Early on December 4 Snoqualmie Police Department Officers responded to the area of 9800 Railroad Ave SE for a suspicious vehicle complaint. They noted a white van parked in the elk meadows outside of the designated parking area. Officers arrived and contacted an adult male near the van. Based on on-going cable thefts from the area, and the specific van having been seen in the location before, the male was detained for the
investigation. As the investigation continued, a second male was located hiding in the brush nearby with two backpacks, bolt cutters, and wire loppers just a few steps away.
Near the van were stacks of cut cable. Police also found hand tools, Milwaukee power tools and batteries, and sawzalls staged at the van. In a backpack, officers located a realistic replica handgun with working trigger.
The arrests in this case are the result of alert community members and your officers going the extra mile in their investigations. The same van, along with a silver F-150 truck, had been reported to police as having been parked on the south side of the elk meadows the day before. Several of the poles along the north side of the road had been cut down and several sawzall blades found near the poles.
Both suspects are North Bend residents and are out on bail. They have been charged with Attempted Theft in the second degree and Malicious Mischief in the third degree. Lumen estimated the initial damages to be at least $20,000, but this number could rise based on repair costs.