Task force busts Marysville chop shop

MARYSVILLE — Authorities have busted a chop shop that was operating in the Lake Goodwin area.

Police allege that two men stole more than 30 cars and trucks from people in Everett and Marysville over the past few months.

The men were selling off the parts to buy heroin and methamphetamine, said Terry Haldeman, a Snohomish County sheriff’s detective assigned to the Snohomish County Auto Theft Task Force.

Both men were arrested this week. They were being held Friday at the Snohomish County Jail on suspicion of a pile of crimes, including some burglaries.

The chop shop was set up on a rural abandoned property off Fire Trail Road, Haldeman said. Photos from the scene show cars and trucks in various states of disassembly.

Soot and ash found on the ground was from fires the men built to burn identifying features off stolen goods, the detective said. The men also pulled all the wiring from cars and burned off the plastic so they could sell the copper as scrap metal.

The vehicles targeted mostly were Hondas, pickups and motorcycles.

About five cars were stolen in the Marysville area one morning starting about 3 a.m., Haldeman said. Some of the cars had been left running outside homes while the owners were inside.

“One guy forgot his coffee, went back in the house to get it, came back out, and the car was gone,” Haldeman said.

In another haul, one of the men had dumped a stolen motorcycle in Marysville when he spotted a police officer nearby. He accidentally left his wallet and cell phone on the motorcycle.

The task force caught on to the duo back in April, when Everett police surprised one of them while he was trying to open car doors in a parking lot at Everett Community College.

The man ran from police and tried to hide by lying flat on the roof of a motor home, according to the arrest report written by task force detective Eric Fagan.

One of the alleged thieves also owned a Honda and had crashed it, Haldeman said. The detectives believe the man was stealing similar vehicles to get parts to rebuild his own car.

One of the men arrested already has a pending felony case. Police in May alleged that he tried to drive away from a traffic stop in Marysville. The man has three felony convictions from 2002 and 15 misdemeanor convictions, including two cases of driving with a suspended license so far this year.

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.

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.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

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.