MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake resident came face-to-face with a burglar early Wednesday morning at her residence near the 100 block of South Division Avenue. Moses Lake Police Department Captain Jeff Sursely said in most cases, a burglar is looking for something that looks easy to steal. 

“Almost always, it’s a crime of opportunity,” Sursely said.  

Homeowner Jeannie Austin said her dog awakened her about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday. Thinking he wanted to go out, she went to the door near her garage. There was a disturbance in the garage, which Austin thought was an animal that had somehow gotten inside.

It was not; when Austin looked out her door, the thief was just leaving her garage, carrying some of her family’s possessions. 

“We were about six inches apart, with the glass (in the door) in front of us,” she said. “He had a backpack full of stuff. He had stuff everywhere – he was carrying bags of stuff. And he was turning to come in the door. Towards me.”  

The thief was not expecting someone to see him. 

“I screamed (and) I startled him. He screamed,” Austin said. “He looked at me, and he ran. He ran around the house to the front and took off on my daughter’s bike.” 

Sursely said some things are more attractive to thieves than others.  

“Cash and guns are the big ones that they’re looking for,” he said. 

Guns are attractive targets because there’s a ready market for them, he said.  

When Austin started going through her family’s belongings, it turned out the thief did indeed target sporting goods, including ammunition and fishing equipment. 

“He saw all the guy stuff and stayed right there,” she said.  

Stolen goods frequently are traded for drugs, Sursely said.  

“We don’t really see much pawning anymore,” he said. Law enforcement monitors pawnshops and online marketplaces, so thieves now tend to avoid them.  

There are a lot of stolen goods out there – Sursely cited a search warrant served at the residence of an alleged fence. Law enforcement officers discovered a 40-foot storage trailer filled with what seemed to be stolen goods. 

That’s one of the challenges when it comes to property crimes, he said – stolen goods can pass through many people, and when they’re recovered, it’s nearly impossible to determine their origin.  

“We recover a lot of stuff all the time, then we just cannot connect it back to anyone,” he said. 

There are ways to make belongings easier to trace.  

“Put identifying markers on the meaningful stuff,” Sursely said.  

He recommended using identifiers that will mean something to the owner and that can help trace ownership, but are of no use to anyone else. He cited a birthdate as an example.

Adequate outdoor lighting and security cameras help deter thieves, he said. A notice that security cameras are installed can also make a thief think twice.  

“All those things help deter thieves,” he said. “It’s all about deterrence.” 

Austin said the fact that someone was awake, thanks to her dog, may have kept the thief from trying to get into her house. 

“He’s getting steak tonight,” she said. 

People can make their property less attractive to thieves by: 

• Installing adequate lighting  

• Installing cameras 

• Installing signs that say security systems are installed on the property