The Chronicle, Centralia, Wash.
THURSTON COUNTY, Wash. — A Thurston County Sheriff’s Office K9 and his handler located and arrested a domestic violence suspect on Christmas Day after a two month-long manhunt.
The suspect’s name had not been released by law enforcement as of Friday afternoon.
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In late October, deputies were dispatched to assist Tumwater police for a domestic violence assault within the city. Tumwater units were tied up on other priority calls, so the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) handled the incident for them, Sheriff Derek Sanders said in a social media post on Thursday.
Investigating deputies learned that an ex-spouse broke into the victim’s house in violation of a no contact order and assaulted the victim, who tried to lock herself in a bathroom.
The suspect told the victim “someone is going to die tonight” before strangling the victim and fleeing the scene.
Deputies checked the area extensively, but were unable to locate the suspect.
“Since then, TCSO expended numerous resources trying to track the suspect down to no avail,” Sanders said in a social media post.
Despite this, every day that K9 Asher and his handler worked, Sanders said he continued to hear them patrolling near the victim’s house and areas the suspect was known to frequent.
Shortly before 6:45 p.m. on Dec. 25, K9 Asher and his handler contacted a suspicious person in Tumwater and discovered the individual was the domestic violence suspect they were looking for.
The suspect has been arrested and booked into Thurston County Jail for first-degree burglary, domestic violence; assault in violation of a no-contact order; second-degree assault by strangulation, domestic violence; and for additional outstanding domestic violence warrants.
Sanders congratulated everyone involved in the manhunt and arrest.
“Incredible job by all of our deputies who investigated and refused to stop searching for a high lethality DV suspect,” Sanders said, posting a photo of K9 Asher and his handler.
“When you type ‘relentless’ into your search bar, this is the first photo that should populate,” Sanders said of the photo.
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