PORT ANGELES — The last of three persons arrested after a July 21 home burglary in Port Angeles will undergo a mental evaluation before next appearing in Clallam County Superior Court this coming Friday, a Superior Court judge has ruled.
Steven Dean Goodman, 24, sat in a Clallam County Superior Court courtroom Friday afternoon with one leg shaking as he occasionally looked back to the courtroom gallery behind him.
“Turn around, Mr. Goodman. Keep your attention up here,” Superior Court Judge S. Brooke Taylor told Goodman during Goodman’s first court appearance.
Goodman has been charged with two counts each of theft of a firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm, and one count each of first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary and resisting arrest in connection with the July 21 burglary of a home on Cherry Street.
Goodman was arrested last Wednesday night not far from the Hungry Bear Cafe along U.S. Highway 101, just west of the intersection of Bear Creek Road, after allegedly trying to run from a Clallam County sheriff’s deputy and two Forks police officers.
Two others also allegedly involved in the burglary — Matthew Tyler Charles, 27, and Roxanne Rae Venske, 24 — were arrested July 21 after a daylong search for them in an area of unincorporated Clallam County south of state Highway 112 and west of the Elwha River.
During Goodman’s court appearance Friday, Taylor set Goodman’s bail at $250,000 at the request of Clallam County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John Troberg.
Goodman remained in the Clallam County jail Saturday.
Taylor also ordered Goodman to undergo a mental evaluation at Peninsula Behavioral Health after Karen Unger, Goodman’s assigned defense attorney, expressed concerns about his well-being.
“I think he should be in the hospital,” Unger said, adding that Goodman did not seem to recognize her, though she had represented him in the past.
The court ordered the mental evaluation to be done and a report prepared before Goodman’s arraignment, set for this Friday at 1:30 p.m.
Not-guilty pleas
Charles has pleaded not guilty to two counts each of theft of a firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm, and one count each of first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary, and remained in the Clallam County jail Saturday in lieu of $250,000 bail.
Venske has pleaded not guilty to one count each of first-degree burglary as an accomplice, attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle and unlawful imprisonment, and as of Saturday remained out of the Clallam County jail.
Charles is next set to appear in Clallam County Superior Court for a case status hearing this Friday at 1:30 p.m., while Venske’s status hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 23.
According to Port Angeles police accounts, a rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and $150 in cash reportedly had been stolen from the home.
After a search involving multiple law enforcement agencies, Charles and Venske were arrested together in the 1400 block of Dan Kelly Road.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
