AGNEW — The Agnew man who slipped out of police custody on Nov. 20 after being arrested on investigation of stealing construction equipment was caught in a small Oregon town near Longview and is now awaiting extradition.
Christopher R. Ahlstedt, 48, was caught Saturday afternoon by U.S. marshals who have been working with Clallam County Sheriff’s Office and Sequim Police..
The arrest came after Clallam County detectives, working with other law enforcement agencies, followed leads which led them to Rainier, Ore.
The detectives were able to confirm that Ahlstedt was living in a small trailer park or campground, said Chief Criminal Deputy Ron Cameron.
Because the man was not there when the detectives were in town, the marshals staked out the residence and arrested Ahlstedt when he returned at about 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Cameron said.
“The guys worked really hard and did a lot of follow-up,” Cameron said.
“I don’t think they were ever really too far behind him.”
On Nov. 20, police arrested Ahlstedt in connection with a construction trailer theft that occurred during the weekend of Nov. 14.
When officers found him at his home on North Barr Road, they also found a marijuana-growing operation and a small amount of methamphetamine.
Then, though he was handcuffed and inside a Clallam County Sheriff’s Office patrol car, Ahlstedt kicked through a side window at about 5 p.m. and got out and away
Ahlstedt is in custody at the Columbia County jail in Oregon for two warrants related to the thefts and the escape; one was for $150,000 and the other for $10,000.
He was wanted for first-degree malicious mischief, third-degree theft, possession of methamphetamine, first-degree possession of stolen property, trafficking in stolen property, manufacturing of marijuana and third-degree escape.
“The only silver lining on his escape is that as a result of all the tips we had and attention we had to the case, we were able to recover a lot of the stolen property,” Cameron said.
One of those items was the construction trailer belonging to Frank Parry and his parents Nick and Sally Parry. The company estimated the trailer was worth about $5,500.
The trailer was parked at the Willow Creek Manor construction site in eastern Sequim and contained tools and other items, including a guitar Frank Parry liked to play on his lunch break, which is still missing.
Ahlstedt also is being held on investigation of the theft of a backhoe-type tractor taken from Sequim Bay State Park valued at about $45,000, which was also recovered during the investigation, Cameron said.
“We recovered a lot of smaller items but that tractor was definitely the most expensive piece of equipment,” he said.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
