Mattawa Police chief says arrest slowed by prosecutor

MATTAWA - A sting operation organized and executed by the Mattawa Police Department in late July nabbed a theft suspect, but the case has been slowed by the Grant County prosecutor's office.

The Mattawa Police Department (MPD) conducted a sting at the Estudillo Market in Mattawa at noon on July 28 with the assistance of one of the suspects. The sting was conducted at the request of Sergio Estudillo the owner of Estudillo, Inc. which operates two food stores in south Grant County and one in the Yakima valley.

The assistance came from a woman who was suspected of stealing cash. She confessed, Mattawa Police Chief John Turley said, stating that she had been coerced by another individual to steal cash from the Mattawa store during a 6-month period.

"After a thorough investigation, written statements from victims and witnesses, and the assistance of a remorseful employee, the arrest of a 31-year old male Mattawa resident was conducted without incident," Turley said.

As part of the sting, $800 in cash in pre-determined and marked bills was recovered. 

In a probable cause statement furnished at the time of booking, eight $100 bills that had been photocopied on July 23 were exact in comparison to the serial numbers on each of the $100 bills that were taken, and they were found in the possession of the 31-year old male.

"Unfortunately," Turley said, "the arrest was circumvented by Grant County Deputy Prosecutor Ryan Valass. The 31-year old male was never presented to Grant County Superior Court for a probable cause finding and was instead released without a charge of second-degree theft."

However, the case is not closed. In an email to Turley, Valass wrote, "...We'll probably wait to charge him until the full report is received as well as any victim or witness statements. Charging him today without having the rest of the evidence serves little purpose because the court would almost certainly release him anyway...".

Turley differs with that assessment of the matter. He said the case should have gone before a judge.

"Typically, a well written statement of probable cause is read by a superior court judge when it is a felony," Turley said. "Whether an arrest is valid depends upon whether, at the moment the arrest was made, the officers had probable cause to make it."

After the arrested individual was released, he appeared at the MPD asking for confiscated items, Turley said. They were not turned over, he said, because they are evidence, and the case is still open.