Follow the footprints: Snow helps Pierce County deputies nab not-so-smart burglar
TACOMA - Sometimes it's hard to catch a criminal. Other times, they make it too easy for officers.
Just before 3 a.m. on Feb. 13, Pierce County Sheriff's deputies responded to an alarm call at a home in Tacoma that had just been burglarized.
When deputies arrived, they saw two people running away from the home. Not knowing if a crime had been committed, two deputies continued to the house, while one watched the suspects run through a nearby field.
The deputies checking the home found the detached garage had a broken window on the main door.
A K9 and handler arrived and were able to follow two sets of footprints in the snow leading away from the garage and into a church parking lot.
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The first set of prints stopped at a dumpster. Deputies called out to the suspect to come out of the dumpster, but he did not respond. They opened the dumpster and found the man lying under a piece of cardboard. He was taken out of the dumpster without incident.
After he was arrested, deputies tracked the second pair of tracks which stopped at a tree. Deputies called for the man to climb down from the tree. He eventually complied and climbed down.
Both were arrested and booked into the Pierce County Jail for second-degree burglary and obstructing a police officer. The dumpster suspect was also booked for unlawful possession of a controlled substance.