EVERETT — Deputies have arrested a second suspect in connection with a home-invasion robbery that left a 70-year-old Machias woman tied to a toilet.
The Granite Falls man, 22, was not involved in the April 16 break-in, but allegedly had been in possession of her sport utility vehicle and some of her belongings. He’s also accused of stealing her identity and using her credit card to buy fast food and gas.
The suspect was being held in the Snohomish County Jail Friday on $25,000 bail.
Deputies have been able to recover many of the stolen items, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Shari Ireton said.
Officers found the woman’s Social Security card, her passport, her husband’s passport, jewelry and a grinder in a camper on the suspect’s property, court papers said.
Another search warrant yielded eight of the couple’s stolen credit cards in the suspect’s wallet. A ninth credit card was recovered from his car where deputies also found stolen fishing equipment and a bag containing 122 pieces of jewelry.
The two suspects reportedly are acquaintances. The home invasion suspect allegedly visited the Granite Falls home of his friend after the robbery and dropped off some of the goods.
The home invasion suspect, 35, was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery and unlawful imprisonment.
He’s accused of using a necktie and purse straps to tie the woman to her toilet after she found him inside her house, according to police reports.
The woman had come home and found her door unlocked. Her husband wasn’t home. She called out, “Who’s here?” and a man came out of her kitchen.
At one point, the Everett man also allegedly pushed the woman onto a bed and rolled her up in the bedding while he ransacked her home along OK Mill Road.
Police believe the man disabled a smoke alarm and used a power tool to break into a safe.
He then loaded up the woman’s sport utility vehicle with items including her purse, wallet, house and car keys, a television, a computer, various tools, a coin collection, jewelry, silverware, and personal and financial documents.
She broke free about an hour later and called 911.
An anonymous tip led police to the suspect at a Lake Stevens gas station.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.
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