A Kent resident photographed a suspicious car in his East Hill neighborhood that helped Kent Police arrest a 35-year-old man for investigation of residential burglary.
Police arrested a Kent-area man Jan. 27 in connection with a Jan. 26 burglary at a home in the 13300 block of Southeast 236th Place, according to a Kent Police media release.
Officers were investigating an earlier burglary Jan. 26 at a home in the 13300 block of Southeast 233rd Street when they received a call about a burglary at a home on Southeast 236th Place.
The man heard a disturbance, noticed the car gone that he had earlier photographed and saw his neighbor’s door standing open. The resident told police he had snapped a picture of an unoccupied car that he didn’t recognize that was parked outside another home in the neighborhood.
Officers were shown the picture of the car, made very distinctive by a light gray colored door affixed to the passenger side of the dark blue car. Investigators immediately recognized the car as associated to a burglary arrest they had made in December.
Officers were sent to the Kent-area home of the suspect where they located the man and his car. While their initial interview did not produce enough information to lead to an arrest, the man was in possession of a quantity of property which he claimed to have won or found. Lacking the necessary evidence to seize the property, officers photographed and inventoried what they saw.
The suspicions of police were confirmed a few hours later when the home burglary was reported along Southeast 236th Place. Investigators determined that the property missing from that home was the same as what had been seen at the suspect’s house.
Officers recovered jewelry, home electronics and other stolen property at the man’s home.
“This is a great example of how Kent residents are taking an active role in keeping their neighborhoods safe,” said Kent Police Lt. Pat Lowery. “There’s no doubt that the photograph taken by an alert resident opened the door to this arrest and the recovery of the stolen property.”
Kent detectives are reviewing other burglaries to determine if the man might be connected to those incidents.
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