On Tuesday, Nov. 20, Clallam County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 36 year old Port Angeles resident Joanna Boston for Criminal Attempt to Commit Theft of a Motor Vehicle, Criminal Trespass in the First Degree and Theft in the Third Degree, following a report of a prowler at a residence in the 600 block of Wahlgren Road in the Bear Creek neighborhood east of Forks. 

At approximately 5:00 a.m. Tuesday sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the Bear Creek residence after receiving a 911 call from a female resident at the home reporting a prowler. Deputies responding learned that the caller’s husband had located a female subject near vehicles parked in their driveway and was holding the suspect, suspected of prowling their vehicles, at gunpoint. Deputies, assisted by a trooper from the Washington State Patrol, arrived on scene and detained the suspect, later identified as Joanna Boston. Deputies at the scene learned from the male resident, a Washington State Department of Corrections Correctional Officer, that he was preparing to depart for work when he discovered someone had entered his Geo Metro passenger car parked in his driveway. Tools and miscellaneous vehicle parts from an adjacent car port were lying on the ground next to the vehicle. 

The resident, concerned that the suspect may still be in the area, retrieved a personally owned firearm from his home and checked the area for a suspect. He soon discovered Boston, hiding from view in a crouched position, next to his pick-up truck parked in the driveway. When confronted by the resident, Boston stated she was attempting to “fix” the vehicle so she could drive it to Neah Bay. The resident held the suspect at gunpoint until the arrival of law enforcement. 

A cell phone and other items, stored in the Geo Metro passenger car, were found in Boston’s possession following her arrest. Boston was booked into the Clallam County Corrections. The case is being forwarded to the Clallam County Prosecutor’s Office for review and the filing of formal charges.