Sequim Gazette staff
William M. Gilbertson, 43, of Port Angeles, was arrested last week for possession of a stolen motor vehicle, eluding a police vehicle and driving with a suspended driver’s license.
Law enforcement caught up with Gilbertson after short chase in a stolen van in Sequim.
On Feb. 13, employees from All Weather Heating and Cooling of Port Angeles discovered one of their service vans had been stolen from their shop in the Mount Pleasant area. The van was equipped with a tracking device and had been tracked to various places in Sequim. The tracking device locked on to an area near Fish Hatchery Road off the Taylor Cutoff Road south of Sequim.
Several searches in the remote area were unsuccessful and officers later discovered the tracking device antenna had been removed and van no longer was able to be tracked. The device, however, did send a signal when the van was turned on. Vinyl van lettering remnants and other items that had been on and in the van were found in the area.
Just after midnight on Feb. 17, Sequim Police Officer Rick Larsen spotted Gilbertson and the stolen van on Washington Street. The van was behind Sequim Police Chief Bill Dickinson, who was in his unmarked vehicle. As the three vehicles traveled onto West Sequim Bay Road, Gilbertson attempted to go around Dickinson, but the police chief prevented Gilbertson from passing. Larsen was joined by Sequim Police officers Maris Turner, Mark Pool and Clallam County Sheriff’s Deputy Amy Bundy.
Gilbertson turned abruptly up a driveway, sideswiped another vehicle and hit a tree stump head on. He was subsequently taken into custody and was transported to Olympic Medical Center to be treated for injuries.
After being released from Olympic Medical Center, Gilbertson was taken to the Clallam County Jail. Gilbertson is a person of interest in number of burglaries and thefts in the Sequim and Port Angeles areas that occurred soon after the van was stolen. Burglar tools and stolen property were found in the stolen van.
The Clallam County Criminal Investigation Bureau is continuing the investigation.
