PORT ANGELES — Two Port Angeles men were arrested Friday after they allegedly siphoned gas from a marked Clallam County Sheriff’s Office vehicle in the courthouse parking lot.
Cory J. Stokes, 30, and Tyson W. Reynolds, 39, were booked into the county jail for investigation of second-degree malicious mischief. They remained in jail without bond Saturday.
Three county employee spotted them taking gas from a Chevrolet Suburban marked as a Search and Rescue vehicle at about 8:05 a.m., Chief Criminal Deputy Brian King said.
The employees alerted a Sheriff’s Office staffer, who summoned deputies from the squad room, King said.
As deputies approached the men, Stokes fled north into the wooded area between the courthouse and Peabody Creek RV Park, King said.
Deputies contained the area with help from Port Angeles and Lower Elwha police and arrested Stokes at about 8:20 a.m., King said.
Reynolds was found in a Ford Expedition parked next to the Sheriff’s Office vehicles.
Stokes and Reynolds were being held Friday without bail.
Found gas can
Deputies found a 5-gallon gas can next to the opened gas cap of the Search and Rescue Suburban.
Investigators determined that about 1-quarter-tank of gas had been siphoned, King said.
The case was referred to the county Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for consideration of formal charges.
Second-degree malicious mischief is a Class C felony.
Clallam County Search and Rescue is a volunteer division of the Sheriff’s Office that responds to emergency urban and wilderness search-and-rescue calls 24 hours a day.
“Both Stokes and Reynold’s alleged conduct creates a substantial risk of the interruption and impairment of services to the citizens and visitors of Clallam County,” King said in a news release.
“Tampering with the public’s emergency response vehicles, like those of the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue, hinders the unit’s ability to respond to emergent missions in the county and abroad.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
