MYNORTHWEST NEWS

Auburn burglar hid in rafters of grocery store for weeks and stole gourmet cheese

Feb 7, 2020, 1:04 PM

cheese...

(Image courtesy of Auburn Police Department)

(Image courtesy of Auburn Police Department)

It sounds like something a cartoon burglar would do: Hiding in the rafters of a grocery store and coming down at night to steal gourmet cheese. But that’s what one burglar did for weeks until he was arrested on Wednesday in Auburn, Washington.

Police were called to Haggen grocery store for several incidents in the past few weeks after reports of missing merchandise, including thousands of dollars in stolen cigarettes and alcohol on Christmas, reports The News Tribune. Employees told police they either saw or heard the suspect in the rafters above, but when officers arrived each time to search above the false ceiling he was nowhere to be found.

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On Wednesday, police finally identified and arrested the suspect, and located stolen cigarettes and what appears to be a giant wheel of Beecher’s gourmet cheese marked at $394. The suspect had refined taste to say the least.

“A search warrant served by Property Crimes Detectives located some very expensive cheese that was missing from the store, as well as cigarettes. The cheese cannot be re-sold by the store, so it was photographed for the case, then donated to the food bank,” Auburn police wrote in a Facebook post.

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Auburn burglar hid in rafters of grocery store for weeks and stole gourmet cheese