MONROE — Of all the places to break into, he chose the police station.
A 29-year-old Monroe man now faces second-degree burglary charges in connection with an October break-in at the Monroe Police Department on W. Main Street.
Prosecutors allege that the man was trying to get drugs and other property out of his vehicle, which had been impounded during a traffic stop a day before.
The man had been pulled over because his 1997 Jeep Cherokee had a cracked windshield, Monroe police spokeswoman Debbie Willis said. He declined to have his Jeep searched, and a drug-detection dog notified its handler that it smelled illegal substances.
The Jeep was impounded about 11:30 a.m. Oct. 10 while officers sought a search warrant, according to court papers.
The man kept calling the police station that night asking about his car, Willis said. Finally, a sergeant had to call the man and ask him to quit calling.
“The officers knew he was very anxious to get into the vehicle based on the number of calls he made that day to try and get the vehicle back,” she said.
Officers also reported seeing two men standing across the street from the police station and City Hall who looked out of place that night. It wasn’t known until later that one was likely the suspect, Willis said.
The impound lot is connected to the police station and surrounded by a 20-feet fence with another foot of razor-wire on top.
Most people, however petite, would not fit through the space between the bottom of the fence and the ground below. Police believe the 6-foot-2 man somehow squeezed through.
The security alarm at the impound lot was triggered at 2:40 a.m. Oct. 11. A Monroe sergeant and two officers were in the building at the time.
They spotted a man climbing over the back fence and running away. While running, the man dropped a woman’s makeup bag and a gold-colored handbag.
When stopped by officers, he told them he was just trying to get his girlfriend’s purse and his driver’s license from the Jeep, according to the reports.
Police say they found a syringe and a plastic baggie of methamphetamine among the items the man dropped.
He also was wearing a glove that was missing part of the fabric over the index finger.
That piece of fabric was found snagged in the top of the chain-link fence that surrounds the impound lot, according to police reports.
The man told officers that he paid another man $20 to keep lookout while he broke in, Willis said. The man reportedly asked his cohort to cause a distraction if officers came outside while he was in the lot.
The man has a misdemeanor conviction in Washington for possessing drug paraphernalia in 2003. He is set to go to trial in the burglary case in April.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
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