In the first case, a couple in the 2800 block of “J” Ave returned home after a brief vacation to discover their home broken into and numerous pieces of sports memorabilia and other valuable items taken from their home. Several albums of antique baseball cards were among the possessions taken. In addition the thieves emptied a chest freezer of its food contents and stole hygiene items and cosmetics. The couple’s 2012 Honda Civic was also taken from the garage but was later found abandoned in the 4900 block of Kingsway.
In the second case, several days later, a couple returning from vacation discovered that their home in the 5300 block of Doon Way had been burglarized. When they pulled into their garage they immediately noticed that their gold colored 2004 Porsche Cayenne was missing. Inspection of the house indicated that the front doors had been pried open and every room in the house had been ransacked with numerous drawers and cupboards left open. Items stolen from the home besides the car included a television, approximately $300 in Canadian currency, numerous bottles of alcohol, a gold and diamond ring valued at $20,000, bedding, shoes and clothing. The burglary is under further investigation.
Here are some of the other cases Anacortes Police worked on last week.
Friday, Feb. 22
11:39 am. A woman living in the 1200 block of 33rd St. reported that she had returned to her apartment and found her neighbor inside. After saying that he was looking for his lost cat, he left the apartment quickly. The woman discovered a handgun had been removed from her bedroom and was on a chair next to where the man had been standing. Officers contacted the 27-year-old man and he said that he had taken some medication and could not remember all the details of the incident. He was booked into the Skagit County Jail on charges of Burglary in the first degree.
10:13 pm. A 28-year-old Anacortes woman reported that someone had stolen her 1995 Ford Taurus from in front of her apartment complex on the 1100 block of 34th St. She told officers that she had last seen the car at 8:00 this morning. The car was discovered several hours later crashed into a tree on a rural road in Island County.
Saturday, Feb. 23
2:43 pm. A 24-year-old Anacortes man was arrested for obstructing an outstanding warrant after an officer contacted him in the 500 block of Commercial Ave. as part of an investigation by Mount Vernon Police. The man reportedly shoplifted in downtown Mount Vernon and shoved a security officer during the incident. MVPD requested that an APD officer contact the man and tell him he needed to contact MVPD officers about the incident. The young man chose to tell the Anacortes Officer he was not involved and gave him a false name. When pressed on the issue he admitted his real name and told the officer he had an outstanding theft warrant and did not want to go to jail. The officer wrote him a ticket for obstructing and did not book him on the warrant because of jail over crowding.
9:50 pm. A church employee reported that over $750 of guitar pedals used in the churche’s music program had been stolen. Officers responded to the church in the 1,000 block of 10th St and learned the music equipment was stored in a storage room that was unlocked. Church employees recalled that two subjects had come to the churche’s free community dinner the previous night and both had been seen in the area of the storage room. Based on the description of the two, officers identified them as a 27-year-old Anacortes woman and a 43-year-old Guemes Island man. When contacted the man admitted that he and the woman stole the guitar pedals and he gave them to officers. They both will be charged with theft in the second degree, a felony.
Monday, Feb. 25
12:19 am. A 45-year-old Burlington woman will face charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of a dangerous weapon after officers discovered she was in possession of the items after a routine traffic stop. An officer on routine patrol ran the license plate of the vehicle and discovered the driver was suspended. Another officer saw the vehicle a short time latter in the 2600 block of “M” Ave. and stopped the vehicle. The woman was arrested for driving on the suspended license and a small amount for methamphetamine was found on her person. A larger amount was found in her vehicle as was a slung shot. A slung shot is a piece of fabric or rope that has buck shot in a knotted end. It is commonly used as a weapon and is illegal to posses in Washington State.
8:03 am. A red colored Trek mountain bike valued at $400 was stolen during the night from the porch of a house in the 1400 block of 9th Street. The victim had heard a noise on his porch in the middle of the night, but believed it was wind related and did not investigate.
1:51 pm. A 44-year-old man was arrested at a home in the 1400 block of 17th Street on a Mount Vernon Municipal Court warrant for theft. The warrant had a five-day jail commit. The man was booked into the county jail.
6:05 pm. A resident of the 1000 block of 22nd Street returned home and found that the door to his unattached garage had been forced open and the locked removed. The victim then discovered that a flood light at the back of the home had been broken to pieces. Fortunately, it did not appear that anything had been stolen from the garage.
Tuesday, Feb. 26
10:04 am. A 19-year-old man was booked into jail on domestic violence assault and malicious mischief charges after he allegedly pushed his father repeatedly at their home in the 1400 block of 26th Street. The man appeared to be under the influence of alcohol and he became mad at his parents when they expressed their desire to take him to a detoxification facility. The man also punched a hole in a bedroom wall while speaking with a police officer. He was booked into the county jail.
