Police: Wanted man surrenders in Port Angeles

A man wanted on a federal warrant emerged from a Port Angeles house's crawl space and surrendered to police, ending a tense situation in this small town on the Olympic Peninsula.

Brian Smith, deputy chief of the Port Angeles police, identified the man as 37-year-old Leslie G. Wilson.

Wilson was convicted of second-degree murder in federal court in 1992 for a slaying on the Makah Indian Reservation, according to court documents. At the time, he was sentenced to 19 years in prison and 60 months of supervised release. An arrest warrant was issued for Wilson in March.

Saturday's incident started when an officer spotted a man matching Wilson's description in the area. The officer then watched the man head toward a house.

The residents of the home notified police they thought an intruder was in their garage. Shortly after, Port Angeles police and U.S. marshals blocked off street in the surrounding area.

Once Wilson was located, negotiators moved in, and gave Wilson a phone. Wilson spoke to family members on the phone, and then he came out. Wilson was not armed, Smith said.

"We talked him out," Smith said. "We couldn't rule out that he was armed, but as it turned out he was not."

Court documents say Wilson allegedly violated terms of his supervised release, including drinking alcohol on separate occasions and failing to obtain substance abuse evaluations.

Wilson failed to appear in court on June 11 as well.

Port Angeles police, Smith said, were told Wilson had been released to a halfway house in the area.