A tip regarding a federal warrant for one man led to the arrest of another sought in a stolen vehicle case Sunday night in Sequim.
Clallam County deputies arrested Richard Ivan Huggins, 28, for being in possession of a stolen vehicle and attempt to elude a police vehicle on Aug. 31.
At about 11 a.m. on Sunday, Clallam County deputies followed up on information that 40-year-old Charles Aslin was in the area of Barnes Road near Sequim; Aslin has a federal warrant out for his arrest.
On their arrival, Aslin fled the scene and efforts to catch him were unsuccessful at the time. However, deputies did locate and arrest Huggins at the same location. Huggins was wanted on outstanding local warrants and there was probable cause for his arrest after he fled deputies and detectives trying to arrest him for being in possession of a stolen vehicle.
Huggins was taken into custody without incident.
Deputies also recovered a golf cart that had previously 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 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 the Border Patrol Agents.
Deputes and detectives continue to investigate and search for stolen items at the scene.
The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office developed probable cause for the arrest of Huggins, 28, for being in possession of a stolen vehicle and attempt to elude a police vehicle, sheriff’s office officials said on Aug. 29.
Being in possession of a stolen vehicle is a class B felony and attempting to elude a police vehicle is a class C felony.
At about 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 28, a law enforcement officer saw Huggins drive a red extended cab pickup truck with passenger 34-year-old Holli Ann Bell to an address on Cliff Robinson Road; the truck matched the description of the truck that was recently stolen from an impound yard in Jefferson County. Huggins was a suspect in the theft of the vehicle.
Deputies with the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office arrived in the area of Cliff Robinson Road to arrest Bell for an outstanding federal warrant for her arrest. Huggins, who has two outstanding local warrants, was also targeted for arrest. While driving down Cliff Robinson Road, deputies saw Huggins driving the truck away from the scene; two deputies followed the truck while others went to the residence.
Huggins failed to stop when signaled to do so, speeding through a field and over an embankment to Sherbourne Road, then turning south. One deputy continued and followed the vehicle reaching speeds of 60 miles per hour, according to Keegan.
When the pursuit reached the intersection of Sherbourne and Atterberry, Huggins turned the truck east on Atterberry Road. A short distance later Huggins turned down a driveway on the south side of Atterberry, drove through two fields — damaging the fences surrounding them — and then turned westbound, driving though a third field. It appeared that he attempted to drive through another fence, law enforcement officials said, but the truck hit a tree, bringing the truck to a stop.
A resident said they saw Huggins running from the immediate area of the vehicle across the witness’ yard. Deputies attempted to track Huggins with a K-9 unit but the search was eventually called off by a sheriff’s office sergeant on scene after about a 30 minutes. Detective Sgt. John Keegan said they received a call for domestic violence and other pending calls that took precedent.
The vehicle was recovered, Keegan said. Though license plates had been switched, the vehicle identification number was used to confirm it was in fact the stolen truck from Jefferson County.
In the search for Huggins, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office warned residents that Huggins should be considered armed and dangerous. That was, Keegan said, because of Huggins’ criminal record.
