2 arrested with arsenal and Nazi paraphernalia after base robbery were
ex-military, prosecutors say
[June 05, 2025]
By GENE JOHNSON
SEATTLE (AP) — Two men arrested in Washington state with an arsenal that
included dozens of guns, explosives and body armor, along with Nazi
paraphernalia, were former military members who attacked a soldier with
a hammer while stealing gear from Joint Base Lewis-McChord last weekend,
investigators say.
Levi Austin Frakes and Charles Ethan Fields were arrested Monday night
at their home in Lacey, near Olympia, according to a criminal complaint
filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court. Federal court records did not
list an attorney for either man.
One of the defendants told investigators the pair had been stealing
equipment from the base for the past two years to sell or trade, and
agents found about $24,000 in cash at the home, wrote Special Agent
Christopher J. Raguse of the Army Criminal Investigation Division.
Washington state business license records show that Frakes and Fields
have a company called Sovereign Solutions, which featured an “SS” logo
with the letters separated by a lightning bolt. Its website advertises
“Quality Training and Equipment for the Modern Warfighter,” including
marksmanship classes, as well as a T-shirt with the company logo and the
words “Professional War Crime Committer.”
The federal complaint charges them with robbery, assault and theft of
government property. They also face investigation on state charges of
unlawful possession of incendiary devices, short-barreled rifles and a
machine gun. Each was being held at the Thurston County Jail on $500,000
bail.
Agents found rifles staged at the upstairs windows, a probable cause
affidavit filed in Thurston County Superior Court said. The federal
complaint said agents “observed numerous Nazi/white supremacy
memorabilia, murals, and literature in every bedroom and near several
stockpiles of weapons and military equipment.”
Photos from inside the home included in court documents showed a wall
decorated with a red Nazi flag emblazoned with a black swastika and a
black SS flag — the letters shaped like lightning bolts — referencing
the Schutzstaffel, the Nazi paramilitary led by Heinrich Himmler.
According to the complaint, a soldier entered a building at the Army
Ranger compound at Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Sunday night and found
two men, partially masked, with a cluster of U.S. Army property around
them. The soldier questioned them about what they were doing and told
them to pull down their masks, which they did.
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An image taken from Joint Base Lewis-McChord surveillance footage
depicts two men identified by the Army Criminal Investigations
Division as suspects in an assault and robbery in the 75th Ranger
Central Operations Facility on June 1, 2025, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord,
Wash. (Army Criminal Investigations Division via AP)
A fight ensued, and one of the men brandished a hammer and struck
the soldier in the head. The soldier continued to fight despite
losing a large amount of blood and managed to get control of the
hammer — at which point, one of the men pulled a knife. The soldier
then let them go, the complaint said.
They had attempted to steal about $14,000 worth of body armor,
ballistic helmets and communications equipment Sunday, most of which
they left behind when they dropped their rucksacks as they fled, the
complaint said.
During the fight, one of the men dropped his hat. It said “Fields”
on the inside. Using base entry logs and surveillance video,
investigators determined that Fields and Frakes had entered Lewis-McChord
together about an hour before the attack, investigators said.
Additionally, the wounded soldier, who required hospital treatment,
told investigators that he asked around his unit about the name
Fields after finding it on the hat. The soldier learned that Fields
had been assigned to the Ranger Battalion around 2021, and he was
able to identify him as one of the attackers based on photos shown
to him by others in his unit, the complaint said.
The men had access to the base because they were veterans, the
probable cause statement filed in state court said.
Court documents did not include details of Frakes’ military service.
Public information officers for Department of Defense, Joint Base
Lewis-McChord and Army CID did not immediately provide further
information about the men’s service history in response to requests
from The Associated Press.
The FBI executed a search warrant at a home shared by the defendants
on Monday and arrested them.
Authorities said agents seized about 35 firearms at the home,
including short-barreled rifles and an MG42 machine gun — a type
typically supported with a bipod and which was used by German troops
during World War II.
Other seized gear included 3D-printed silencers and Army-issued gear
that included explosives such as smoke grenade and blasting caps,
ballistic plates and helmets, and night-vision devices, authorities
said.
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