Dispatches for June 1

Calls to local emergency services

June 2, 2017 10:00 pm
HOQUIAM POLICE DEPARTMENT PHOTO Two Aberdeen residents were busted for burglary early Thursday at a Hoquiam convenience store when the pair attempted to steal used car batteries out of a locked collection box. They attached a chain to the box in hopes of forcing it open, but when they hit the gas the box came loose from the building. Arriving police found the two attempting to cut the chain, as the weight of the box caused their car to get stuck.
HOQUIAM POLICE DEPARTMENT PHOTO Two Aberdeen residents were busted for burglary early Thursday at a Hoquiam convenience store when the pair attempted to steal used car batteries out of a locked collection box. They attached a chain to the box in hopes of forcing it open, but when they hit the gas the box came loose from the building. Arriving police found the two attempting to cut the chain, as the weight of the box caused their car to get stuck.

Suspects trash car trying to steal used car batteries

Residents of the 2500 block of Sumner Avenue alerted Hoquiam Police to a burglary in progress at a nearby convenience store just before 4 a.m. Thursday. The first officer to arrive saw the battery box used to collect used car batteries was missing from the side of the building. The officer soon discovered a Toyota Corolla in the alley to the west of the business with the battery box attached to the car by a chain.

According to a release from Hoquiam Police Chief Jeff Myers, officers detained the two occupants of the vehicle, a 29-year old Aberdeen man and 26-year old Aberdeen woman. In interviewing the suspects, officers learned the pair intended to steal some batteries out of the box so they could sell them to another battery recycler for cash. They connected a chain from the trunk of the car to the locked hasp on the battery box in order to pull it open. However, when they drove forward, the hasp would not give, but instead pulled the battery box off the wall and into the parking lot. The chain did significant damage to the trunk frame on the car.

The noise that alerted residents to the burglary was made as the suspects attempted to drive away down the alley dragging the battery box. The weight and size of the box caused the vehicle to get stuck. The suspects were attempting to cut the chain with bolt cutters when officers arrived.

The suspects were booked into the Hoquiam City Jail for third-degree theft, third-degree malicious mischief and possession of burglary tools. The box of used batteries was so heavy that it took three officers to right it, said Myers.