Kent Police arrested a man with a prolific criminal record and city prosecutors charged him with attempted theft and criminal trespass.
Troy M. Vasquez is considered a prolific criminal offender because he has been named in 35 Kent Police cases since 2015, including 20 theft cases, two robbery cases, two assaults, two vehicle thefts (each in 2019) and a stolen vehicle recovery, according to a Kent Police Facebook post on Tuesday. Police said assistance from the community helped them track down Vasquez.
According to city of Kent jail records, Vasquez was booked April 26 and remained in custody on Tuesday.
Vasquez also has several criminal convictions, including two felonies, 18 gross misdemeanors and five misdemeanors, police said.
Vasquez is the same man police questioned after the fatal shooting of Jered Sperling April 15 following a carjacking at a public storage facility on Kent’s East Hill. Police didn’t arrest Vasquez, who turned out to be a witness to the carjacking but didn’t participate in the crime, according to police. Gurkeerat Kainth, 23, has been charged with first-degree murder for allegedly shooting Sperling after stealing his pickup.
Kent Police released photos of Kainth and Vasquez after the carjacking and shooting in an effort to get the public’s help to find the two men.
According to city of Kent jail records, Vasquez has 17 bookings between 2012 and 2019. He had one booking into the King County jail in 2018 for failure to appear and false reporting in a Seattle Municipal Court case.
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