A Vancouver man says he bought Joshua Nickelsen’s camper trailer and then dumped it in Hazel Dell after learning from his cousin that it was stolen, court records show.
Joshua S. Manning, 36, told Clark County sheriff’s deputies that he bought the 4-by-8-foot teardrop trailer — which Nickelsen plans to use for a cross-country trip — from a “guy in Portland” and paid $200 for it, a probable cause affidavit filed in Clark County Superior Court states.
The trailer was stolen sometime early Wednesday morning from in front of Nickelsen’s parents’ house in Camas. He had arrived at his parents’ house about 3:15 a.m. from work and didn’t see the trailer, which had been parked there for the past three months. Nickelsen purchased the trailer for about $2,000 and has spent the past few months customizing it for his trip with help from his father.
Deputies were dispatched to the stolen trailer Wednesday afternoon after a witness called it in. The witness said he saw a black truck full of garbage dump a trailer that he recognized from The Columbian’s story. They found the trailer abandoned on Northeast 86th Street and confirmed it was the one stolen from Camas, the affidavit said.
