A Puyallup man released from the Kitsap County Jail about two hours before he was shot and killed in South Kitsap last month had been bailed out fraudulently using a stolen credit card, according to Kitsap County sheriff’s detectives.
The two women who picked up 31-year-old Richard Taii from the jail on Jan. 9 were with him in the vehicle he was driving when a South Kitsap man, suspecting them of stealing mail in his neighborhood off Lund Avenue, chased after them in his truck, attempted to block them in a cul-de-sac and shot Taii, according to court documents. Chad Wilson, who was charged with first-degree murder last month for killing Taii, claimed he shot in self-defense. He pleaded not guilty to the murder charge last month and remains in the Kitsap County Jail on $1 million bail.
After investigators searched the vehicle the three had occupied, prosecutors charged both of the women who accompanied Taii that night – Priscilla Scott, 26, and Annie Faalogo, 33, both from Tacoma – with a count of second-degree identity theft and a count of possession of stolen mail in Kitsap County Superior Court last week. Warrants were issued for their arrest.
Previous coverage:South Kitsap man who killed suspected mail thief claims self-defense, left scene after shooting
Scott and Faalogo were interviewed by investigators at the scene the night of the shooting and left the area on foot, a Kitsap County sheriff’s detective wrote in a report filed with the new cases.
Taii was released from the jail the night of the shooting after a woman who identified herself as Patricia Scott contacted A Plus Bail Bonds and provided an American Express credit card number to pay a $2,600 portion of Taii’s bail, the detective wrote, noting that the company then posted a $25,000 bail bond. After Taii was released, American Express declined the $2,600 transaction.
The three eventually made their way to the South Kitsap neighborhood where Wilson shot Taii.
A deputy coroner found the American Express card, used for the fraudulent bail bond payment and an earlier failed purchase at the Port Orchard Walmart, in Taii’s possession, the detective wrote. The card belonged to another man, who told an investigator that his card had been stolen, most likely from his mail, and that he’d been notified by the state’s Department of Licensing of potential fraud involving his license because someone had changed the username for his account. The deputy coroner also found a counterfeit driver’s license that combined the man’s personal information with Faalogo’s photo.
The bail bond company provided the investigator with the credit card information and a copy of the Patricia Scott license, which the detective also said was a counterfeit and appeared to include Priscilla’s photo. The detective said that the entire transaction that resulted in Taii’s release occurred over the phone and online.
In the days after the shooting, investigators searched the Chevrolet Tahoe the three had occupied the night of the shooting and found two pieces of mail stolen from two addresses just prior to when Taii had been shot. Detectives also found eight additional pieces of stolen mail from eight different people, all of whom lived outside of Kitsap County, as well as three counterfeit business checks and two forged personal checks.
A search of a backpack yielded about 14 pieces of stolen mail from 14 different people, all of which were from outside of Kitsap County. Investigators also found a three-page spreadsheet that contained personal information for 86 different people, which included names, dates of birth, social security numbers, addresses and phone numbers.
Investigators:Fatal shooting may be connected to mail thefts in South Kitsap neighborhood
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Puyallup man bailed out fraudulently before being shot, killed
