PORT ANGELES – A 22-year-old Port Angeles man was arrested Wednesday after using his truck to rip the doors off of a storage shed at Joyce High School.
Canaan Johnson and another person were seen on security footage at the school hooking a chain up to the doors of a fuel storage shed, attaching the chain to the iron push bars on the front of their truck, and yanking the doors off.
The suspects then exited the pickup and entered the shed. They were not able to figure out a way to steal gas from the fuel tanks, so they drove away.
The Sheriff’s Deputy investigating the burglary was later told that the truck had been spotted by school staff on Crescent Beach Road. Deputy Dixon and Elwha Police Officers drove to the area and located a pickup matching the description of the one seen on surveillance video, and two people sitting on a nearby bench.
As they approached, one person was seen walking, but Johnson admitted they had gone to the school to steal fuel but were unable to do it. He was arrested for Burglary. No word on the fate of the other person.
Also on Wednesday, 39-year-old Carmen Harris of Port Orchard was arrested for Possession of Stolen Property 3rd degree and Possession With Intent to Deliver narcotics.
Her arrest was the result of an investigation into a theft at a Sequim business in which someone driving a red Dodge pickup was seen cutting a padlock and entering a utility trailer that belonged to the business owner. The male suspect stole a large number of tools and other property from the trailer and loaded it all into the pickup. The incident was captured on surveillance cameras on Monday.
Then on Wednesday, deputies were called to the area of Hazel Street in Port Angeles for suspicious activity. The owner of the Sequim business that was robbed had located the red Dodge pickup and had seen some of his stolen property in the bed of the truck. The owner followed the Dodge pickup to Fairmount gas station and waited for deputies to arrive.
They spoke to the driver of the pickup, Carmen Harris. The tools and equipment were identified as the stolen goods, and a further search of the vehicle revealed a cache of illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia, including meth and suspected fentanyl. Harris was arrested, booked in the Clallam County Jail, and her Dodge pickup was impounded.