Four suspects arrested in Sequim home invasion

SEQUIM, Wash. - Police arrested three robbery suspects who held a group of people at gunpoint during a home invasion in Sequim last month. On Tuesday, detectives arrested a fourth suspect who allegedly had the three suspects commit the robbery on his behalf to settle an unpaid debt.

According to the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO), on March 28 at around 5:15 a.m., deputies and Sequim Police officers responded to a home invasion robbery near Riverside Rd.

Authorities say the person who called 911 reported seeing people wearing face masks and carrying guns drive up to his house in a white SUV. The 911 caller was inside the main house, but the suspects were in an unattached mother-in-law house where they had three victims held at gunpoint.

The CCSO says the suspects ordered the victims to empty their pockets, stealing car keys and phones. The suspects also stole power tools and batteries.

The suspects then tried to get away, but they were stopped by police and detained. All three suspects, 32-year-old Esco I. Rhode of Kent, 44-year-old Eloy Estrada-Morales of Tacoma, and 40-year-old Maryah R. Faletego of Tacoma, were arrested and booked into jail for first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, and third-degree theft.

After obtaining a search warrant, investigators recovered all the stolen items, a .380 caliber handgun and a .25 caliber handgun.

The initial investigation suggested that the home invasion was a result of drug trafficking.

After the three arrests were made, the CCSO and the Olympic Narcotics Enforcement Team (OPNET) continued investigating. Eventually, detectives obtained information that there was a fourth suspect, 37-year-old Cory Tyler Blake of Port Hadlock.

Detectives developed probable cause that Blake had directed the three men to commit the robbery on his behalf. On April 2, police located Blake at an apartment in Kent, arrested him and booked him into the Clallam County Jail for first-degree burglary with two firearm enhancements and first-degree robbery.