By Sgt. Katie Larsen, Shoreline PoliceIn April of 2009, a home in the 14700 block of Meridian Ave N was forcibly entered and burglarized. The victim pointed out a cell phone that had been found in the home and did not belong to her.
Detective Coblantz wrote a search warrant for the phone and associated numbers and then it began…………..Over the course of the next few months Detective Coblantz continued to pursue leads in this investigation and wrote additional search warrants to obtain suspect information. He discovered a residence in Shoreline associated with the main suspect in this case which appears to be a “hang out” for the criminal element. Detective Coblantz positively identified this suspect and his associates.
When Seattle began to experience a rash of dental office burglaries Detective Coblantz looked at the MO and knew it was our suspect. He provided the information to Seattle who set up surveillance and apprehended our suspect in a commercial burglary attempt.
Although the bail was set high the suspect was able to post the amount and get out. He continued his criminal ways and ultimately ended up with a million dollars worth of warrants from King County as part of the Repeat Burglar Initiative.
On January 5, 2010, officers with the Eugene police department stopped a suspicious van attempting to flee from the scene of a crime. After playing the name game they determined that the driver and his passenger were our suspects. Officers saw that the entire van was loaded with property, suspected narcotics and cash. They served a warrant on the van and recovered stolen property from approximately 40 felony crimes.
Currently Oregon is investigating these two for multiple crimes in four separate counties in their state. In addition to the crimes in Oregon the two will be extradited to Washington to face their King County charges. The main suspect is facing a minimum 20 year sentence for our charges.
*Officers recovered handguns concealed in the front seat headrests of the van. The barrels pointed out the window……….
Photos by Steven Robinson for the Shoreline Area News