Soldiers arrested in shooting of excavator in Sherwood Forest

Two soldiers have been arrested for first-degree malicious mischief after a man captured them on a trail camera shooting his new excavator in the Sherwood Forest area of Allyn.

Judge Monty Cobb found probable cause to arrest Zacharia Miller-Young, 20, and Hanby W. Sykes, 23, but neither one has been charged. Miller-Young and Sykes are soldiers attached to the Marine Corps Security Force Battalion Bangor, according to the probable cause document.

Jason Wistrand, who owns the excavator, called police Nov. 3 to report vandalism, saying his equipment had “been shot numerous times,” Deputy S.M. Simington wrote in the document.

Wistrand told the deputy he had photographs of the suspects.

“Jason stated he has a trail cam in the area which caught two suspects coming into the area, unloaded what appears to be firearms in cases from a Ford Ranger and departing the area in which the machine was located,” according to the document.

Simington looked at the footage and thought the suspects “appeared military,” he wrote. The deputy contacted Naval Base Kitsap law enforcement and showed them the photos. NBK Bangor police located the truck suspected in the vandalism and confirmed it belonged to Miller-Young. Simington then contacted Miller-Young’s commanding officer and showed him the surveillance footage.

“He positively identified Miller-Young and stated he believed the second male to be Hanby Sykes, both of these Marines are attached to his company,” according to the document.

Simington then interviewed both suspects separately. “First I spoke with Miller-Young who, from the moment he came into the office was visibly shaking,” Simington wrote.

“I began by asking if he’d ever been to Belfair, he stated he had been to the area to play golf. I then showed him a photo that was saved on my department issued phone from the incident. He stated the male on the left was him and the male on the right was Sykes. I then advised him as to why I was speaking with him and outlined the details of the excavator being damaged by being shot numerous times. At this point Miller-Young invoked his right to remain silent,” according to the document.

Simington said his conversation with Sykes was similar, ending with Sykes requesting to speak to an attorney.

“Taking into account this physical evidence I have in this matter of the two males depicted on a trail camera, which was placed no further than 400 feet away from the excavator that was damaged, they were unloading firearms, presumably to exchange in target shooting, I took both Miller-Young and Sykes into custody for the crime of malicious mischief in the first degree,” Simington wrote.

Wistrand estimated the damage to his excavator at around $60,000.

Miller-Young and Sykes had their initial arraignment Dec. 4 stricken because the Mason County prosecutor has not filed charges yet.