MARYSVILLE — Detectives believe they have caught up with three culprits in the latest round of car thefts from local businesses.
On Monday, Marysville police were called to the Enterprise Rent-A-Car lot in the 9000 block of State Avenue after four cars turned up missing. The key-return drop box had been pulled off the outside of the building.
A Bellingham woman, 30, was arrested in a stolen 2015 Nissan Altima in Marysville on Wednesday.
On Thursday, detectives with the Snohomish County Auto Theft Task Force and Marysville police discovered a 2014 Nissan Maxima with Oregon license plates at a home in the 6400 block of 23rd Avenue NE on the Tulalip Indian Reservation.
There they arrested a man, 38, and a woman, 41, for investigation of possessing a stolen vehicle. The car was loaded with belongings, and the woman said they were leaving for Montana, task force detective Terry Haldeman said. She also was arrested for investigation of possessing heroin.
Detectives found the man hiding under a mattress next to the car. They discovered a key fob in his left hand as he was being handcuffed, according to a police report. The fob opened the stolen car.
“It was just good old-fashioned police work,” Haldeman said.
On Friday, Everett police found a third stolen car — a 2015 Nissan Altima — in the 2000 block of Tower Street. It was abandoned.
Police are continuing to search for the fourth car.
Detectives found no immediate connection between the Marysville break-in and thefts at auto dealerships at two Edmonds lots and another in Bothell in which keys were stolen and the cars driven off.
Police in Bothell arrested eight teens and a younger child shortly after the break-in at Brooks Biddle Automotive in Bothell.
At least some of the teens were believed to be responsible for the Edmonds thefts.
Seattle police arrested three suspects in November after spotting them driving around the Lake City neighborhood in a car stolen from a dealership in Edmonds. They were turned over to auto theft detectives. After interviewing the teens, police recovered seven other cars stolen from the same Edmonds lot.
Those suspects are believed to live in north Seattle.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.
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