Suspect detained in county jail charged anew with forgery

A man recently detained at the Thurston County Corrections Facility has been booked with additional charges after the Lacey Police Department was asked to investigate a series of crimes across Lacey and neighboring cities.

Prior information suggested that the suspect, Brandon Sanchez, may have had a connection to burglaries at a Valvoline station and Meconi’s outlet. Video surveillance footage shows Sanchez in a station wagon-style vehicle in the Meconi’s parking lot the evening of the burglary on December 12 and in the same vehicle in the parking lot of WoodSpring Suites on Martin Way on December 13.“We were aware that the suspect had fled on foot from officers the week prior when they attempted to arrest him on his Washington State Department of Corrections arrest warrant,” Lacey Police Department stated in a police report.

When authorities interrogated the suspect, he reported that he’d been moving back and forth between Lacey, Olympia, and Shelton over the past week. He claimed to have been visiting a friend at the WoodSpring Suites and confessed to previously fleeing from police. Further investigation also revealed the suspect's alleged connection to a Tumwater burglary on December 11 at Plaza Jalisco.

Lacey Police Department had taken a theft report from the Lacey Fred Meyer that indicated the suspect had cashed a $500 check there that he’d stolen from Plaza Jalisco. A store associate at Fred Meyer confirmed that the suspect attempted to cash another suspicious check on December 18.

Recognizing the check’s similarity to the previously cashed stolen check, the staff reported the incident and provided information to the police.

The check was made out to Sanchez and belonged to a Tacoma man whose home, then under construction, had been linked to a prior burglary in April.

When authorities contacted the owner, he reported that he’d learned more checks had been stolen when the Washington State Department of Natural Resources contacted him upon locating one of his checks in an RV on DNR property in Grays Harbor County.

Based on these findings, the suspect now faces charges of forgery and second-degree possession of stolen property.

The Lacey Police Department has requested adding these charges while the suspect remains in the county jail.