A burglary ring that hit South Whidbey on Feb. 4 is wanted in four Washington counties.
According to Mike Birchfield, a detective in the Island County Sheriff’s Office, three people from the Snohomish County area are being sought as suspects in three burglaries on South Whidbey.
Birchfield said two men and one woman are prime suspects. The woman is described as 19 years old, 5 feet 5 inches tall, 140 pounds, with brown shoulder length hair and brown eyes. She is believed to be from the Lake Stevens area.
The first man is described as 19 years old, 5 feet 7 inches, 125 pounds, with hazel eyes and scraggly brown hair. Birchfield said he is believed to be from the Marysville area, and was wearing a hooded sweatshirt at the time of the burglaries.
The second man — who is believed to be the driver of the stolen van — is 23 years old, 6-foot-1, weighs 149 pounds, has short light brown hair and a goatee, and is believed to be from the Everett area.
Birchfield said the three burlgars arrived on South Whidbey Feb. 3 or Feb. 4. He said they were driving a white 1994 Ford Econoline van stolen from Snohomish County. They are believed to be part of a burglary ring that has been active in Island, Skagit, Snohomish and King counties.
The burglars abandoned the van on Four Sisters Lane in Clinton around 12:45 p.m. Feb. 4 after apparently committing three burglaries. A South Whidbey contractor whose building site was burglarized pursued the van and likely caused the burglars to abandon the vehicle.
Birchfield said the three likely walked to the Clinton ferry.
The suspects are thought to have patronized South Whidbey businesses, Birchfield said. They are suspected of burglarizing Ace Hardware in Freeland, a Wilkenson Road home and a Bob Galbreath Road construction site, all on Feb. 4.
Deputies conducted an afternoon-long search to find the van, fanning out throughout the Clinton area.
The Island County Sheriff’s Office asks that people who might have seen the three walking to the ferry between 12:45 and 2:45 p.m that day, hitchhiking or on an Island Transit bus to call Birchfield or detective Mark Plumberg at 321-5111.
