PORT ANGELES — A third suspect in an alleged kidnapping that happened in April but not discovered until July was charged Tuesday.
Harold Earl Herring, 27, of Port Angeles was charged with first-degree kidnapping and second-degree assault with a deadly weapon in Clallam County Superior Court.
He remains at large.
Travis Myles Reader, 27, and Edward Allen Steward, 33, were charged Monday with the same crimes.
Both are currently lodged at the Clallam County jail on a combined $225,000 bail. They are scheduled to be arraigned today.
Kidnapping account
The Clallam County Sheriff department gave this account of the alleged kidnapping:
On April 11, Reader, Steward and Herring held Scott Schroeder of Port Angeles at gunpoint in a mobile home at 116 Lilac Ave. east of Port Angeles.
Steward allegedly wanted Schroeder to return money he said Schroeder had stolen from him.
Schroeder telephoned his girlfriend and told her to take the money from a closet in their home.
After Steward left to retrieve the cash, Reader and Herring forced Schroeder into the Ford Escort he had borrowed from his girlfriend and started to drive him to an address on Lewis Road.
Schroeder escaped when he jumped from the car on U.S. Highway 101 and hid near the Sportsmen Motel.
The others were unable to chase him because the door mechanisms were faulty.
They parked the car east of Port Angeles and exited the auto by smashing its windows.
According to documents filed by the sheriff’s department, Schroeder filed no complaint because a felony bench warrant had been issued against him and he did not want to contact law enforcement officers.
In July, deputies learned of the events from a letter Reader wrote from the Clallam County Jail.
The letter had been returned to county correction officers.
Later that month, deputies said, Schroeder confirmed much of Reader’s account.