A North Whidbey couple were awakened in the morning of June 26 by a naked stranger in their house yelling that he was a police officer who needed shorts and a car, according to court documents.
The stranger, later identified as 54-year-old Evan Strother, then stole a car, drove it to the Garage of Blessings parking lot in Oak Harbor, knocked on the door of the emergency dispatchers’ office next door and was arrested, court documents stated.
Records indicate that Strother is going on trial this month in Benton County for allegedly slashing a man’s throat three years ago in Kennewick.
This week, prosecutors charged Strother in Island County Superior Court with residential burglary and theft of a motor vehicle.
A judge set his bail at a $50,000 bond or $10,000 cash.
A report by a deputy with the Island County Sheriff’s Office states that a resident of a home on the north side of Penn Cove called police to report a stranger yelling inside his house.
The man later told police he confronted Strother in the entryway of his house. Strother was naked and wrapping a towel around his waist. Strother told the resident that he was a police officer, people were chasing him with AR-15s and that he had “imminent domain.”
Strother found a set of car keys, took them and drove off in a purple Honda Fit.
The resident’s wife was also at home during the incident and called 911.
Later, Strother went to the emergency dispatch center in Oak Harbor and knocked on the door. He had parked the car in the lot behind the Garage of Blessings building, which also houses the Whidbey News-Times offices.
Deputies and police officers converged on the area and arrested Strother. The report doesn’t indicate whether he was clothed at the time of his arrest.
In March 2018, Strother allegedly slashed the throat of his friend in Kennewick during an argument over a woman, the Tri-City Herald reported. The victim had to be placed in a medically induced coma, according to the newspaper.
Prosecutors in Benton County charged Strother with first-degree assault with a deadly weapon. The trial has been repeatedly delayed and is currently scheduled for July 26.
