Latest news with #JointBaseLewisMcChord
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
JBLM resident accused of vehicular assault after passenger hurt in wreck, WSP says
A 26-year-old Joint Base Lewis-McChord resident, suspected of driving under the influence, is facing a vehicular assault charge after crashing a car and injuring a passenger, according to the Washington State Patrol. Just before 3 a.m. Friday, the man was headed west on state Route 142 at Olsen Road in Klickitat County, which is in the southeast area of the state along the Columbia River. Goldendale is the county seat. Troopers say the driver crossed Olsen Road, drove through a fence and crashed into a tree. Both driver and passenger, a 54-year-old man from Goldendale, were hurt and taken to Klickitat Valley Health in Goldendale, according to State Patrol.
New York Times
07-06-2025
- New York Times
2 Veterans Found With Stolen Military Guns and Nazi Material, Officials Say
Two masked men dressed in fitness clothing worn by Army Rangers made their way onto a military base some 50 miles south of Seattle on Sunday night. The authorities said the men were intent on stealing thousands of dollars in combat equipment from an Army Ranger regiment there. However, the robbery quickly went awry. A soldier walked in and began asking questions as the two men were surrounded by piles of equipment. The soldier was bludgeoned with a hammer and one of the attackers brandished a knife. As the robbers fled, they dropped a bloody rucksack full of stolen combat gear. Handwritten on the rucksack was the name 'Fields,' which investigators discovered matched the last name of a man whose identification had been scanned when he drove that day onto the military installation, Joint Base Lewis-McChord. His name led the authorities to a home elsewhere in Washington State, where they said they discovered a startling scene: rooms and rooms of Nazi and white supremacy paraphernalia and a stockpile of stolen weapons. That, according to a criminal complaint filed on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Washington, tells the story of the investigation that led to the two men, identified by the authorities as Charles Ethan Fields and Levi Austin Frakes, being charged with assault, robbery and theft of government property 'by force and by violence and by intimidation.' The 11-page complaint and a Facebook post by the sheriff of Thurston County, Wash., so far amounts to the only public information about the activities of the two men, who were both identified in the complaint as veterans, leaving more questions than the authorities will currently answer. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Independent
04-06-2025
- General
- The Independent
2 arrested with arsenal and Nazi paraphernalia after base robbery were ex-military, prosecutors say
Two men arrested in Washington state with an arsenal that included grenade launchers and body armor, along with Nazi paraphernalia, were former military members who attacked a soldier with a hammer while stealing gear from Joint Base Lewis-McChord last weekend, investigators say. Levi Austin Frakes and Charles Ethan Fields were arrested Monday night at their home in Lacey, near Olympia, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court. Federal court records did not list an attorney for either man. One of the defendants told investigators they had been stealing equipment from the base for the past two years to sell or trade, and agents found about $24,000 in cash at the home, wrote Special Agent Christopher J. Raguse of the Army Criminal Investigation Division. The federal complaint charges them with robbery, assault and theft of government property. They also face investigation on state charges of unlawful possession of incendiary devices, short-barreled rifles and a machine gun. Each was being held at the Pierce County Jail on $500,000 bail. According to the complaint, a soldier entered a building at the Army Ranger compound at Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Sunday night and found two men, partially masked, with a cluster of U.S. Army property around them. The soldier questioned them about what they were doing and told them to pull down their masks, which they did. A fight ensued, and one of the men brandished a hammer and struck the soldier in the head. The soldier continued to fight despite losing a large amount of blood and managed to get control of the hammer — at which point, one of the men pulled a knife. The soldier then let them go, the complaint said. During the fight, one of the men dropped his hat. It said 'Fields' on the inside. Using base entry logs and surveillance video, investigators determined that Fields and Frakes had entered Lewis-McChord together about an hour before the attack, investigators said. Additionally, the wounded soldier, who required hospital treatment, told investigators that he asked around his unit about the name Fields after finding it on the hat. The soldier learned that Fields had been assigned to the Ranger Battalion around 2021, and he was able to identify him as one of the attackers based on photos shown to him by others in his unit, the complaint said. The complaint did not include details of Frakes' military service. The FBI executed a search warrant at a home shared by the defendants on Monday and arrested them. Agents found rifles positioned at the upstairs windows, the complaint said. Authorities said agents seized about 35 firearms at the home, including short barrel rifles and an MG42 machine gun — a type typically supported with a bipod and which was used by German troops during World War II. Other seized gear included grenade launchers, Army-issued explosives, body armor, ammunition and ballistic helmets, authorities said. Photos from inside the home showed Nazi paraphernalia, including a red Nazi flag emblazoned with a black swastika.
