Bogalusa man faces felony charges
Published 11:45 pm Thursday, July 18, 2013
Thomas Fredrick Seal, 37, of Bogalusa, has been arrested by the Washington Parish Sheriffs’ Office and charged with multiple felonies.
The joint investigation by the WPSO patrol and detective divisions led to Seal’s arrest on July 11. His bond was set at $61,847.
The saga began earlier in the month when WPSO patrol Sgt. Roy Lee answered a call in reference to theft of a utility trailer and diesel tank from a logging company working in Washington Parish. It continued on July 11 when WPSO patrol deputy Jonathan Williams responded to a call on Bud Slocum Road in reference to theft and possible recovery of stolen property. The resident advised that Seal had been staying at her residence and was possibly in the possession of stolen property.
While searching the area around the residence, Deputy Williams discovered a diesel tank and a utility trailer that matched the description of the items reported stolen by the logging company. He photographed the tank and trailer and forwarded the pictures to Lee, who traveled to the site of the logging company and showed them to an employee there. The logging company employee identified the trailer and tank as the ones that had been stolen.
The case was referred to WPSO Detective Raymond Myers, who discovered that Seal also had reportedly stolen other items, including another diesel tank, a generator, a chop saw, a well pump and copper wiring. He allegedly burned the insulation from the copper wire and sold the copper to a scrap yard. He had other items in the bed of a pickup truck and had sold some items in Mississippi.
Information learned during the investigation led detectives to believe that Seal was staying on McBeth Road and driving a pickup truck with an Oklahoma license plate. Detectives went to the McBeth Road location, where Seal was found. He was arrested and transported to the Washington Parish Jail. As the investigation continued, detectives learned the truck had been stolen from Oklahoma.
Seal was charged with multiple felonies, including three counts of theft, two counts of possession of stolen property and one count of second-degree battery.