EVERETT – A suspect in the Rucker Hill burglaries was arrested Sunday, police say.
A 38-year-old Everett man was arrested early Sunday and booked into the Snohomish County Jail on three counts of residential burglary and one count of attempted burglary. The cases are among 13 burglaries and attempted break-ins that took place in Everett’s Rucker Hill neighborhood between Aug. 20 and Sept. 15.
Police believed before the arrest that the break-ins were the work of the same person or group of people.
A 27-year-old Everett man, an associate of the burglary suspect, was arrested on an outstanding felony warrant for a narcotics violation and for possession of stolen property. The names of both men were withheld pending the filing of formal charges.
“I’m thrilled,” said Pete Verhey, whose home was burglarized Sept. 14. Credit cards, identification and keys were among the small items taken by the burglar, who broke into Verhey’s home early in the morning while he and his family slept.
Stolen property worth “several thousand dollars” was recovered at a home where one of the suspects was staying, Everett police Sgt. Boyd Bryant said, including two small motorcycles and a computer. Materials used in manufacturing methamphetamine were also found in the house, he said.
A handprint found at a home where a break-in was attempted matched fingerprints of the 38-year-old man, who had been known to police for his “significant past criminal history,” Bryant said.
Police believed he was staying at a residence at 1212 Pacific Ave. When they went to arrest him early Sunday, they found his associate at the house. The 27-year-old man would not come out and tried to hide inside, but officers entered the house and arrested him.
Inside, they saw drug paraphernalia and items they believed to be stolen, and later obtained a warrant to search the rest of the house, Bryant said.
Police learned the 38-year-old man was staying in a garage at 9009 W. Mall Drice in south Everett. When they arrived about 2:15 a.m. the man tried to run but was caught.
In a subsequent interview, “he was very cooperative with the detectives,” Bryant said.
The majority of the Rucker Hill break-ins happened in the early morning while residents were at home. In some cases, the burglar searched more than one room, removed several window screens and pried open a sliding glass door. The crimes occurred on Federal Avenue, 35th Street, 41st Place, Laurel Drive and Rucker, Kromer and Short avenues.
Heather Ormsby – whose home is where the handprint was found on a window the burglar tried to slide open – was glad to hear a suspect had been caught. Nothing was taken from her family’s home, but she took extra security measures nonetheless.
“I had all these extra lights out on the edge of my house,” she said.
Neighbors were glad to hear of the arrest.
“Obviously we were concerned,” said Robert Bibb. “It’s good news.”
“What a break,” said resident Edie Richardson. In her 30 years of living in the neighborhood, “this has never happened before,” she said.
No one was injured in any of the incidents, but it affected the neighborhood’s sense of security, Verhey said. The burglar pried open a locked sliding-glass door to get into his home. The incident cost him a total of about $1,000, he said, including the cost of motion sensors and new locks.
“This neighborhood is made up of older, gentle people and families with small children,” Verhey said. He said it was especially scary knowing that the thief had been in his home “when my family was sleeping and we were completely vulnerable. That just gave me a chill down my back.”
Herald reporter Diana Hefley contributed to this report.
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
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