Nisqually Valley News staff
The Tenino Police Department announced over the weekend that it has arrested the prime suspect in a theft of thousands of dollars of fencing near Tenino Elementary School.
According to a news release from the Tenino Police Department, officers responded to the location of a reported theft of $5,000 worth of fencing for the second time on Thursday, July 24. The victim of the theft reported the return of a man matching the description of the man suspected of stealing the fence.
The suspect’s identity was reportedly known because the man had attempted to sell the stolen product on Facebook Marketplace. Officers originally responded to the site near the elementary school after reports of the fence being stolen on Saturday, July 12, but made no arrests.
After arriving on the scene Thursday, officers contacted a man near the scene of the crime and took him into custody after he attempted to flee on foot. The suspect was booked into the Thurston County Jail for theft in the first degree, a class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison or a $20,000 fine, and resisting arrest, a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in a local jail and or a fine of up to $1,000.
The news release stated that the suspect was also later booked for criminal impersonation in the first degree after he was discovered to have given a false name and found to have a different piece of identification in his possession during the initial booking process. The crime is a class C felony and punishable by up to five years in prison or $10,000 fine.
