An investigation into a two-year-long string of military equipment theft from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, near Tacoma, turned up Nazi memorabilia, white supremacist literature and a cache of weapons in the suspects’ home in Lacey, according to charges filed in federal court Wednesday.
Federal prosecutors charged Charles Fields and Levi Frakes with robbery, assault and theft of government property for allegedly stealing helmets, body armor and communications equipment from the Pierce County military base late Sunday. Both men “previously served” in the military, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Tacoma.
Just after 8 p.m. Sunday, the duo scanned their identification documents as they entered the base in a Toyota 4Runner, according to the charges.
About an hour later, someone on the base entered a U.S. Army Ranger operations facility to find two masked men, later identified as Fields and Frakes, court papers say. Investigators believe the men used bolt cutters to get inside.
The men later unmasked themselves before attacking the person with a hammer, federal prosecutors allege. The alleged victim was able to get control of the hammer, but surrendered when one of the suspects pulled out a knife. During the fight, one of the intruders dropped a hat with “FIELDS” handwritten on the inside.
The pair reportedly then fled the Ranger compound with around $14,000 in government property. The man who was attacked was hit in the head with the hammer and was bruised and bloodied, according to court documents. He was taken to Madigan Army Medical Center.
Surveillance video shows the two men leaving with rucksacks, two of which they dropped while fleeing, according to the complaint.
Army criminal investigators obtained a search warrant for a home in Lacey that both men used as an address. Late Monday night, they found 35 weapons, including rifles, pistols and a machine gun, along with silencers, prosecutors allege.
Agents also reported seizing military property like night vision devices, flashbangs, smoke grenades and body armor.
“Some of the military items agents recovered are unlawful to possess without unique permission from the (Department of Defense) and some of the items are so restricted that active duty military members are not permitted to have or store them in their personal residences,” special agent Christopher Raguse wrote in the complaint.
Each bedroom featured Nazi and white supremacist memorabilia, murals and literature, according to court papers.
A photo included in the charging papers shows side-by-side flags in one room emblazoned with a Nazi swastika and SS Bolts referring to the Schutzstaffel police unit in Nazi Germany. Since World War II, neo-Nazis have adopted the symbol, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
“The suspects identified in this case were actively involved in Nazi White Nationalist efforts,” Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders wrote in a Facebook post announcing the arrests.
One of the two men agreed to speak with investigators. The complaint doesn’t identify whether this was Fields or Frakes. The suspect acknowledged stealing military property from the Ranger compound to sell or trade for about two years, according to the charges.
It’s unclear if the men had any other plans with the stolen arsenal.
Law enforcement booked both men into the Thurston County Jail on separate state criminal allegations. A judge there set bail at $500,000 each. They remained in Thurston County custody Wednesday, said a spokesperson from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in western Washington.
It’s unclear when they will be transferred to federal custody for their first appearance on the charges filed in Tacoma on Wednesday.
