Man accused of stealing Olympia City property

Second arrest in a week for suspect who allegedly told staff, ‘they’re mine now’

Posted

A Tacoma man was arrested on suspicion of stealing kayaking equipment owned by the City of Olympia.

Joshua D Towler, 38, was arrested on Sept. 30 after a city employee reported that a man at the Lee Creighton Justice Center on Plum Street SE was stealing items from kayaks at the location.

“I noticed an individual searching through stored kayaks with some equipment already removed,” the employee wrote in a witness statement.

“I asked him what he was doing and he said, ‘Looking for more straps,’” he added. “I replied with, ‘Those are city property.’ He says, ‘I don’t care, they are mine now.’”

An officer arrived at the scene and observed several items on the ground near a glass recycling bin. The suspect then came out of the bin and the officer recognized him as Towler from a previous arrest earlier in the same week.

Towler was advised that he was under arrest, but he said he was not going to be arrested and threatened to hurt the officer if he touched him. The suspect then picked up his backpack and started to walk away.

More officers arrived at the scene, but Towler continued to ignore verbal commands to stop.

One officer deployed a BolaWrap restraint device around Towler, but it came loose as the suspect continued walking. Police then conducted a takedown by grabbing hold of his backpack since “at the time the bolo wrap [sic] was obviously not working and pushed him forward disrupting his balance and guided him to the ground,” the officer said in the police report. The suspect was then detained.

Towler was booked into the Thurston County Jail for second-degree burglary.

Comments

3 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here

  • Kruz81

    "Guided him to the ground" that is poetry.

    Monday, October 10, 2022 Report this

  • JulesJames

    Hoping Olympia provides him housing for a year. With no time off for good behavior.

    Monday, October 10, 2022 Report this

  • RondaLarsonKramer

    Just a clarification on the photo: The scales of justice symbolize the measure of a case’s support and opposition: what’s the evidence of guilt versus what’s the evidence of innocence. They do not symbolize any balance between fairnesses and injustice because in that regard the aim is to have an imbalance: all fairness and no injustice.

    Tuesday, October 11, 2022 Report this