15 arrests and no consequences: WA’s revolving door on property crime
Jan 13, 2026, 9:03 AM | Updated: 3:30 pm
Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders posted on Facebook Sunday about a burglary arrest at a lumber yard in Tumwater. Deputies and officers from three agencies tracked down a suspect who was muddy and wet from the waist down, dry from the top up, sweating, and out of breath. They found a jacket nearby with burglary tools in the pockets.
Solid police work. The kind of thing that should make you feel like the system is working. Then you read the rest.
RELATED STORIES
Arrest No. 15 for Thurston County suspect
The suspect has been booked into the Thurston County jail 15 times — including this one.
Sanders linked to two of his previous posts. In December, just three weeks ago, deputies arrested the same person for porch pirate activity. Six counts of theft. He admitted to stealing the packages. He also had drugs on him.
In October, Sanders posted about a burglary arrest. A homeowner spotted a suspicious person prowling their property. Deputies responded within minutes. Booked for trespassing, burglary, and theft.
Same guy.
Three arrests in three months. Fifteen total. And there he was late Saturday night, allegedly breaking into a lumber yard.
Washington ranks fourth-worst in the nation for property crime. There’s a reason for that. People who do this for a living figured out a long time ago that we don’t push back.
I’m not a lock-them-up-and-throw-away-the-key kind of person. I believe in second chances. I believe people can change. But at some point, the pattern tells you something. This man needs intervention, not another revolving door. He needs escalating consequences. He probably needs treatment, because this sure looks like addiction driving the behavior.
Instead, what’s he getting? Booked and released. Booked and released. Booked and released. Fifteen times.
It’s not just this guy. Despite the city’s denials, Seattle has basically stopped prosecuting public drug use. A fifteen-year-old crashed a car at a hundred miles an hour and went home that night. Fred Meyer closes stores because theft is out of control, and nobody’s stopping it. At every level, consequences have disappeared.
These aren’t victimless crimes. Porch piracy hits regular people expecting a package. Burglary hits businesses trying to stay open. Prowling hits homeowners who don’t feel safe in their own yards. These are the crimes that erode the quality of life for everybody. The sense that nobody’s in charge. That you’re on your own.
Judges need the tools to escalate. Each arrest should mean more than the last. And when addiction is clearly part of the picture, mandatory treatment has to be on the table. Not as cruelty. As an intervention. Because releasing someone for the fifteenth time helps no one. Not him. Not the rest of us.
I don’t know this man’s story. I don’t know what led him here. But I know the system isn’t helping him, and it’s not protecting the rest of us either.
Fifteen arrests.
Fourth-worst property crime rate in the nation. That’s us. It’s because we’ve made it clear there’s no real price to pay.
At what point do we try something different?
Charlie Harger is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here. Follow Charlie on X and email him here.
