A traffic stop in Joshua Tree led to the arrest of an unregistered sex offender who is also wanted in two states on suspicion of assault on law enforcement officers and escape.
On Wednesday (August 31), County Sheriff’s Deputies report that they conducted a traffic stop in downtown Joshua Tree. The unspecified details of the traffic stop led deputies to discover that Stephen Andrew August, a 30 year-old resident of Woodland, Washington, was hiding from authorities at a property in the 48500 block of Bird of Paradise Road in Morongo Valley. August is wanted in Clark County in Washington and Jackson County in Oregon for suspicion of multiple offenses, including failing to register as a sex offender, assault on law enforcement, and escape.
Sheriffs report that a warrant was served to the Morongo Valley property at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, at which point August armed himself with a knife, which he used to stab himself, causing several lacerations on his own body. Through the use of flashbangs, August was safely taken into custody. August was treated for injuries at the property, and was transported to a medical facility for further treatment. Stephen Andrew August was arrested for investigation of multiple felonies including unregistered sex offender, escape, and assault on law enforcement and is being held with no bail, pending extradition to the State of Washington.
