The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - Two men were arrested, one for bur­glary and one for theft, in separate incidents in Co­lumbia County Sunday, but there's no indication in court documents that either one is connected to any of the commercial burglaries or car thefts committed in the area recently.

The suspect in the first incident, Andrew Gatz, 34, listed as homeless, appears to have been caught up in a domestic dispute with a woman he dated on Rose Gulch Road. He was charged with one count of residential burglary and one count of malicious mischief for break­ing down a front door to the woman's residence and re­maining "unlawfully" in her dwelling.

If convicted, Gatz faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine for the first count, a Class B felony, and one year and/or a $5,000 fine for the second count, a gross misdemeanor.

Ryan Araya, the suspect in the second incident on the same day who lives on Maple Street in Waitsburg, has been charged with theft in the second degree, malicious mischief in the second degree and criminal trespass in the second degree for allegedly helping himself to Tractor Tracks from a property on Highway 12 in Columbia County.

Araya could face five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine on the first count (a Class C felony), the same on the second count (also a Class C felony) and 90 days in jail and/or $1,000 fine for the third count (a misdemeanor).

Both men are expected to have their first court appear­ance on Thursday in Colum­bia County Superior Court.