MONROE – February 19, 2015 at 07:28: Officers responded to a reported burglary at the Snohomish County PUD substation in Monroe. As the officer arrived, a PUD employee explained that he would escort the officer inside the chain linked yard for safety reason as the area is nearly all “energized” and risk of electrocution was high.
Once inside the fence, the officer was led to a recycling bin which was empty. The employee explained that when they left the night before the bin was full of wire scraps. He then showed the trail of dropped wire pieces that led outside of the yard through a gate that had been locked and continued towards an access road and the railroad tracks. It was there that a large pile of wire was discovered hidden in the blackberry bushes. On top of the pile of wire were grass and sticks that were layered to camouflage it. The officer took the report and left the wire where it was found.
At approximately 6:05 pm, an officer went into the area with the belief that the suspects would return for the wire after the hours of darkness. At approximately 6:20 pm the officer observed a purple Chrysler PT cruiser convertible pass his location heading down the dead end access road and stop near the location of the wire. The lights were turned off on the vehicle for approximately 5 minutes then the vehicle began to exit driving past the officer. The officer stopped the vehicle which was occupied by two males. When asked what they were doing, they said they picked up some wire that one of them had seen last night. The driver admitted they had wire in the trunk of the vehicle. The vehicle was impounded to the police department and a search warrant was conducted on February 20, 2015. Wire was found in the trunk of the vehicle.
The driver, a 26 year old male from Monroe was released from the scene. The passenger, a 44 year old male from Gold Bar was arrested on an outstanding felony warrant for Possession of Stolen Property / Trafficking Stolen Property and transported to the Snohomish County Jail for booking. Charges are pending on both of these subjects.
For additional information on this media release, contact Administrative Director Debbie Willis at 360-794-6300.
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