Domestic violence and robbery arrest made at Olympia apartment complex

Olympia Police and Thurston County Sheriff’s deputies with K-9 units from both departments were responded to Ashwood Downs Apartments Monday evening for domestic violence and robbery incident.

At around 8 p.m. Monday, units from Olympia Police Department (OPD) were dispatched to the 1900 block of Ashwood Downs Lane where residents of the apartment complex had heard a verbal dispute. One of the residents of the apartment complex had gone to investigate and found a man standing menacingly over a woman who was on ground. The man then grabbed a backpack lying next to the woman and took off into the trees east of the complex, police spokesman Lt. Paul Lower said.

Officers spoke to the woman who was seen by the resident on the ground. She told officers she and the man were long-term romantic partners. According to Lower, she told officers the verbal dispute started when the two decided to break up. Eventually the man tackled and began slapping her from side to side. When he got up, the witness arrived and the man fled with the woman’s backpack.

The woman told officers that she and the man lived in the forested area behind the complex in a makeshift campsite. OPD went to search the area with a K-9 unit, and when the 90-degree temperatures proved too much for the OPD K-9 unit, Thurston County Sheriff’s Office (TSCO) arrived with a K-9 to continue the search.

Sheriff’s Lt. Ray Brady told The Olympian their K-9 unit arrived at around 8:19 p.m. and began searching around Fones Road where they found the backpack the man took. The K-9 was able to lock onto the scent and the man was soon found in a thicket on a hillside refusing to come out and speak with deputies.

After several minutes of asking and then commanding the man to come out, the K-9 was released and the dog dragged the man him out of the thicket and he was arrested by officers on suspicion of second-degree domestic violence and domestic violence robbery, Brady said.

Police took the man to Capital Medical Center where his wounds were evaluated. He was then booked into the Thurston County jail.

This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 10:44 AM.