On August 2, 2018 the Elma Police Department was contacted by a 92 year old female from Bremerton, who advised she was a victim of identity theft. The suspects had used fraudulent identifications and a stolen check in the name of the victim, to purchase a vehicle from Elma Value Ford in the amount of $18,000. The true identities were unknown to both the victim and the dealership.

Through cooperation with employees of Elma Value Ford, the suspects were contacted and asked to come into the dealership to take possession of the title and plates for the stolen vehicle. On August 6th at around 3 pm, one of the suspects, a 36-year-old male from Tacoma, arrived at the location in the stolen vehicle and was taken into custody after a brief struggle with Elma Police. Through the course of the investigation, another suspect was identified as a 41-year-old female with ties to the Grays Harbor area. She is still currently being sought by police.

An Elma officer was able to connect the dots, make the case where a 41-year-old female with ties to the Grays Harbor area used someone else's identify to purchase a used vehicle in Elma among other charges.