02/22/2010: "Another Burglary Suspect Arrested"

Arrests have been made related to a residential burglary last month off of Beaverton Valley Road on San Juan Island. The burglary had resulted in a “$1,000.00 Reward Offered” for information leading to the conviction of those responsible.

However, the information that helped in the final stages of the investigation may not qualify the provider for the reward, since the person offered the information only after she was arrested on outstanding warrants.

Based on information obtained in an on-going investigation by the SJC Sheriff’s office, a local San Juan County man was charged with two Class B felonies, the first for entering a home “with intent to commit a crime” -the burglary of household goods, art, tools, and a shotgun from the residence on San Juan Island- with a second felony, “theft of a firearm” resulting from the theft of the shotgun.

Each felony is punishable up to a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment, and/or a $20,000.00 fine, plus any restitution and assessments the courts may impose.

There had been no solid leads in the case for a number of weeks, but suspicion that an employee who once worked as a caretaker of the home may have committed the crimes, was confirmed after the suspect’s girlfriend was arrested for failing to appear in court on un-related charges, at which time she informed a SJC Sheriff Detective “she wanted to provide information based on her personal knowledge about a burglary that had been committed.”

This information lead the Sheriff’s office on a search for evidence at a number of locations to substantiate the charges made by the girlfriend, and the ensuing investigation resulted in the locating of various items that were in fact confirmed to have been stolen from the residence off of Beaverton Valley Road.

The suspect was located and questioned at the same condo where he and the girl friend were living, and when questioned about the burglary, he declined to answer and refused to allow a search of the condo.

Based on the statements of the girl friend -including a statement that the boyfriend and told her he had committed the crime- and the evidence recovered up to that point, the suspect was arrested on the spot.

The detectives then obtained search warrants for various locations and found a number of the items that had been reported as having been stolen.

The suspect was charged with the two crimes in SJC Superior Court on February 18th.