Deputies with the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched early Tuesday morning to a burglary alarm at South County Licensing off Old Highway 99 in Grand Mound. When deputies arrived, they found the front glass door had been broken and an ATM machine was missing.
It’s the latest in a series of burglaries this week in southwest Thurston County, with mostly local businesses having been hit. Sheriff’s Lt. Cameron Simper said detectives have been assigned to the cases, and they have reason to believe the same person committed the burglaries.
Simper said a burglary happened at Heritage Meats off US-12 in Rochester. In this incident, he said the suspect broke a window at the business and stole the cash register.
The suspect then stole a truck from the business, and drove it to the Marijuana Mart in Grand Mound, near the licensing office. Simper said the suspect drove the truck into the dispensary in an attempt to steal the ATM, but the truck got stuck and the suspect fled the scene.
Another burglary happened at 420 Grand Central, another cannabis dispensary in Grand Mound near the licensing office. Simper said the suspect in this one used a stolen truck to drive into the store and steal an ATM. It’s believed the same truck was used in a crime committed in Pierce County.
Simper said the cases where ATMs were stolen appear to be connected based on the methodology and proximity of each incident. He said detectives are actively working the cases and reviewing surveillance footage.
If anyone has information about the burglaries, contact the Sheriff’s Office at its non-emergency dispatch line at 360-704-2740, or by email at detectives@co.thurston.wa.us.
