EPHRATA – Two area men were arrested the night of March 20 after being caught almost accidentally by Sheriff Tom Jones while they were allegedly stealing metal from a remote farm.

Around 8:45 p.m. on the 20th, Jones was driving home from a town hall meeting in Wilson Creek. At Stratford, he saw a black pickup truck with an acetylene tank parked in a pull-off area near some farm equipment close to Stratford Road Northeast and County Road 22.7 Northeast.

Jones also saw the silhouettes of two men near the truck. Believing the men were stealing metal for scrap, Jones backed out of the  area and called for assistance. It arrived quickly from Chief Deputies Ryan Rectenwald and Ken Jones, who were also driving home from the town hall meeting.

A short time later, the black pickup drove north on Stratford Road and was quickly stopped by the sheriff and deputies. The two men in the truck, David D. Dodson, 41, of Ephrata and Mark. M. Hoose, 40, of Soap Lake, were detained.

Property owner Dave Stevens of Soap Lake was called to the scene. He told the Sheriff that Dodson and Hoose did not have permission to be on his property.

Upon further inspection, the Sheriff and deputies found pieces of metal farm equipment which were in the process of being cut apart by a cutting torch.

Dodson was arrested on a long list of charges, including suspicion of obstructing a law enforcement officer, second-degree criminal trespassing, third-degree malicious mischief and third-degree theft.

Hoose was arrested on suspicion of second-degree criminal trespassing and third degree theft. Both were lodged in the Grant County Jail.

“The irony in this is we just finished speaking with the attendees of the Wilson Creek town hall meeting about metal thefts,” Jones said. “This is another example of how prevalent metal theft crimes are.”