In the early morning hours of December 16th , two suspects burglarized E Street Market in Washougal. The suspects were captured on surveillance video, which showed them smash out a window to gain entry and then steal items from inside the store. The main items stolen were tobacco and e-cigarette related merchandise.
E Street Market was burglarized a second time on December 21st. The details were the similar to the first incident; where entry was made by breaking a glass window and mainly tobacco-related items were stolen.
On December 26that approximately 3AM, two subjects burglarized 7-Market in Camas. They smashed out the front window to gain access and stole similar items to the 2 previous burglaries in Washougal.
Police believed that all 3 crimes were likely related. By now, several thousands of dollars in merchandise had been stolen and thousands of dollars of property damage had been done to these 2 businesses. Police had developed leads and identified possible suspects for these crimes but had not yet been able to arrest them.
Then, a fourth burglary occurred on December 28th. At 03:41 a.m., Camas officers were called to an alarm at 7-Market. Officers arrived to find the glass broken out on the front window and door to the market. Police verified that the burglars were no longer inside the store. They determined tobacco and e-cigarette items had been stolen again.
Officers from the Camas and Washougal police departments began to investigate. They quickly realized there were just 2 clear sets of footprints in the freshly fallen snow. The footprints led to-and-from the store. Washougal Officers followed these footprints: North on Lechner Street out of the parking lot, Eastbound on H Street, Northbound on 9thStreet, Eastbound on I street – directly to 2 subjects walking down the road carrying backpacks. Their backpacks were filled with stolen merchandise from 7-Market. One of the suspects still had broken glass stuck to his coat.
Both suspects were arrested and confessed to committing these crimes.
Source: Camas Police