TACOMA — Jory Barclay has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to breaking into an Olympic National Park entrance station and using an acetylene torch to attempt to open a safe.
Barclay pleaded guilty in Tacoma on Tuesday to charges of theft of government property and burglary.
Barclay said in his plea agreement that he and his co-defendant Brandon Hall — who is being held in the Clallam County jail on various burglary and theft charges — broke into the Heart o’ the Hills entrance station Sept. 14 so that they could steal money and property.
A portable radio valued at $1,100, a computer valued at $300 and other items were taken, according to court records. The burglars caused $970 in damage to the safe.
The government will recommend Barclay be sentenced to seven months in federal prison, although he is facing a maximum of up to 10 years for the burglary charge and up to 10 years for the theft of government property charge. Sentencing is set for Feb. 22.
Hall remains charged with three counts of theft of government property and two counts of burglary and has not yet appeared in federal court for this case.
He is being held in the Clallam County jail charged in Clallam County Superior Court with second-degree burglary, attempted residential burglary, possession of a stolen vehicle and second-degree theft. Bond is set at $25,000.
The federal and state charges are all a result of a crime spree in September, court papers say.
The National Park Service began investigating the pair for a series of thefts after a Clallam County Sheriff’s deputy pulled Hall over for allegedly speeding in a school zone while driving a stolen 2018 GMC Yukon earlier this month, according to court records. Barclay was a passenger, but was not arrested at the time.
Deputies found a generator in the back of the vehicle that was believed to have been stolen, according to court documents.
Inside the backpacks were burglary tools, eight stolen credit cards, 10 checks written to Olympic National Park, two military identification cards, four social security cards and a Washington state ID card, according to court documents.
The complaint unsealed Tuesday said two of the checks, totaling $30, had notes indicating they were from the Deer Park Campground within Olympic National Park. The other checks totaled $150.
There also was a tool kit with tools labeled “USDI NPS ONP.”
After Clallam County Superior Court Judge Christopher Melly ordered Hall released from jail Sept. 10, the two began a crime spree, according to the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.
It involved driving a stolen truck to the Heart o’ the Hills fee station Sept. 14 where Hall attempted to use an acetylene torch to cut into a safe, according to the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.
Court papers noted an increase in thefts from park fee cans since late July 2018. Two notable burglaries were from the entrance stations in the Sol Duc Valley and at Heart o’ the Hills.
On Sept. 1, the fee can at Deer Park Campground was stolen — removed from its concrete pedestal.
The next morning the Sol Duc entrance station was burglarized and an Olympic National Park radio, worth $1,100, a bifold wallet containing tools and a closed circuit camera system DVR were taken.
A floor safe was significantly damaged but was unopened. A shoe print was found on a floor mat in the station after the burglary.
Investigators seized Hall’s tennis shoes after his arrest and determined that the tread pattern matched the shoe print found in the Sol Duc entrance station, according to court documents.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.