KPD nabs suspect in burglaries
Wednesday, December 8, 2004 7:36 AM PST
By Leslie Slape
Printable version
E-mail this articleA suspect in a rapid series of Kelso burglaries Tuesday morning shrugged off the effects of two Taser weapons and managed to break out of his handcuffs before officers were finally able to haul him to jail.
Longview officer Alan Buchholz, who blocked an escape route with K9 Bruno, noted in his report that "as soon as it (the Taser) had cycled, the suspect got up from the ground and attempted to run."
It took several more jolts from the Taser -- which shoot darts that deliver an incapacitating electric shock --- before officers were able to handcuff the man, according to the Kelso police report.
After police put him in a patrol car, the suspect, Gabriel Troy Egan, 28, of Vancouver, complained of pain. Officers, unaware that he had slipped out of his handcuffs, let him stand up. He tried to run off again, the report said. Officers recaptured him after another brief struggle.
The first burglary call came in shortly before 1:45 a.m. when a man in the 700 block of S. Pacific Avenue reported that a man armed with a double-edged dagger and a utility knife entered his home, then fled when the homeowner yelled.
Police located Egan in a Jeep Cherokee nearby. Egan sped away but lost control of the vehicle a few blocks away and fled on foot, police said. Police determined that the vehicle was stolen from Vancouver and said that they found heroin inside.
Egan, still armed, then broke into an apartment in the 1000 block of S. Pacific, demanded money and told the residents not to call police, the report said. Egan fled when the male resident got a knife and chased him, the report said.
Egan then tried to break into a residence in the 1000 block of S. Fifth Avenue, but the homeowner chased him off, police said. He ran to another residence in the same block and entered through the unlocked back door, police said. He fled when the homeowners confronted him.
He returned to the 900 block of S. Pacific, where he had abandoned the stolen Jeep Cherokee. Witnesses observed Egan break the driver's side window and enter the vehicle. As police converged on the area, Egan tried again to escape on foot, the report said.
After police finally got Egan into custody, he claimed he was "just walking through the neighborhood," police said. He denied committing any crime.
Egan was booked into the Cowlitz County Jail on suspicion of four counts of first-degree burglary, first-degree possession of stolen property, heroin possession, first-degree escape, obstructing an officer and possessing a dangerous weapon. Initial bail was set at $75,000.
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