A man accused of driving a stolen vehicle, fleeing from a Lewis County Sheriff’s Office deputy on foot and then breaking into a residence in the Packwood area on Thursday is now facing multiple felony charges in Lewis County Superior Court.
The deputy first contacted the man, who was later identified as Scott Andrew Cummins, 42, of Everett, March 9 in a parking lot near the old Packwood Mill on U.S. Highway 12 following a report of a dispute.
The man allegedly gave the responding deputy a false name and date of birth, according to court documents.
While asking about the dispute, the deputy wrote down the license plate number of the Lexus Cummins was driving to run later, as dispatch’s usual search system was down at the time. Cummins reportedly told the deputy he had a suspended license and, with the deputy unable to look up the name Cummins provided, the deputy allowed Cummins to leave the scene on foot.
Cummins did so, taking with him a black-and-white dog that was in the vehicle with him.
The deputy cleared the scene and continued westbound on U.S. Highway 12 until the search system came back online and showed the Lexus was reported stolen out of Bellevue on March 6, according to court documents.
The deputy turned around and returned to the scene, where he reportedly found Cummins near the Lexus. The deputy reportedly “called out to (Cummins) to come over to him because he wanted to talk to him about the car,” but Cummins allegedly “walked backwards into the eastbound lane” of Highway 12. When the deputy “yelled at him to get out of the roadway” and told him the vehicle was stolen, Cummins allegedly “yelled back he did not know the vehicle was stolen, began running away and dropped his cellphone and the black-and-white dog in the process,” according to court documents.
The deputy began chasing Cummins on foot but, when he “noticed the dog was running loose on the highway,” he “gave up the pursuit and got the dog out of the roadway.”
The deputy was soon contacted by a woman who claimed the dog was hers and stated Cummins, who she identified as her ex-boyfriend, had “run off into the woods behind her house.”
The deputy then identified Cummins, who had three active warrants out for his arrest at the time of the incident, as the man he had just contacted.
Immediately after escaping the deputy, Cummins is accused of breaking into a residence in the 12700 block of U.S. Highway 12 in Packwood.
A window on the back door of the residence was reportedly “smashed open” and Cummins reportedly changed clothes inside, leaving behind black patrol-style boots, blue jeans, a black hoodie, a dark sweater and a gray baseball hat and taking a camouflage jacket, light-blue jeans, tan snow boots, two Gucci watches, a belt with camouflage pouches on it and a lapel pin for the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
Cummins was wearing all of those items when a deputy arrested him on March 10, according to court documents.
The deputy also noted he had a box of 20 gauge shotgun shells and a partial pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes in his possession at the time of the arrest.
Cummins was booked into the Lewis County Jail at 1:45 p.m. on March 10.
The burglary was reported two days later, on March 12. While investigating the burglary, the deputy noted that the clothes found inside the residence matched what he saw Cummins wearing on March 9, and noted that the stolen items matched what Cummins was wearing at the time of his arrest.
The deputy also noted two Lucky Strike cigarette butts in the bedroom, which the homeowners denied were theirs.
Cummins was charged Monday with two counts of obstructing a law enforcement officer and one count each of possession of a stolen vehicle, first-degree criminal impersonation, residential burglary, third-degree malicious mischief and third-degree possession of stolen property.
Two of those charges — possession of a stolen vehicle and residential burglary — are class B felonies with maximum penalties of 10 years in prison. First-degree criminal impersonation is a class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison. The remaining charges are gross misdemeanors with maximum penalties of 364 days in prison.
Cummins’ bail was set at $75,000 in Lewis County Superior Court on Monday.
His arraignment hearing is scheduled for Thursday, March 16.