Associated Press
04-06-2025
- General
- Associated Press
2 arrested with arsenal and Nazi paraphernalia after base robbery were ex-military, prosecutors say
SEATTLE (AP) — Two men arrested in Washington state with an arsenal that included grenade launchers and body armor, along with Nazi paraphernalia, were former military members who attacked a soldier with a hammer while stealing gear from Joint Base Lewis-McChord last weekend, investigators say. Levi Austin Frakes and Charles Ethan Fields were arrested Monday night at their home in Lacey, near Olympia, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court. Federal court records did not list an attorney for either man. One of the defendants told investigators they had been stealing equipment from the base for the past two years to sell or trade, and agents found about $24,000 in cash at the home, wrote Special Agent Christopher J. Raguse of the Army Criminal Investigation Division. The federal complaint charges them with robbery, assault and theft of government property. They also face investigation on state charges of unlawful possession of incendiary devices, short-barreled rifles and a machine gun. Each was being held at the Pierce County Jail on $500,000 bail. According to the complaint, a soldier entered a building at the Army Ranger compound at Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Sunday night and found two men, partially masked, with a cluster of U.S. Army property around them. The soldier questioned them about what they were doing and told them to pull down their masks, which they did. A fight ensued, and one of the men brandished a hammer and struck the soldier in the head. The soldier continued to fight despite losing a large amount of blood and managed to get control of the hammer — at which point, one of the men pulled a knife. The soldier then let them go, the complaint said. During the fight, one of the men dropped his hat. It said 'Fields' on the inside. Using base entry logs and surveillance video, investigators determined that Fields and Frakes had entered Lewis-McChord together about an hour before the attack, investigators said. Additionally, the wounded soldier, who required hospital treatment, told investigators that he asked around his unit about the name Fields after finding it on the hat. The soldier learned that Fields had been assigned to the Ranger Battalion around 2021, and he was able to identify him as one of the attackers based on photos shown to him by others in his unit, the complaint said. The complaint did not include details of Frakes' military service. The FBI executed a search warrant at a home shared by the defendants on Monday and arrested them. Agents found rifles positioned at the upstairs windows, the complaint said. Authorities said agents seized about 35 firearms at the home, including short barrel rifles and an MG42 machine gun — a type typically supported with a bipod and which was used by German troops during World War II. Other seized gear included grenade launchers, Army-issued explosives, body armor, ammunition and ballistic helmets, authorities said. Photos from inside the home showed Nazi paraphernalia, including a red Nazi flag emblazoned with a black swastika.
Fox News
30-05-2025
- General
- Fox News
China targets US military members in overseas spy operations, former CIA station chief warns
A former CIA station chief says China has U.S. military service members and government employees in the "crosshairs" of its overseas spy operations. Jian Zhao and Li Tian, both active-duty Army soldiers, were arrested in early March after allegedly selling "Top Secret" information to individuals based in China, according to the Department of Justice. Zhao and Tian were both indicted by federal grand juries in Washington and Oregon. Federal prosecutors allege Tian sold sensitive military information to former soldier Ruoyu Duan, who would allegedly receive money from individuals residing in China. Tian then allegedly received tens of thousands of dollars for selling the sensitive information. Included in the alleged documents Tian sold was a Google Drive link containing classified documents about the Stryker combat vehicle. Tian also allegedly sent additional sensitive data on U.S. weapons systems. Prosecutors said the incidents highlight efforts by China to use "cut-outs," known as people trusted by Chinese intelligence services, to gather sensitive information that could help the Chinese government. Those "cut-outs" then recruit individuals with access to or knowledge of U.S. government information, which includes current and former government officials. According to the court documents, security video showed Tian allegedly brought his personal cellphone into a classified area of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington in May 2024, printed a classified document and left with it. He would allegedly return over three hours later with the document. Prosecutors also alleged that Tian took screenshots of sensitive information on several occasions. In a connected case at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Zhao allegedly sold classified information to an unnamed co-conspirator. According to federal prosecutors, Zhao received at least $15,000 for the documents. Zhao allegedly sold 20 military hard drives to an individual in China, some containing a "Secret" label. Zaho allegedly conspired to sell information related to the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System as well as information related to U.S. military readiness if there was a war with China. "While bribery and corruption have thrived under China's Communist Party, this behavior cannot be tolerated with our service members who are entrusted with sensitive military information, including national defense information," said FBI Director Kash Patel on the charges. Former CIA station chief Dan Hoffman told Fox News Digital he thinks U.S. military service members as well as government employees are being targeted to take part in these spy operations. "I think anybody who serves in the U.S. government is in the crosshairs. And China will do it," Hoffman said. "Sometimes they'll run their recruitment operations posing as someone else. So maybe somebody doesn't want to go spy for China, but they might pretend to be somebody else. Or they might contact you on social media, on LinkedIn or some other site and pose as someone not so nefarious when in fact they are." Hoffman said gaining intel from the U.S. military is one of the Chinese government's "highest requirements." "They want to recruit U.S. military because there's a probability we might go to war with China, and not just U.S. military, but NATO members as well, and throughout Asia. So they've got a massive intelligence apparatus," he said. China isn't just targeting the U.S. military. It's targeting many other aspects of American society as well, including academia. Five former University of Michigan students were charged in October 2024 after they were allegedly caught spying on a National Guard training center for the Chinese government during a training session with the Taiwanese military. The former University of Michigan students were confronted by a Utah National Guard sergeant major in August 2023 near a lake at Camp Grayling in Michigan. Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute focusing on U.S. and China relations, told Fox News Digital the Chinese Communist Party "will exercise whatever tactics they feel they need to by hook or crook to get our military secrets," adding China is "shameless." "This is a tactic that China is exercising in the new Cold War that we're locked in with the Chinese Communist Party. And one of the things that is really striking is the low price that a lot of Americans are willing to sell their patriotism for and their allegiance for. Some of these people didn't get that much money to sell some really sensitive military secrets over to the Chinese Communist Party," Sobolik said.
