The search continues for two persons caught by a home-surveillance video system burglarizing a Freeland-area waterfront home this past week.
Electronic equipment and a pair of binoculars were taken while the occupants, permanent residents of the area, were away, Det. Ed Wallace of the Island County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.
The occupants returned home later the same evening and reported the theft, Wallace said. Video images of the crime were received on Tuesday, he said.
According to the video camera’s timer, the burglary occurred about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 2.
Wallace declined to place a value on the missing items. He also wouldn’t divulge the precise location of the house or how entry was gained, pending the outcome of the investigation.
“We have no suspects at this point,” Wallace said.
The video shows two persons, both believed to be males, dressed in near-identical dark, long-sleeved shirts and dark, loose-fitting pants.
They also wore dark gloves, and each had his head completely wrapped, but for an eye slit, with a long scarf – one navy blue and one a lighter shade of blue.
The one with the lighter scarf carried a red backpack trimmed in black or dark blue.
Wallace said the burglary so far appears to be an isolated incident and not tied to other thefts on the South End.
“Before anyone asks, Colton Harris-Moore is not a suspect,” Wallace said.
Harris-Moore, 19, the notorious “barefoot burglar,” is linked to several burglaries, boat thefts and car thefts in and around North Puget Sound’s northern islands during the past four years.
Recent burglaries and boat thefts in the Sandy Hook area near Possession Point appeared to fit Harris-Moore’s pattern of behavior, leading to a number of suspected sightings by residents of the South End.
Wallace said he’s not sure why the Freeland burglary victim had his house rigged with a surveillance camera, but said such systems have become more common in the area.
Anyone with information about the burglary can call the Sheriff’s Office via the ICOM dispatch center at 360-679-9567, via the TIP line at 360-679-7319 or the TIP e-mail at TIPS@co.island.wa.us.
