Police used K-9, drones to search for Kitsap County homicide suspect in Gig Harbor
Officers searched an area of Gig Harbor Oct. 31 for a man suspected of killing someone in north Kitsap County.
Caleb Sloan, 29, is wanted in connection to the fatal shooting of Brandon Egeler, 38, , Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Kevin McCarty told the Gateway.
Kitsap County prosecutors charged Sloan with second-degree murder and first-degree burglary.
Egeler was killed on Oct. 3 near Poulsbo.
Police arrested a second suspect, Askel Strom, 26, in Pacific County on Oct. 27, McCarty said. Strom is charged with the same counts as Sloan.
A Kitsap County Superior Court judge issued warrants for Sloan and Strom in early October, The Kistap Sun reported.
Egeler was shot in a home where he was staying on Lincoln Road and died from the injuries.
The reporting party allegedly told investigators someone was banging on the door to be let in during the night, and that the suspects broke in through a window and attacked Egeler, the Sun reported.
According to court documents, the Sun reported, the witness said someone may have mistakenly taken a joke Egeler made about having a large amount of fentanyl seriously. A detective wrote that the witness: “said he doesn’t think Brandon possessed any large amounts of fentanyl,” the Sun reported.
Sloan is getting help from people in the Kitsap and Pierce County area “to evade law enforcement, including transportation and money,” KCSO said on Facebook.
“Those people known to have assisted Sloan, and anyone else who is found to have helped him, will be under investigation for their actions and may face criminal charges,” the post said.
Investigators search area of Gig Harbor
On Oct. 31 the KCSO received a tip about a vehicle Sloan was allegedly using and they spotted a vehicle matching the description, but lost it after a short pursuit, McCarty said.
Later that day a vehicle matching the description was involved in a crash at the intersection of Bethel Road and Cedar Road in Port Orchard.
“A person believed to be Sloan was seen leaving the scene of the crash in a yellow car with black racing stripes,” McCarty said.
Deputies spotted a car matching that description later on Bethel-Burley Road in Port Orchard and stopped it.
“The driver was cooperative with the deputy, however a passenger in the vehicle jumped behind the wheel and sped away,” McCarty said. “The deputy was unable to locate the vehicle once it left the scene of the traffic stop.”
By evening, a KCSO detective, who was on his way home spotted a car matching the description in Gig Harbor.
It was seen at an RV park at 9515 Burnham Dr.
Around 5:45 p.m. KCSD requested assistance in containing the area in the 9500 block of Burnham Drive. Officers from the Gig Harbor Police Department and the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department also responded.
Around 6:45 p.m. GHPD tweeted to inform resident’s what was going on, and told them to avoid the area.
They conducted a search with a K-9 and drones for the car’s occupant, but didn’t locate anyone.
“GHPD remained in area well past the end of the search,” according to a GHPD Facebook post.
The suspect is still missing. Anyone with information can call 911, email kcsotips@kitsap.gov, or submit a tip anonymously to Crime Stoppers at www.crimestoppers.com or on the P3Tips app.
