Citizens Academy graduate helps police track down suspected car thief

Published 1:30 am Friday, December 9, 2016

A onetime volunteer with the Bainbridge Island Police Department helped officers quickly find an alleged car thief who stole an Acura RSX from a parking lot at Washington State Ferries’ shipyard in Winslow last Friday.

Authorities said the volunteer, a graduate of the Citizens Academy program that gives islanders an inside look at the Bainbridge department, heard about the auto theft on a ham radio and then followed the car thief along Highway 305 as he tried to make his getaway.

Anthony Gatchalian Echon, 37, was arrested just before 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2 after eluding police for more than an hour after he stole the Acura.

Authorities allege Echon tried to outrun police after driving away on Highway 305 after Bainbridge police tried to stop him just north of the Agate Pass Bridge.

Echon was charged with felony second-degree auto theft Monday in Kitsap District Court.

Authorities were alerted about the stolen car soon after Echon allegedly stole the vehicle from its parking space at the ferry repair shipyard.

The owner of the vehicle, a 62-year-old Kingston man, called police minutes after the Acura was taken, just after 2 p.m. last Friday.

Two other shipyard workers also saw the Acura get stolen, and told police that a BMW SUV that had been parked nearby followed the Acura out Olympic Drive SE and toward the highway.

Less than 10 minutes later, the Bainbridge volunteer who was listening to police calls on the radio saw the two vehicles heading north on Highway 305 and began following them, while at the same time giving 911 dispatchers updates about their location.

A Bainbridge officer caught up with the stolen vehicle and tried to pull the driver over after it had passed the Clearwater Casino.

Echon ignored the flashing lights on the patrol car, however, and police said he began to speed up and use the center lane of the highway to pass other vehicles on 305.

The Bainbridge officer broke off the pursuit near the Sky Kai Caffe Coffee Shop and returned to the Longhouse gas station, where Suquamish police had pulled over the BMW.

The driver and passengers of the BMW — a 31-year-old Burien man, a 25-year-old Tacoma woman and a 25-year-old Everett woman — denied knowing that the Acura they had been following was stolen.

Instead, they said they had been gambling at the casino since 8 a.m. that day and had just dropped off a man who called himself “Ant” near the Bainbridge ferry terminal.

“Ant” had been hanging out with the trio, and one of the women said he had been stuck to her “like glue” the whole day.

They also told police they went to the Bainbridge ferry but were turned around at the toll booth because they didn’t have money or a voucher from the casino to cover the ferry fare. “Ant” walked away from them while they were still at the ferry parking lot, they said.

The stolen Acura was soon found parked in the grass at West Sound Academy, just off Highway 305 east of Poulsbo, by Suquamish police.

Police began searching the area for the car thief and a Suquamish officer found two men working on a truck near a fireworks stand on Highway 305, and one of the men matched the description of “Ant” given by the three people from the BMW.

The man was taken into custody, and he later told police he was known as “Ant” when police asked about his first name of Anthony.

Police brought back the Tacoma woman from the BMW to identify the man in custody as “Ant,” but she said “Ant” was heavier than the man that police had detained, and had been wearing a light-colored coat, as well.

When authorities retrieved photos from the casino of the man who had been hanging out with the woman and her acquaintances, they noted the man looked the same as the one who had been arrested and was wearing the same clothes.

Echon initially would not talk about the theft but eventually confessed to stealing the Acura, according to court papers.