Items from 18 burglaries in Thurston seized; 2 men arrested

Thurston County Sheriff’s detectives arrested two men after finding evidence linking them to 18 residential burglaries, Lt. Greg Elwin said.

Detectives found stolen electronics, jewelry, firearms, tools and other items when serving search warrants on two vehicles Wednesday, he said. One was on Alpine Drive; the other was in the Scott Lake area.

Detectives think the men were burglarizing homes and pawning the items or exchanging them for methamphetamine, Elwin said. The investigation is ongoing.

Jesse James Puckett and Jeffrey Fresen, both 29, were arrested Oct. 31 after contractors went to an unoccupied home in the 7000 block of Maplewood Drive and saw someone had forced entry through the front door, court papers state. Detectives have an arrest warrant for a third suspect who’s still at large, 43-year-old Wayne Eugene Hayes.

Puckett was being held Wednesday at the Thurston County Jail on suspicion of eight counts of residential burglary, with bail set at $30,000. Fresen was being held at the jail with bail set at $2,000. Fresen is charged in Superior Court with four counts of residential burglary, one count of second-degree identity theft and one count of possession of methamphetamine.

According to court papers:

The contractors called police Oct. 31 after making contact with Fresen at the unoccupied home and finding “a large amount of property inside,” including pieces of identification and bank cards. The workers thought Fresen had unloaded the property while he was backed into the garage.

Two detectives were dispatched, and they identified several of the pieces of ID and a bank card as having been stolen in a residential burglary in the area the day before. Fresen told them he’d gone to the home to unload the vehicle so he could access a spare and change a tire.

Fresen claimed that Puckett was with him at the home but fled when the construction workers came down the driveway.

Fresen was taken into custody because he had a felony warrant. A deputy found a stolen checkbook in his pocket. He also had a substance suspected to be methamphetamine. Fresen told deputies Puckett had given him a stolen credit card he had on him, as well as other stolen items found in his vehicle.

“Fresen did admit that he has been driving Puckett around to multiple locations in the Delphi Road area,” court papers state. “He stated that he stays in the vehicle while Puckett enters the residence. It should be noted that there have been multiple burglaries in the Delphi Road area over the past two weeks.”

Jeremy Pawloski: 360-754-5465
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