Neighbor Helps Catch Burglars
TAMPICO - A watchful neighbor chased down a burglar creeping into a Yakima County home. The neighbor saw something suspicious and didn't waste any time defending another man's home. And deputies are thanking him for cracking this case.
Scott Stalnaker learned his home was burglarized when he got a call from this sheriff's deputy. His neighbor is the one who called deputies after watching four people snoop then bust in through a side window.
That neighbor is Gary Stevens.
Gary came out just like any other day to throw his garbage away. He walked into his shed but this time what he saw stopped him in his tracks.
When Gary took a look at his neighbor's home he saw two men climbing through a window.
" One was opening the window so I set the garbage down and went back in the house, told my wife and grabbed my gun and my cell phone," said Gary.
He then jumped in his jeep and tried to stop the suspects from leaving.
There were tire tracks from where they backed up at a high rate of speed.
Gary said, " They almost hit me taking off and I chased them down Ahtanum past Wiley City."
" He was very tenacious and we've got to give him a lot of credit because he got in his vehicle, called us through 911 and stayed on the phone and essentially followed these guys from Tampico, actually a couple miles further back to Yakima," said Sgt. George Town with the Yakima County Sheriff's Office.
That's about the time deputies caught up with the suspects, where they ended up in a pasture. Three were caught, including two juveniles.
Deputies are still looking for another man, as a person of interest.
The suspects were found with a few of Scott's personal items in their vehicle, including a weed eater and a laptop. But they could have gotten away with more, if not for the determination of one man who barely knew his neighbor, before today.
Something that's guaranteed to change now. " I'm definitely going to go over there and thank him for what he did," said Scott Stalnaker.
Gary replied, " Anybody that would burglarize across the street would burglarize me. So you've got to watch out for your neighbors."
This kind of Neighbor taking action against thieves is happening more often in Yakima County. In fact, Wednesday afternoon, another call came into the Sheriff's office from a neighbor in East Valley reporting a burglary in progress on Gamache Road. That suspect is in jail as well.
Scott Stalnaker learned his home was burglarized when he got a call from this sheriff's deputy. His neighbor is the one who called deputies after watching four people snoop then bust in through a side window.
That neighbor is Gary Stevens.
Gary came out just like any other day to throw his garbage away. He walked into his shed but this time what he saw stopped him in his tracks.
When Gary took a look at his neighbor's home he saw two men climbing through a window.
" One was opening the window so I set the garbage down and went back in the house, told my wife and grabbed my gun and my cell phone," said Gary.
He then jumped in his jeep and tried to stop the suspects from leaving.
There were tire tracks from where they backed up at a high rate of speed.
Gary said, " They almost hit me taking off and I chased them down Ahtanum past Wiley City."
" He was very tenacious and we've got to give him a lot of credit because he got in his vehicle, called us through 911 and stayed on the phone and essentially followed these guys from Tampico, actually a couple miles further back to Yakima," said Sgt. George Town with the Yakima County Sheriff's Office.
That's about the time deputies caught up with the suspects, where they ended up in a pasture. Three were caught, including two juveniles.
Deputies are still looking for another man, as a person of interest.
The suspects were found with a few of Scott's personal items in their vehicle, including a weed eater and a laptop. But they could have gotten away with more, if not for the determination of one man who barely knew his neighbor, before today.
Something that's guaranteed to change now. " I'm definitely going to go over there and thank him for what he did," said Scott Stalnaker.
Gary replied, " Anybody that would burglarize across the street would burglarize me. So you've got to watch out for your neighbors."
This kind of Neighbor taking action against thieves is happening more often in Yakima County. In fact, Wednesday afternoon, another call came into the Sheriff's office from a neighbor in East Valley reporting a burglary in progress on Gamache Road. That suspect is in jail as well.
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