Local News

<< Previous   of   Next >> Photos courtesy of Monroe Police Department  (click to enlarge) Police took this photo of Kyle Burress on July 9 after following a trail of merchandise from the Monroe Fred Meyer store, which had been burglarized. Courtesy of Monroe Police Department  (click to enlarge) Police took this photo of Allen Pierce on July 9 after following a trail of merchandise from a Monroe Fred Meyer store that had been burglarized. (click to enlarge)   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Monday, July 21, 2008 Suspects in Monroe burglary found sleeping on bed of loot Police say a trail of evidence led from burglarized store to snoozing pair By Diana Hefley, Herald Writer MONROE -- Their hideout wasn't well hidden. Police followed a trail of cardboard boxes, pillows and backpacks. The suspected burglars weren't hard to find, either. They were asleep. One was curled up on a stolen hammock. The other was dozing on a pile of pillows taken from a storage container outside the Monroe Fred Meyer store. The snoozing duo didn't hear the police officer take out a camera. They didn't stir when he took photographs of them stealing a few Z's. He had to wake them from their nap to arrest them. "We believe alcohol was involved," Monroe police spokeswoman Debbie Willis said. "I'd say a lot of alcohol was involved." Kyle Burress, 25, and Allen Pierce, 27, are charged with second-degree burglary. They've been sleeping in the Snohomish County Jail since their July 9 arrest. Prosecutors allege Burress and Pierce were responsible for the patio furniture heist at the Monroe department store along U.S. 2. A surveillance camera caught them scurrying from container to container during the wee hours of the morning, prosecutors said. The theft was discovered by the store manager. He was opening the store about 6 a.m. when he noticed that someone had cut the padlocks from four large storage containers behind the store. The padlocks of two other containers were scratched up but still locked. Someone had pawed through the merchandise. They had left behind shoe prints and a mess. Boxes and patio furniture were scattered around, Willis said. Someone also left behind a trail. Pillows, empty cardboard boxes, backpacks, Presto logs and outdoor fire pits led to a grassy area out of sight about 200 feet away. "The officer just keeps following the trail, and there they are, asleep on top of pillows and pads," Willis said. "They are sound asleep." Police say the trail led straight to Pierce and Burress and they have the pictures to prove it. "Most people try to cover up what they did," Willis said. "Not these guys. It's almost like Hansel and Gretel, leaving crumbs for us to follow." The camera caught Pierce, a Monroe resident, with his shoes kicked off. He was curled up on a hammock pad. The assembly instructions for the collapsed hammock lay next to him. Burress, of Everett, was photographed with his mouth open, sawing logs on pink patio-furniture pillows. A canvas barbecue cover was pulled up to his chin. July mornings can still be chilly. The officer called for backup. Pierce and Burress slept another 20 minutes while the officer took more pictures and waited for a sergeant to join him. The suspects' wake-up call was a cop reading them their rights. Pierce and Burress denied plotting to break into the storage containers, court records show. They didn't say much else, Willis said. They were carted off to jail in handcuffs. And with bed-head. Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.

1. Happy memories comfort family of injured Everett woman 2. Boeing Machinists earn their $150 weekly strike check keeping the line fed, fired up 3. Businesses eagerly await sailors' return 4. Marysville-Pilchuck blitzes Lake Stevens 5. Preservation effort divides Everett's oldest neighborhood 6. Boeing Machinists: Welcome to McNerneyville 7. Will Frye start for Seahawks? 8. Washington prep football scores for Oct. 10 9. Granite Falls police catch suspect in car thefts, burglary 10. Beach shows Silvertips why they missed him 2 - Top 10 Stories Most Talked about 3 - Top 10 Stories Most Emailed

• Shorecrest upsets Meadowdale behind fine defensive effort • 'Free' solution to costly problem? • King's beats Archbishop Murphy, takes over lead in Cascade Conference • One sweet training program • Who says white men can't rap? • Anonymous parent salvages snacks at school • Court move's plans raise questions • Jackson prevails in overtime thriller • Meadowdale's Moore-Taylor runs wild • Paine Field airline service strongly supported by 71 percent of web surv ... • Verizon launches FiOS TV in Washington State • Leisure Time Events - September 2008 • September 2008 • State needs to establish north county campus to meet growing technology ... • Future software programs may be based online • Visit two unusual Paine Field aviation museums for historic and futurist ... • Mothers launch Kids ‘N’ Clay pottery studio to provide children with cre ...