehicle west of Sequim on Thursday evening.
Clallam County Sheriff’s Sgt. John Keegan gave this account of the pursuit:
On Thursday, law enforcement officers observed Huggins drive Holli Ann Bell to a residence at 75 Cliff Robinson Lane west of Carlsborg in a red extended cab pickup truck at about 5:30 p.m.
The truck matched the description of a pickup that was recently stolen from an impound yard in Jefferson County.
Deputies arrived to arrest Bell on a federal narcotics warrant and Huggins on a $7,500 warrant for driving with a suspended license.
Huggins was seen driving the pickup west down Cliff Robinson Lane.
Two deputies followed the pickup while others searched the residence, where Bell, 34, was arrested.
Huggins was signalled by officers to stop, but sped up and drove through a field and over an embankment to Sherburne Road and turned south.
The chase reached speeds of 60 mph on Sherburne, proceeded to Atterberry Road, crossed three fields and plowed through fences before the truck hit a tree and stopped.
A police dog was unable to track Huggins, resulting in a warrant being issued for vehicle theft and eluding a police vehicle.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
