MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — A 17-year-old Mountlake Terrace boy admitted on Saturday, June 17, to committing 13 residential burglaries in the Terrace and two in Edmonds.
Det. Pat Lowe and patrol officer Pat Hatchel acted on information and found the suspect at the Denny Youth Center, where he was already detained for an unrelated charge, police said.
Police Chief Scott Smith declined to say how they received the information because the case is still under investigation.
“Residential burglaries are a difficult crime to solve,” Smith said. “In this case, the leg work and aggressive follow up work did pay off and resulted in solving the burglaries.”
The suspect, who could face up to 13 counts of residential burglary, has yet to be charged, police said. It is unclear what kind of punishment he faces because he is a juvenile, but could be tried as an adult.
The suspect told police the houses were chosen at random. He took items that could be easily concealed in a backpack and pawned.
The house of Mountlake Terrace resident Sharon Maynard is among those the suspect targeted. The incident inspired the Mountlake Terrace Citizen Voices meeting about property crimes on June 15. Smith said the meeting did not lead to the suspect’s arrest.
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