Posted on 08/15/2021 12:51:50 PM PDT by doug from upland
LAKEWOOD, Wash. — A 54-year-old man is accused of shooting and killing another man who was attempting to steal a catalytic converter from his truck, and then dragging the man's body behind the truck and dumping it into a field in Lakewood.
The victim was identified by the medical examiner as Brent Peltomaa, 40.
According to court documents, Michael Scott Campbell told police he was sleeping in his Ford F-150 around 3:45 a.m. Saturday when he was woken up by someone attempting to saw the catalytic converter off his truck.
Campbell told police he saw two legs sticking out from under the truck when he opened the passenger door and fired “straight down” at the suspected thief. Campbell said he then fired two more shots at the man, according to court documents.
The man attempted to get into his vehicle but collapsed, court documents say. Campbell told police he then tied the man to the ball hitch of the F-150. Campbell said he dragged the man into a nearby field and left him.
Campbell told police the suspected thief was still alive and talking when he was tied up and dragged to the field before being abandoned, according to court documents.
According to court documents, a truck driver was sleeping in their vehicle in the parking lot where the incident took place and was woken up by a loud noise. The witness told police he saw two men in the parking lot in front of his truck and recognized one of the men as Campbell.
Shortly after, documents say, the witness saw Campbell get into his truck and began dragging an object behind the truck through the parking lot to the field nearby.
The witness told police Campbell was in the field for about a minute before he drove back to the parking lot. The witness called 911 and “narrated the events to the 911 dispatcher because of the suspicious nature,” according to court documents.
After Campbell returned to the parking lot, the witness said he saw Campbell get into Peltomaa’s vehicle, drive away, and return a few minutes later on foot. Campbell was then seen picking up items on the ground around the area and drove off in the F-150.
When officers arrived, they found a “significant” amount of blood in the gravel parking lot, along with tire marks and a “distinctive drag mark.” Authorities were able to follow the drag mark directly to Peltomaa’s body, according to court documents.
The witness told police the blood was in the same location where they had seen Campbell and Peltomaa’s vehicles parked earlier.
Responding officers were able to locate Peltomaa’s vehicle from the witness description and discovered blood on the inside and outside.
While officers were interviewing the witness, a white Ford F-150 drove past the location and was pointed out by the witness.
Officers pulled the F-150 over near 100th Street and South Tacoma Way. The witness was taken to the traffic stop and identified the vehicle and driver as the ones involved in the incident in the initial 911 call, court documents say.
The driver and registered owner of the F-150 were identified as Campbell.
Campbell’s vehicle was impounded and searched. According to court documents, there was “obvious amounts of dirt on the tires and rims” along long, yellowish grass that was similar to the type of grass in the field where Peltomaa’s body was found.
Investigators also discovered a Browning Highpoint 9mm pistol in the F-150 and green rope that visually matched rope found at the crime scene.
Campbell is accused of second-degree murder and kidnapping. He also has previous felony convictions and is prohibited from owning firearms. He is scheduled to appear in court on June 28.
"The reason they’re going after the catalytic converter is to recycle the precious metals that’re inside," said Sgt. Darren Moss Jr. of the Pierce County Sheriff's Department. "That process is not one that anyone can do, you have to take it to a recycling center that will extract the metal from those converters."
Those metals have made converters a prime target for theft.
Numbers from the Pierce County Sheriff's Department show that more converters have been stolen in the past six months than the past two years combined.
Police say tracking down the converters can be challenge, given how fast they can be taken and where they end up.
"We posted a video on Facebook, and it only took 30 seconds from the time they got out of their car to get back in their car and cut the converter off the vehicle," Ross said. "The issue now is where are all those converters going, who is the person collecting them, which recycling center is doing all of this for these people."
Brent’s aunt writes on his funeral home page:
“The Caring, Gentle, Sensitive people are ones who seem to suffer from addiction. Trying to escape, for a short time, relief from the sorrows of life, brings just a few moments of relief-never a solution.”
It can be tough for families who can’t make their relative’s problems go away while they are alive.
I dont see any bad news except for the accused..
https://www.mountainviewtacoma.com/m/obituaries/Brent-Peltomaa/Memories
“Here he is. His family is sad.”
Well, he apparently never stole THEIR stuff...
That there was a good idear.
There ya go.
“While officers were interviewing the witness, a white Ford F-150 drove past the location and was pointed out by the witness.”
Classic ‘return to the scene of the crime’ behavior. Low IQ move. The last ones I remember who did this were Muslims who shot up a company Christmas party.
My cat costs “$250” + $200 labor, accdg to the scam shop I went, I mean..repair shop. I had to go to Ebay to buy it for $76 and get a guy from Craigslist to weld it for another $100.
“It can be tough for families who can’t make their relative’s problems go away while they are alive.”
With a working criminal justice system, he would have been given an opportunity to straighten out in jail. Maybe he had been there already, who knows. But sometimes families and society just needs to “give up”.
The lesson of the story
Invest in platinum, palladium and rhodium!!
I consider the driver as defending his property.
Nothing more deserved by the perp in this case because had the F-150 owner not shot the perp, the perp could have shot the driver’s legs (and after the F-150 driver fell from the shots to his legs, the perp would have shot his head), forever preventing him from walking. Certainly the perp being under the vehicle his was somewhat protected. I feel no sympathy for the perp.
“Invest in platinum, palladium and rhodium!!”
Rhodium is mind-bogglingly expensive, makes gold look cheap.
The catalytic converter thieves will think twice before stealing one in that area.
That's a really rare pistol. So rare, in fact, I've never heard of it. Now, I've owned several Browning High Power handguns. And, I've seen Hi Point handguns. But never a Browning Highpoint.
Hmmm.
Yeah, sounds about right though many of them can be bolted on as an assembly.
Something like this should change laws to make it a justified homicide.
What’s the problem? The perp was white.
The thief chose poorly....
He also waived his rights and told police everything that happened. There was so much evidence it might not have made any difference.
The guy had been living out of his truck for two years so now he gets 3 meals and a cot. Probably doesn’t even get to keep the catalytic converter since his truck has been impounded but not sure how all that works long term.
From the police report — “Detectives conducted an audio/video recorded interview with defendant Campbell after he was advised and waived his constitutional rights. The defendant stated he was awakened by someone attempting to saw the catalytic converter from under his F-150.He stated that he opened the passenger side door of his truck and saw legs sticking out from underneath his truck.
He said he fired straight down at the subject, then fired two more times. The defendant told detectives that the victim crawled out from under his truck and tried to enter his own vehicle (red truck), but fell out onto the ground. He said he lashed the victim’s hands above his head and tied him to the ball hitch on his F-150,then dragged him through the field.
The defendant further stated that the victim was still alive and talking as he was lashing him to the truck, and was still alive when he untied him and abandoned him in the field. The defendant has prior felony convictions and is prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm.”
So there isn’t emissions testing for my truck in Massachusetts either but it was loud and leaking right underneath the cab.
Not to get in to to much detail but..
Some ford truck converters are worth over 1000 bucks.
(I run a car lot and a automotive recycling facility)
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