AGNEW — A man arrested Friday night for crimes ranging from theft to narcotics escaped from a Clallam County sheriff’s patrol car and is still at large, Sequim Police Department information officer Maris Turner said Monday.
Chris Ahlstadt, 48, of Port Angeles had been freshly interviewed and detained by police when he kicked out a side window of the patrol car, which was parked outside his home on North Barr Road at 5 p.m. Friday, Turner said.
Once he’d disappeared into the woods and fields around the Agnew neighborhood, a police K-9 unit, U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, Sequim police officers and Clallam County sheriff’s deputies searched but could not find the fugitive.
Ahlstadt is wanted in connection with the theft of $20,000 worth of construction equipment, including a trailer that is still missing, Turner said.
He’s also wanted for possession and manufacture of narcotics, since police discovered a marijuana-growing operation plus a small amount of methamphetamine inside his house.
Willow Creek site
The construction trailer and other gear disappeared from Sequim’s Willow Creek construction site during the weekend of Nov. 14 and 15, said its owners, Sally and Nick Parry of Parry Construction Co. of Sequim.
The trailer contained a large compressor, nail guns and many other tools, Sally Parry said after she found it all gone the morning of Nov. 15.
Sequim police and Clallam County Sheriff’s Office received tips and other information last week about the theft, Turner said, and obtained a search warrant for the house in the 1200 block of North Barr Road.
There, the officers found Ahlstadt, along with the marijuana and methamphetamine.
Ahlstadt is now 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.
Police consider him dangerous and advise anyone who sees him to phone 9-1-1. Anyone with other information about Ahlstadt is asked to contact the Sequim police at 360-683-7227.
Ahlstadt is 6 feet 4 inches tall, weighs 240 pounds and has brown hair and green eyes.
Turner said he has been known to drive a green Chevrolet 1-ton pickup truck with a diamond-plate tool box across the body, a landscaping placard on the side and Washington license plates A56395X.
He may also drive a blue 2008 Toyota Prius with Washington license plates 094 XZE.
In addition to the disappearance of the Parry company equipment, the Sequim area has seen a rash of thefts from construction sites in recent weeks, according to Ron Cameron, chief criminal deputy at the Sheriff’s Office.
Some of those stolen goods were recovered after police served a search warrant last week on Cedar Bend Lane, where Ahlstadt had been working.
The Sheriff’s Office is investigating those thefts.
The Parrys’ construction trailer, however, has yet to be found. It’s a 1993 tan Northwest Customs closed-box trailer with Washington license plate 1588RK, Turner said.
She urged anyone who sees it to phone the Sequim police at 360-683-7227.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
