Man accused of crashing allegedly stolen car, walking into stranger’s home in Tumwater

Tumwater police have arrested a man on suspicion of crashing an allegedly stolen vehicle and later entering the home of a stranger.

According to Tumwater police, Eric Lyle Hergenes, 36, of Satsop, was arrested last Thu., Dec. 2, after a reported burglary on the 6300 block of Lanai Street.

The responding police officer said the description of Hergenes — a white male wearing a gray shirt, blue basketball shorts, and red or green socks — reminded him of the suspect in a stolen vehicle collision that occurred earlier in the day, about 300 yards away from the burglary.

Hergenes was being held down by a witness outside the scene of the burglary when authorities arrived, according to the police report.

The suspect told police that he crashed his mother’s car and that he was an idiot.

Tumwater police said the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the vehicle from the collision was stolen, but the police report also noted that the car is registered to a 67-year-old man named Larry Stephen Hergenes.

The witness, a construction worker familiar with the neighborhood, said he and a coworker noticed Hergenes yelling for help and attempting to open the door of a house on the 6200 block of Lanai Street.

After failing to enter that home, the witness said, Hergenes walked up to a different house and managed to get inside.

The witness said he and his coworker immediately came over to the house to check on the resident and restrained Hergenes in the parking lot.

The owner of the house that Hergenes walked into told police that she was seated when the suspect entered her home, leaving muddy footprints. She also told police that Hergenes grabbed her at one point but did not describe exactly what happened.

Police were later informed that Hergenes’ wallet and ID were found inside the vehicle involved in a collision, according to the report. A witness to the collision also confirmed to police that Hergenes was the same person he saw in the vehicular accident.

Hergenes was booked at the Thurston County Jail for possession of stolen property and residential burglary.