Pilot’s log books stolen after his pickup is broken into

EVERETT — Steve Bish had planned to fly himself and his wife to Roche Harbor in the San Juan Islands on Friday to celebrate their eighth anniversary.

Instead, the recreational pilot from Marysville spent hours searching dumpsters and homeless camps between Boeing and I-5.

Someone broke into his 2006 GMC Sierra pickup between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. Friday when it was parked in a Boeing lot at the corner of 112th Street SW and 29th Avenue W. The thief stole two aviation bags that included headsets, a GPS device, a radio system, a collision avoidance device and cash.

The equipment can be replaced, he said.

It is his flight log book, documenting more than 150 hours piloting planes, that cannot. Log books provide a record and establish eligibility for additional certificates and ratings.

It also embodies much of what Bish has worked toward in recent years.

“That is something you can’t replace,” he said.

Two bags of gear were stolen from his pickup, which was locked. His truck’s alarm was on.

“I have a feeling they watched me leave,” Bish said, figuring whoever broke into his rig would want to do so near the beginning of a work shift.

Bish said he has been told there were no surveillance cameras that might have captured an image of the thief.

He spent much of Monday morning getting a new lock system for his pickup.

The thief reportedly used a shaved key and didn’t set off the alarm.

The key jammed the lock.

“I can’t even use my own key on it anymore,” he said.

There were reports to Everett police of several car break-ins in Boeing lots a month ago.

Those “have greatly diminished” after the February arrest of a Lake Stevens man, 29, Everett police officer Aaron Snell said.

Bish’s vehicle reportedly was parked in a lot outside of city limits. It is a Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office case.