Busted brake light cues sheriff’s deputy to check Harley and driver

No brake light leads to the capture of an alleged motorcycle thief by the Thurston Sheriff’s Department last Friday night.

Sitting at a stop sign on 18th Ave SE, a Thurston Sheriff’s Deputy observed a motorcycle proceeding north on College St. SE and that the vehicle’s rear license plate had a bright wheel light shining to the rear, but did not have a functioning tail light. As the deputy pulled behind the vehicle, the motorcycle dipped into a parking lot near the 1500 block of College Street SE, without any turn signal used to make a right turn.

The Sheriff’s Deputy reported that it appeared the driver was trying to avoid law enforcement contact.

According to the Sheriff’s Office report, the Sheriff’s Deputy spoke to the driver, Josh Coates, 31, who stated that he had pulled into the parking lot because he realized that he did not have any brake lights so he claimed he was going to turn around. Coates told law enforcement that the bike was his, that he was conducting a test run, and had been working on repairing it. Coates said that he had owned the bike for the past year, but did not have registration.

The Department of Licensing reported to the officer that Coates was “Driving While License Suspended Third Degree” and that he did not have a motorcycle endorsement. The Sheriff’s Deputy contacted dispatch to check on the license plate and learned that the vehicle was stolen.

Upon his arrest and being read his Miranda Rights, Coates told the officer that he had traded his motorcycle for the motorcycle that he was driving about a year ago. The motorcycle that Coates was driving was reported stolen in mid-August 2020, only about eight months ago.

Coates claimed that he had purchased the bike from “Jacob,” and suggested that “Jacob” was known to sell stolen motorcycles. The deputy asked why Coates would knowingly purchase a motorcycle from a known auto theft suspect, Coates said that he did not have the knowledge that he was providing on “Jacob”  until recently.

Coates claimed that he had all of the correspondence about the bike in his Facebook Messenger, but the correspondence was not there. The deputy did observe a comment that Coates had sent to “Jacob,” asking “is it legit” regarding the bike. When the deputy attempted to look closer at the comment, the phone turned off due to the battery dying.

The deputy observed in his report that the bike appeared to have been recently painted. Coates admitted to paint the bike.

Coates said that he had attempted to look up the motorcycle’s VIN online, but did not see that it was stolen. Coates said that he was never given a bill of sale or title to the motorcycle and that “Jacob” would not provide him one.

The deputy asked how Coates started the bike. Coates said by hot wire switch. The deputy asked if Coates normally buys vehicles that he had to hot wire to drive. Coates said no.