Crime Ring Suspects Arrested

When Bonner County deputies stopped a suspicious vehicle Thursday, they ended up nabbing two suspects wanted by the Secret Service, Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S. Postal Inspectors and Washington police.

“It turns out they are part of a major crime ring near Tacoma,” said Det. John Valdez. “It appears they were on the lam and somehow ended up here in Bonner County.”

Mark W. Till, 31, and Bruce B. Barron, 42, both of Sumner, Wash., were arrested Thursday night.

A resident of Baldy Mountain Road called the sheriff’s department to report a suspicious vehicle. When deputies stopped the car they found Barron, Till and a woman, Samantha Richardson, 19, also of Sumner, inside.

The men agreed to a search of their car and deputies found a sawed-off shotgun, 32 syringes and several stolen checks in the trunk.

Authorities arrested them for possession of stolen property and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The men were also wanted in Tacoma on felony warrants for forgery, and are suspected of armed robbery, check theft, mail fraud and being part of a methamphetamine drug ring.

Authorities in Tacoma recently formed a task force to break up the crime ring and plan to arrest up to 33 suspects. They already recovered about $150,000 worth of property stolen from homes while making some of the arrests earlier this week.

Valdez said Barron and Till fled to Bonner County shortly after the crackdown in Washington began.

“We are still not sure why they were here, if they were looking for someone, a place to stay or distributing drugs,” he said.

Both suspects are in the Bonner County Jail but agreed to be taken back to Washington. Tacoma authorities plan to arrive in Sandpoint today and take the men into custody. The Bonner County charges will be dropped, Valdez said.

“They want them back pretty bad and we were only too happy to help,” Valdez said.

, DataTimes