Deputies recently arrested three people suspected of burglarizing Rochester High School on Saturday, July 1, and one of them has been released from jail.
Thurston County Sheriff's deputies responded to the school on Monday, July 3 after a facility manager found the school maintenance building had been broken into. Deputies arrested two of the suspects on Tuesday and a third on Wednesday.
The suspects have each been accused of second-degree burglary and theft, for items exceeding $750 in value.
The Sheriff's Office shared news of the arrests in a Thursday Facebook post. During the investigation, deputies reportedly learned the suspects took apart a gate on July 1 and stole "numerous pieces of lawn equipment."
"If stealing items belonging to one our schools was not enough, they attempted to steal one of the trucks on the property after breaking the window and damaging the ignition," the Sheriff's Office post reads.
Deputies later recovered some of the stolen items, which were marked with "maintenance," but the post says they believe other items were trafficked.
Judge Carol Murphy set $1,000 bail for a 34-year-old Puyallup woman on Wednesday. The next day, Murphy set bail at $1,000 for a 31-year-old Yelm man. She also set $1,000 bail in a separate April case in which he's accused of possessing a stolen vehicle.
Murphy also ordered the third suspect, a 34-year-old Yelm man who was arrested Wednesday, to be released on his personal recognizance with conditions.
A probable cause statement describes the investigation into the burglary from the perspective of law enforcement.
The facility manager for the school showed deputies security footage that captured the incident, according to the statement.
The video reportedly shows a silver Dodge Ram pickup truck circling the property. At one point, two men remove the link gate by its hinges and drive in. A woman also appears to be in the vehicle.
The truck appears to leave the complex a "couple times" over the span of two hours with the truck bed full of items, according to the statement. Among the items were trimmers, fuel, valves, wires, chainsaws, lawnmowers and more.
A truck at the complex was found with a broken window and an ignition that had been tampered with, according to the statement.
A photo of the suspects' truck showed a license plate that belonged to the 34-year-old Yelm man who was arrested on Wednesday.
During the investigation, a deputy visited the 34-year-old Yelm man's home and spoke with a member of his family. They advised the deputy that the man had not returned home since the previous night and they identified the two other suspects who were seen in security footage.
Deputies later found those two suspects, the 31-year-old Yelm man and the 34-year-old Puyallup woman, at a tent behind a gas station in McKenna. Both were arrested.
A deputy eventually contacted the 34-year-old Yelm man at his home. He allegedly told the deputy that he fell asleep at a "known drug house" in Milton that he visited with the two other suspects a day after the burglary.
When he awoke, he said his truck was gone and he walked for miles to call his family for help. He said he recovered his truck from the other two suspects near their tent and drove it back home.
The statement says the 34-year-old man then allowed deputies to recover some stolen items that were still in his truck.
On Wednesday, a deputy visited Rochester High School again to review additional security footage and photos. The evidence showed the first two suspects again as well as the 34-year-old Yelm man as the driver.
Deputies then returned to the 34-year-old Yelm man's home, confronted him with the new evidence and arrested him.
The man admitted to burglarizing the school on July 1 and 3 with the other two suspects and said he wanted to cooperate with the investigation. He said he had been using narcotics with the other suspects after recently relapsing, according to the statement.
All the items still in the man's possession at that point were returned to the school.
