Lake Forest Park burglar caught - in spite of efforts by victim

A residential burglary occurred in Lake Forest Park the last week of January. However, the victim did not report the crime for two days.

Once contacted, police received information that a possible suspect had items from the burglary and was attempting to sell them on a popular website.

The tip came from the victim, who actually made contact with the suspect at the suspect's residence, where he confronted the suspect about the stolen items.

Once the police department became involved, detectives located all the stolen items with a regional law enforcement shared resource called "Leads Online", a web based search tool that enables law enforcement to search for stolen goods that have been sold to pawn shops. The suspect was booked for investigation of residential burglary and three counts of trafficking in stolen property in the first degree.

Lessons learned from this incident need to be emphasized to citizens:

1. Report a crime to police immediately by calling 911 once discovered;
2. Never contact a suspect of a crime and confront them --obtain assistance from the police department;
3. Make sure your house is secure before you leave. Lock all doors and windows and make sure your garage doors are fully closed.

Time is of the essence. 

The sooner the victim reports a crime to police, the better chance the police have to solve it.