SEAL ROCK – A 41-year-old transient who had just been put on probation for stealing a car was arrested early Monday for attempting to break into a Seal Rock house.
Deputies say Joshua S. Preble, who has lived in Olympia and Portland, threatened the homeowner, forcing her to jump from a second-story window and injuring herself.
Preble is in jail on charges of burglary, criminal mischief, assault, menacing and attempting to commit a crime with bail of $1.16 million. There is also a fugitive warrant for Preble in Washington state, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
Deputies responded just after 3 a.m. Monday to a report of a burglary in progress at a house on Northwest Curtis Street in Seal Rock. Deputies said the homeowner told them Preble threatened her after breaking in her house. The homeowner said she jumped from a second story window to evade Preble.
A second patrol deputy found a man matching the description of the suspect walking south on U.S. Highway 101, returned him to the house where the homeowner identified him as the break-in suspect.
Paramedics took the homeowner to Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital in Newport to treat her injuries.
The sheriff’s office said further investigation identified “multiple” residences in the area showed signs of forced entry consistent with how Preble broke into the Curtis Street house.
Preble pled guilty Feb. 15 to first-degree theft and was sentenced March 16 to two years probation. He originally was charged with four counts of unauthorized use of a car and stealing an electric bicycle and a restaurant tip jar in a Jan. 20 crime spree in Newport. Three of those charges were dismissed in a plea agreement with the district attorneys office in exchange for the guilty plea and two year’s probation, according to Lincoln County circuit court records.
A condition of probation is to tell his probation officer when he is arrested or receives a citation.