Sleepy Burglars Leave Trail of Clues for Police
By Jennifer Sullivan, Seattle Times
Jul. 22–Maybe they should have stolen an alarm clock.
When a Monroe police officer was called to investigate a burglary at a Fred Meyer store earlier this month, he didn’t have too look hard — or far — to find the suspects.
Officer Ken Sahlstrom simply followed a trail of plastic, cardboard and other packaging debris that led from the store to a makeshift camp in a field about 200 feet away, police said. There he found two men fast asleep amid some of the patio furniture and other items reportedly taken in the burglary, police said.
The tags were still on the merchandise.
Police even had time to snap a few photos of the slumbering suspects before they slapped handcuffs on them.
The pair — Kyle Burress, 25, of Everett, and Allen Pierce, 27, of Monroe — were each charged last week with second-degree burglary.
“It really is a comical story,” Monroe police spokeswoman Debbie Willis said about the July 9 arrests. “They gave us lots of clues. We don’t usually get those kinds of clues.”
Police think the two men stole the items from several sheds outside the store sometime after the store closed at 11 p.m. July 5 and before 6 a.m. July 6, according to court charging papers.
The store manager called 911 after he arrived at work and found the burglarized sheds, charging documents said.
Sahlstrom followed the trail of packaging and shoe prints into the field north of the store’s parking lot and found the men apparently sleeping off a hangover, Willis said. The men had nearly $1,700 worth of items stolen from Fred Meyer with them, she said.
Police took a photo of one suspect sleeping soundly on several pink patio-furniture cushions, his jacket spread over him and a baseball cap perched on his head. Police identified him as Burress.
The second man — identified by police as Pierce — was photographed curled up on a hammock, which was spread on the ground.
“It was obvious to the officer there was drinking involved. They were still in a stupor and the smell [of alcohol] was still coming from them,” Willis said.
Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com
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