ARLINGTON — Neighbors are fed up.
Shed doors have been pried open and barn doors kicked in. Leaving a garage unlocked is like rolling out a welcome mat. Antiques, tools and collectibles are gone. The neighbors believe their missing property ended up in the same place where police found four bronze urn markers taken from an Everett mausoleum.
They’re pointing fingers at Robert Jacob Boone.
So are Snohomish County prosecutors.
Boone, 37, recently was charged with two counts of trafficking in stolen property and one count of possession of stolen property. He is scheduled to be arraigned early next month.
Since he was released from prison in 2006 for stealing a wheelchair from a disabled woman, Boone has been living with his wife and his mother in a rural Silvana neighborhood.
He allegedly has burglarized buildings, stockpiled stolen property worth thousands of dollars and trafficked in stolen goods, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Janice Albert wrote in court documents.
Evidence shows that Boone pawned tools that were reported stolen and police also recovered numerous stolen items during their search of Boone’s house, Albert wrote.
Boone was arrested in October but has since posted bond and been released from jail.
Snohomish County sheriff’s detectives are searching for family members of those whose urn markers were reportedly discovered inside a doghouse during a raid. The nameplates were removed from the View Crest Abbey Mausoleum in Everett.
The nameplates memorialized: Inga Meyer, 1895-1969; Emily Louise Lods, 1887-1967; Marie E. Hesby, 1895-1968; and a marker shared by Alberta Harno, 1881-1954, and Otto P. Harno, 1879-1969.
Police believe that, along with the nameplate for the Harnos, an urn that likely contained ashes also was stolen. The urn was broken and the ashes are gone.
Meyer’s family has contacted police since learning that her urn marker was removed, Snohomish County sheriff’s detective Jess Sanders said.
Sanders said he believes Boone was going to try to recycle the markers for cash.
Boone allegedly hasn’t gone far from home to steal property to pawn, Albert said. The majority of the victims in the case are Boone’s neighbors, the prosecutor wrote in charging papers.
Some of them are planning to meet with Sheriff John Lovick, Albert and Sanders at a community meeting Monday.
“We’re not lawyers or police. We’re just people. We want to know why this guy has been allowed to do what he’s done for the past 20 years,” said a neighbor, who reported thousands of dollars in tools missing from his property. The Herald is withholding the neighbor’s name to protect his identity.
Neighbors already have met three other times to talk about the rash of burglaries in the area. They set up the earlier meetings to warn each other about the ongoing burglaries and talk about what they can do to protect their property.
“It was a big block watch,” the burglary victim said. “The way these guys get away with this is because no one is talking to each other.”
Neighbors don’t think sending Boone to jail is going to solve the problem. They want to see changes that would make it more difficult for crooks to pawn stolen property and make it easier for police to keep track of what’s being pawned.
“The problem isn’t over by throwing one guy in jail, because there will be 10 other guys lined up to do the same thing,” the Silvana man said. “We need a long-term solution.”
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
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