Hermanns Charged

WALLA WALLA - Waitsburg resident Adam Hermanns, who was arrested on April 5 after a three-hour hunt for him in the Walla Walla area, was formally charged with three felonies in Walla Walla County Superior Court last Wednesday.

Hermanns was charged with theft in the second degree, a Class C felony, for allegedly stealing a tire and wheels at a residence in Waitsburg on January 21, according to Walla Walla County Prosecutor Jim Nagle .

The 23-year-old was also charged with first-degree burglary, a Class A felony, and theft of a firearm, a Class B felony, for allegedly breaking into a home on Mill Creek Road outside of Walla Walla on January 24 and stealing a pistol.

Hermanns is scheduled to enter a plea at 3 p.m. on Mon- day, April 18, in Superior Court.

His mother, Pam Hermanns, was arrested in her Waitsburg home last week on suspicion of rendering criminal assistance to her son, but that felony charge is still pending, the prosecuting attorney said Tuesday afternoon. The judge ordered her release from Walla Walla County Jail last week.

" We have not made a charging decision on that arrest yet," Nagle said.

A Walla Walla judge earlier this year issued two warrants for Adam Hermanns' arrest, based on probable cause in both cases.

A tip led Walla Walla County deputies to search three different locations before Hermanns was found early Tuesday morning.

Walla Walla County Undersheriff Eddie Freyer reported that no items "of evidentiary value" were found at the apartment, but further investigation the next day allegedly revealed evidence that his mother had been aiding him while in hiding from police.

Freyer said last week that his office also intended to question Hermanns about the suspicious January 2011 fire on the Waitsburg property of his parents. That fire destroyed the couple's garage.

Hermanns is being held in Walla Walla County Jail on a total of $70,000 bail, $35,000 for each of the two cases in which he has been charged.

In April last year, Hermanns pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of possession of stolen property, a Class C felony, and was sentenced to two months in jail, following his arrest in January 2010.

He was also convicted in 2009 of residential burglary and prior to that, in 2006, for possession of stolen property.