A Bremerton man will face felony charges in connection with an April 9 burglary of a Gorst area gun store.
Matthew Howard Wright, 24, was charged April 14 with two counts of theft of firearms, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and second-degree burglary in Kitsap County District Court.
Wright remains in the Kitsap County Jail and his bail was set at $250,000. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 29.
Wright was arrested April 12 following an investigation by Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office deputies, according to KCSO spokesman Deputy Scott Wilson.
Court documents stated that Wright, a convicted felon, has been arrested 19 times.
“Detectives conducted continuous follow-up work on tips and leads that were generated through criminal intelligence and media exposure of the crime,” Wilson said.
A search warrant was served on a residence in the 1000 block of Burwell Street in Bremerton, the home of a person identified as a possible suspect in the burglary. Evidentiary items connected to the crime scene were located. With specific details for probable cause for an arrest, information was transmitted to West Sound law enforcement agencies concerning the suspect’s identity.
Wilson said Mason County Sheriff’s deputies stopped and detained two women in a vehicle as they left Belfair. The women had been observed parking the suspect’s vehicle in a local shopping center and were leaving in a second car.
Kitsap County Sheriff’s detectives responded and observed additional evidence inside the suspect’s vehicle. The car was impounded pending application of a search warrant. Detectives questioned the two women who denied knowing the whereabouts of the suspect, according to Wilson.
Wilson said in the early morning hours of Saturday, April 12, sheriff’s detectives went to a unit — the home of one of the two women — in a mobile home park on State Highway 3 in South Kitsap. While investigators were inside the residence, a sheriff’s K-9 team found Wright hiding in a wooden shed built on the back of the mobile home.
Wilson said Wright was taken into custody without incident and additional arrests are expected.
The burglary occurred at Boerner Firearms during the early morning hours of April 9. Forced entry was made by a suspect gaining access to the crawl space underneath the building, then cutting a hole in the floor which opened into the store’s display area. Approximately 14 firearms were stolen in the burglary.
Wilson said the alarm was activated at 4:53 a.m. and South Kitsap Fire and Rescue firefighters, who were stationed across the highway from the store, responded first.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene a short time later, and Bremerton police also responded and assisted deputies with clearing the building.
Detectives worked this investigation with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
On April 10, Wilson reported someone called 911 to report a suspicious car left in the 6400 block of Crossing Place SW in South Kitsap. The vehicle — a 1995 Lexus ES sedan — was located abandoned just before 10 p.m.
“Significant effort had taken place to try and alter the appearance of the car,” Wilson reported.
The Washington State Department of Licensing advised that the Lexus was reported sold on April 5. The car was impounded pending issuance of a search warrant for investigators to enter the car to obtain evidence.
