Suspect who labeled himself as ‘County’s most wanted’ is now in custody

SILVERDALE – The man who recently touted himself as “One of Kitsap’s most wanted” during a brazen daylight motor vehicle theft incident last week in Navy Yard City, was apprehended early this morning during a tactical team employment.

SILVERDALE – The man who recently touted himself as “One of Kitsap’s most wanted” during a brazen daylight motor vehicle theft incident last week in Navy Yard City, was apprehended early this morning during a tactical team employment.

Scott Anthony Loun, 39, of Bremerton, was taken into custody at 4:40 a.m. at a residential property in the 16000 block of Olympic View Road NW, in Central Kitsap west of Silverdale.

Kitsap County Sheriff’s detectives received information on April 11 concerning Loun’s whereabouts. The tip was provided by Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound following the Fox Q-13 television broadcast of “Washington’s Most Wanted” on April 10. The show featured Loun as the lead story.

Detectives confirmed the probability of Loun’s presence at the address and obtained a search warrant for the property.

Arriving at the scene just after 1 a.m., sheriff’s patrol deputies, detectives and the sheriff’s SWAT team deployed tactically to contain the property and its buildings. In response to verbal directions announced via a loud hailer, two men emerged from the house. They were briefly detained, interviewed and released. The men confirmed the presence of a man and woman in the residence and that Loun was inside a large garage in close proximity to the house.

Officers entered the house where the female was located downstairs and a 56-year-old man was found in a bedroom upstairs. The woman was detained briefly, interviewed and released. The man was taken into custody and booked into Kitsap County Jail on an outstanding warrant of arrest for assault and for possession of methamphetamine. Bail for the man was set at $25,000.

For more than three hours, KCSO attempted to make contact with Loun inside the garage without any response. With his past history of firearms use KCSO anticipated that Loun was probably armed. It was unknown if there was anyone else in the garage with him.

The SWAT team sought to resolve the situation with minimal risk of property damage or harm to those present and a remote controlled robotic device, belonging to the Washington State Patrol Inter-Agency Bomb Squad, was inserted into the garage. The robot is modified with the ability to project sound through a speaker and is equipped with video capability.

With the video system, tactical operators were able to view the garage interior and noted that a “pull-down” access ladder to the attic above the garage was not folded and closed as designed. Loun had apparently hidden in the attic.

KCSO’s attempts to speak with Loun progressed slowly but eventually the suspect responded to verbal instructions with a litany of profanities interlaced with other forms of verbal abuse. Operators then knew that they had his attention.

The standoff finally ended as KCSO had hoped: Loun agreed to voluntarily surrender. He descended from the attic, walked outside and was taken into custody.

In clearing the garage, sheriff’s deputies located a 1998 Mercedes two-door car that had been reported stolen by Port Orchard police on April 8. The vehicle was impounded for eventual return to its owner.

Loun was subsequently booked into jail on outstanding warrants of arrest for first degree assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm, and Violation of the Uniform Controlled Substance Act (possession of methamphetamine). Total bail was set at $250,000.

Additional charges against Loun are pending, related to a March 29 incident in North Kitsap involving an assault with a firearm, and the April 7 motor vehicle theft incident in Navy Yard City.