EVERETT — Stan Larson’s frustration was mounting.
Someone kept breaking into his cars. The painting contractor’s tools were being stolen.
A check was stolen and forged.
The Everett man had a good idea who the thief was.
But Everett police told him there wasn’t much they could do without catching the thief red-handed.
“They said they didn’t have the manpower, or if they did do something, it would be a year from now,” Larson said.
So Larson, 43, installed a burglar alarm in the garage. He deliberately left a door unlocked, hoping he could catch the suspect in the act.
On Sunday, he did.
When the alarm chimed, “I ran out (to the garage) real quick and he was standing there with power tools under one arm and a hand on other tools,” Larson said Thursday.
Larson ordered the man to stay put. The man ran.
Larson yelled for his wife, Lavonne, to call 911, then gave chase.
The 200-pound Larson tackled the 160-pound intruder in the alley behind Larson’s home on Oakes Avenue.
“I put him in a half-nelson and told him if he was going to move I would hurt him,” Larson said.
Police arrived a couple minutes later.
They found Larson sitting on the man, a 31-year-old neighbor. Lavonne Larson was holding him down with one arm, carrying the phone in her other hand and helping a dispatcher direct cops to the alley.
The suspect was charged Wednesday in Snohomish County Superior Court with one count of second-degree burglary. He was being held on $10,000 bail.
He told police he was just “passing through” on his way home, but couldn’t explain what he was doing with Larson’s tools.
“He did tell police that he had been smoking crack (cocaine) three times a week and would smoke it more if he could,” deputy prosecutor Chris Dickinson said in charging papers.
Larson gave the man a break last summer and hired him to work for his painting business. He did some good work, but things didn’t work out because of the drugs, Larson said.
“He has the ability to be a good citizen, but not while on drugs,” Larson said.
Larson suffered a cut on his foot, bruises and a sore knee from tackling and holding the man, but believes it was worth it.
And he’d do it again.
“The frustration built up. Somebody had to put an end to it,” he said. “You hope it will make some difference.”
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or jhaley@heraldnet.com.
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