Size-16 feet and coins lead police to burglary suspect

MONROE — The man had big feet and jangling pockets.

Unfortunately for him, that’s just what the police were looking for.

A Monroe man was arrested Thursday morning after police found him walking in a neighborhood where they were investigating a burglary. The man’s size-16 shoes and the Canadian coins in his pockets reportedly were clues.

Benjamin A. Pickrell, 24, was booked into Snohomish County Jail on Thursday for investigation of first-degree burglary, among other allegations.

It was his second trip to jail this week.

The commotion started about 7:30 a.m. Thursday along South Blakely Street. Someone called 911 to report seeing a man climbing over a neighbor’s fence.

Officers arrived in the area, and saw big footprints in the frost, according to the police report.

“Upon closer inspection of the intruder’s footprints in the frozen grass, it was obvious that the footprints were extremely large, measuring nearly 16 inches in length,” an officer wrote in the report. “The only person that came to mind that would have that size of shoe and be committing burglaries in the area was Ben Pickrell.”

The officers also heard a loud crash and yelling.

They found the homeowner, who told them he’d just chased someone from his garage after a struggle. The burglar had threatened him with a knife, he told police. The homeowner also reported a large amount of Canadian coins missing from his vehicle.

Officers searched the area with a police dog without any luck. They started driving around and saw Pickrell, according to court papers. They recognized the 6-foot-9, 230-pound man from arresting him two days before.

When he saw them, Pickrell reportedly started walking in the opposite direction.

Once police got him talking, Pickrell reportedly admitted to having a knife and took it out of his pocket, according to the arrest report.

They asked him if he had any other weapons.

He said, “Nope, just a bunch of change.”

The cops asked if the coins were Canadian.

Pickrell reportedly replied: “Yeah, how did you know!?”

His size-16 shoes also were taken into evidence, Willis said. Police later compared them to the footprints found in the frozen yard.

Pickrell had been released from the county jail just before 2 a.m. Thursday, court papers show. He’d been arrested Tuesday after allegedly stealing a car in Monroe.

In that arrest, when officers checked his pockets, they reportedly found debit and credit cards and checks belonging to a Gold Bar woman. They allegedly also found methamphetamine.

At the time, Pickrell reportedly said: “I know you guys aren’t going to believe me, but I am borrowing these pants from a friend. None of that is mine.”

The cops then asked him where the cards and checks came from. He allegedly told them he couldn’t say or he would be “(expletive)-ing himself.”

Police since have located the Gold Bar woman, court papers show. She told them her car recently had been broken into outside a Monroe grocery store, and her purse taken.

Pickrell also is being held for investigation of possessing meth, possessing stolen property and vehicle theft.

Bail on Friday was set at a combined $125,000.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.