PORT ANGELES –– A 6-foot-7 transient is in Clallam County jail without bond on burglary charges after police say he kicked down the doors of homes in the Joyce and Carlsborg areas in April.
Aaron Scott Markishtum, 30, was arrested Friday by Clallam County Sheriff’s deputies while walking along U.S. Highway 101 near Carlsborg.
He was jailed on an initial charge of first-degree burglary. Two charges of second-degree burglary and one charge of residential burglary were added by prosecutors Monday.
Deputies obtained an arrest warrant for Markishtum after a video security system in a home in the Joyce area captured a burglary April 27 by a man officers “clearly identified” as Markishtum, Keegan said.
Sheriff’s Sgt. John Keegan said Markishtum picked up a sword during that burglary, which elevated the charge to burglary in the first degree, a class A felony.
Deputies got a search warrant for a Carlsborg residence where they believed the Neah Bay native would be but did not locate him there Friday.
They then spotted him walking between Carlsborg and Joslin roads on U.S. Highway 101 and arrested him without incident.
“Being 6-foot-7, he kind of stood out,” Keegan said.
Keegan said Markishtum’s distinctive method of allegedly forcing entry into the Joyce home linked him to the burglaries of a home at Freshwater Bay on April 28 and two buildings near Greywolf Elementary School in Carlsborg — one a garage on Addi Lane on April 28 and the other a residence on Edgewood Lane on May 2.
Keegan said the buildings were entered with a “donkey kick,” in which the door is kicked just below the door knob while the kicker faces away from the door.
Prints from a size 13 Nike Air Max sneaker, the type of shoe Keegan said Markishtum was wearing when arrested, were found beneath the knobs of all four doors.
________
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.
