SULTAN — A historic handgun was stolen late Friday night during a break-in at the Visitor Information Center on Main Street.
Someone threw a rock through the glass on the building’s front door and then shattered the case that held a .38 Special that was part of the center’s history display, said Debbie Copple, director of the Sky Valley Chamber of Commerce, which is housed in the visitor center.
“I think they knew exactly what they wanted,” she said. “They only took one thing.”
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office is investigating. Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or stop by the Sultan Police Department at 515 Main St.
No other break-ins were reported in the area Friday night.
The stolen gun doesn’t work, Copple said. The firing pin was taken out before it was put on display.
The legend behind the gun is that it’s the same weapon used to kill Marshal Percy Brewster in 1927. Brewster was taking a man he’d just arrested near the town’s bank — now the visitor center — to jail when the criminal pulled a gun and shot the marshal. The killer later was tracked down by a posse and shot to death.
“It has no value except to the people of Sultan,” Copple said. “It’s just a historic relic and an idiot who grabbed it.”
The center remained closed this weekend while countless shards of safety glass from the door and display case were cleaned up.
Surveillance video caught the break-in at 11:39 p.m. There isn’t a clear enough image to identify the person, according to the sheriff’s office, other than what he or she was wearing: a dark hoodie and dark pants.
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