“I slashed his tires.” Bodycam footage shows game director hitting salmon thieves who broke into a hatchery

A Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Police officer made a daring bust at the Cowlitz River Salmon Hatchery in the early hours of Sunday, arresting six young men who allegedly broke into the hatchery to catch and steal fish. This action-packed bodycam footage was obtained by Outdoor living shows WDFW Officer Blaine Corey chasing the young men and cutting a tire on their truck after the driver almost hit him.

The six men were later arrested by local police, according to court documents obtained by local police The Chronicle. The local newspaper reports that four of the men were minors and were booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center within hours of their arrest on September 29. The other two men, 18-year-old Roman Timoshuk and 21-year-old… Old Timothy A. Gubarik was booked into the Lewis County Jail just before 5 a.m. Sunday.

WDFW shared a report of the arrest with NW Sportsman Magazine. The agency said WDFW Officer Blaine Corey was working at the Cowlitz River Salmon Hatchery when he saw five suspects walking through the complex with fishing rods around 2:15 a.m. The suspects fled and jumped a fence as Corey approached, and one of them slipped and fell. as he runs away from the fish farm.

This is where the bodycam footage begins, with the time stamp showing it to be just after 2:17 am. Corey arrests a 15-year-old suspect who fell while the other suspects drove away in a red Ford truck. After asking if the boy is okay, Corey tells him he’s under arrest.

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“So they’re going to leave you?” Corey asks the teen’s friends, who continue to drive.

“Probably,” answers the suspect.

The images then jump to 2:21 am. As Corey reports the 15-year-old’s arrest, the truck with the other suspects drives back toward him. The truck comes to a stop and the person in the backseat on the driver’s side swings open his door, presumably to let his buddy get back in. However, the passenger seems to realize that Corey is standing there and quickly closes the door again. Corey instructs the suspects to stop, but the truck drives away as Corey calls the license plate number and gives a description of the vehicle.

About 40 seconds later the truck turns around again. This exchange is not included in the footage provided, but Corey was reportedly still standing in the middle of the road trying to stop the vehicle. When it didn’t stop, WDFW said, Corey had to get out of the way of the truck.

“If Officer Corey had still been standing there, the vehicle would have hit him,” WDFW said NW Sportsman.

The bodycam footage resumes with Corey standing on one side of the road while the 15-year-old suspect stands on the other. The truck suddenly comes to a stop between them, possibly so the 15-year-old can get in on the right side of the truck. Corey acts quickly, draws his knife and punctures the truck’s left rear tire. The hissing sound of the deflating tire can be heard as the truck drives away.

“Yes, he’s leaving the hatchery with a flat tire right now,” Corey tells dispatch.

The bodycam footage then cuts to 3:38 a.m., just minutes after the suspects were stopped in the Ford by Lewis County Sheriff’s deputies. The clip shows Corey and other law enforcement officers handcuffing and speaking to three of the young men. (All six were arrested without further incident.) At one point, Gubarik and another young man laugh at the tape and give Corey credit for his quick thinking with a knife.

“It was a smart move,” one suspect tells Corey, “[You have an] 8,000 IQ, man. I’ll give you that, boss.”

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The Chronicle reports that Timoshuk and Gubarik were charged the next day, September 30, in Lewis County Superior Court with one count each of second-degree burglary and one count of attempted third-degree larceny. Gubarik, who was driving the truck at the time, faces additional charges of second-degree assault, obstructing a law enforcement officer and attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle.

Tymosyuk was released on Monday on $10,000 bail The Chroniclewhile Gubarik’s bail was set at $75,000 because the judge found him “a threat to the safety of the community.”

Because juvenile data is protected in Washington State, the identities of the minors involved have not been released and it is unknown what consequences they may face. The public release of this bodycam footage also comes just over a month after WDFW announced that every game warden would be provided with body cameras at the agency’s request. WDFW’s chief of law enforcement, Steve Bear, shared this Outdoor living in August that these cameras would help clarify situations and strengthen evidence that could be used in court.