PORT ANGELES — A man wanted in Utah was tackled on a Port Angeles street as he fled from detectives while apparently reaching for a gun in his backpack on Monday and remained in the Clallam County jail on $250,000 bond on Wednesday.
Marshall P. Dietrich, 24, was booked into the Clallam County jail on the active fugitive warrant out of Utah, pending the extradition process.
New allegations of possession of a stolen firearm, first degree unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen motor vehicle were added Tuesday, according to a press release from the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team (OPNET).
On May 8, the Port Angeles Police Department (PAPD) was contacted by a probation officer in Utah who said that Dietrich, who was on probation, had absconded to the Port Angeles area from Utah.
Port Angeles police also were told that Dietrich was believed to have stolen a vehicle from Utah, and that the stolen vehicle contained a pistol.
A check of Dietrich’s criminal history showed a previous felony elude attempt, which included an assault on law enforcement officers, OPNET said.
On May 9, a PAPD officer spotted the stolen vehicle parked in the 700 block of South Lincoln Street.
The vehicle was unoccupied and police recovered the vehicle for which a search warrant was obtained, OPNET said.
PAPD officers located a pistol holster, but the firearm was missing, detectives said.
OPNET gave the following account of Dietrich’s arrest:
At about 3:13 p.m. Monday, OPNET detectives saw Dietrich leave an apartment building in the 700 block of South Lincoln Street, and PAPD and the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office came to assist.
When he saw uniformed officers arriving, he fled northbound on foot, while reaching into a backpack he was carrying.
A plainclothes OPNET detective tackled Dietrich and pinned his hand in the backpack, fearing that Dietrich was accessing a firearm.
Other OPNET detectives assisted in prying Dietrich’s hand out of the backpack and off of the stolen firearm, which was contained inside the backpack.
OPNET was assisted in the arrest by PAPD and Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.