A 30-year-old Brier man couldn’t have made it much easier for Edmonds police to pinpoint him as a suspect in a commercial burglary discovered early Wednesday morning in the Firdale Village area.
For starters, the man–who was stopped by an alert Edmonds officer responding to a burglary alarm in the 9600 block of Firdale Avenue –was carrying a portable 2-way radio. And while the officer was talking to the man, he overheard two or three male voices commenting on the police officers’ response to the burglary. The Edmonds officer also noted that the subject was carrying a cellular phone operating in stopwatch mode–with the elapsed time corresponding to the amount of time that had passed since the burglary occurred at approximately 3 a.m.
Finally, during the time that the officer was talking to the suspicious man, a Lynnwood Police K-9 team was tracking away from the scene of the burglary, where a back window had been smashed out of business. It was no surprise to the officer when the police dog tracked right to the subject carrying the portable radio.
The Brier man was taken into police custody, and two other suspects — a 27-year-old Edmonds man and a 31-year old Lynnwood man — were also captured on foot a short distance away. All three men have been arrested for commercial burglary with criminal charges pending. Police have also identified a fourth suspect who has not yet been taken into custody, police spokesman Sgt. Mike Blackburn said.
Still another excellent performance by our fine EPD. While they may not be absolutely perfect this group is certainly on a tear in that direction, led by Chief Compaan!