Mill Creek’s recent burglary wave seems to have slowed down.
After four residential burglaries were reported May 16, the city went three consecutive days without a single incident being reported. One burglary each were reported on May 20, May 21 and May 22. The May 22 report, however, apparently took place between March 22 and May 19.
Mill Creek police, meanwhile, have made several arrests in connection with the recent burglaries.
Police arrested four suspects Tuesday, May 23, in the backyard of a home in the 15400 block of 15th Drive, in the Aspen neighborhood. The four were caught in the back yard of a home by officers.
Police said a woman received a knock on the door, but didn’t open it because she didn’t recognize the group outside her door. The woman later discovered someone was trying to break into her home and immediately called 911.
Quickly calling 911, police spokeswoman Becky Erk said, was the key to police making the arrest.
“It’s a matter of seconds,” Erk said. “The dispatch center gets your info and officers are dispatched right away.”
The call came in to emergency dispatch at 1:07 p.m., and officers arrived at the home within 90 seconds, Erk said. Within three minutes, police had all four suspects apprehended.
Three of the men were arrested after police found them standing near the woman’s home. They were ages 18, 19 and 22, all from Everett. The fourth man, 18, of Arlington was found nearby. All were booked into the Snohomish County Jail on suspicion of attempted burglary.
The four suspects arrested May 23 were not on the police department’s list of groups possibly committing the local burglaries, Erk said. More charges may be added if police find stolen property in the car the men were driving, which was found near where they were arrested, Erk said.
Snohomish County sheriff’s detectives will investigate whether the four men are connected with the other burglaries, sheriff’s spokesman Rich Niebusch said.
Tuesday’s arrests came exactly one week after police took into custody a 19-year-old Mill Creek man in possible connection with several local burglaries. Police located the suspect after a resident of the 2400 block of 139th Street reported that he was contacted at his home by a white male asking for directions. The man later found a window screen to his home was removed. Police showed the man a group of photos containing an image of a suspect in a nearby burglary, and the man identified the suspect as the person who came to his door asking for directions.
Police arrested the 19-year-old suspect in the 2200 block of 136th Street SE shortly before 11 a.m. on May 16. While being taken to the local police station, he kicked out a window of a patrol car and was taken to the Snohomish County Jail.
The drop in burglaries came not only after the arrest of the 19-year-old, but also following an emphasis where Mill Creek police called in extra officers to handle the workload, and community service officer Michele Pellettieri visited neighborhoods sharing burglary prevention tips with residents (see separate story, this page).
From Jan. 1 through Monday, May 22, 65 burglaries were reported to Mill Creek police. Seventy-six burglaries were reported in all of 2005.
Scott Pesznecker, a reporter at The Herald in Everett, contributed to this report.
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