1:59 pm. The owners of a home in the 2000 block of 12th Street discovered that someone had broken an exterior bedroom window and removed the screens from two windows. It was unknown if actual entry had been made into the home as nothing appeared to missing or out of place.
3:25 pm. A Middle School student reported that his iPhone had been stolen from his backpack while he was in art class. The boy later called his phone and an unknown person answered, but no suspect information was ascertained. The phone was valued at $700.
10:23 pm. Police responded to a family shelter facility in the 1000 block of 27th Street regarding a domestic disturbance in which yelling could be heard by the 911 Center dispatcher before the call was disconnected. Police arrived and learned that a man and woman with a child in common had been arguing about the man’s belief that the woman was not doing her chores and following the shelter rules. During the argument, the woman allegedly struck the man in the face with a closed fist. The woman admitted that she had “slapped” the man, but said it had been after he had grabbed her wrists. The woman was determined to be the primary aggressor and she arrested and booked into jail on domestic violence assault charges.
Wednesday, Feb. 27
7:52 am. Police responded to a home in the 1100 block of 11th Street after a woman reported that her 44-year-old boyfriend had just pulled a sword on her. Police arrived and detained the man outside of the house while they spoke with both parties. Both people said that the man had lost his temper because he believed the woman had been stealing from him to support her alleged heroin addiction. The man yelled at the woman and her 31-year-old son to get out of his house, but she refused to leave saying that she hadn’t stolen anything. The man then allegedly grabbed a sharpened samurai sword, held it above his head in a “sword fighting” posture, and charged at the woman while screaming at her to leave the house. The woman said that she was afraid for her life and that when she tried to call 911 the man grabbed the phone away from her. She was able to call 911 from a second phone. The man admitted to losing his temper but denied he had held the sword in a fighting stance. He was booked into jail on charges of 2nd degree domestic violence assault and interfering with the reporting of domestic violence.
11:34 am. A 44-year-old man was arrested at a business in the 2700 block of Commercial Avenue on a felony warrant for several counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of stolen firearms, and trafficking in stolen property. The warrant had a $250,000 bail. He was booked into jail.
3:29 pm. An alert teller at a bank in the 1400 block of Commercial Avenue called 911 after she suspected that a man and woman in the drive through teller line were trying to cash a forged check. The man submitted the check and an Idaho driver’s license and the woman then entered the bank on foot. She then left quickly when she realized the teller was calling the police. The couple then left in the vehicle. The check was written on the account of a local construction company and when the company owner was contacted he confirmed that he had not issued the suspect a check nor did he know the suspect. The company owner then reported that someone had stolen his camera, checkbook, and keys from his unlocked pickup a short time earlier while the pickup was parked at a grocery store in the 900 block of 11th Street. The checkbook and keys were later recovered dumped on the side of the highway. Police are seeking to locate and positively identify the suspects.
5:11 pm. A witness provided the license number for a car she had seen run a stop sign near the 1200 block of 12th Street. A few minutes later, an officer responded to the report of an accident in which the same car had driven through a yard in the 400 block of 3rd Street and then become high centered on a large rock. The officer contacted the female driver of the car and immediately observed that she had very slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, and smelled strongly of intoxicants. The driver, a 29-year-old Anacortes resident, claimed she had “nothing” to drink. However, the woman was so intoxicated she was almost incapable of performing field sobriety tests. She was placed under arrest and an open can of beer was found in the center console of the car. During processing, the woman provided breath samples that were significantly over three times the legal limit. She was issued a citation for DUI and released to her mother.
9:51 pm. A suitcase and a backpack that were initially reported as found property in a wooded area in the 4500 block of Blakely Drive were determined to have been stolen from a vehicle parked at a home in the 4600 block of Blakely Drive the previous weekend. The items were released back to the victim, but a second backpack that was also stolen from the unlocked vehicle is still missing.
Thursday, Feb. 28
8:20 am. Anacortes fire and police officials are investigating the cause of a fire at a church in the 2800 block of Commercial Avenue. A janitor had arrived and found the building full of smoke. The investigation is ongoing.
11:17 pm. A couple returning from vacation discovered that their home in the 5300 block of Doon Way had been burglarized. When they pulled into their garage they immediately noticed that their gold colored 2004 Porsche Cayenne was missing. Inspection of the house indicated that the front doors had been pried open and every room in the house had been ransacked with numerous drawers and cupboards left open. Items stolen from the home besides the car included a television, approximately $300 in Canadian currency, numerous bottles of alcohol, a gold and diamond ring valued at $20,000, bedding, shoes and clothing. The burglary is under further investigation.