Whatcom sheriff’s deputy follows illegal extension cord to breaking up another crime
Two wrongs actually did make a right Wednesday, when a Whatcom County Sheriff’s deputy was able to stop an alleged burglary and theft in progress at a home north of Ferndale.
The reason the deputy was at the home in the first place? Investigating a report from a resident that a neighbor was stealing electricity via an extension cord.
Blaine resident Kyle Lynn Riddle, 31, was booked Wednesday, Feb. 26, into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of burglary and theft and is being held in lieu of $1,000 bail.
Deputies were called to the 7300 block of North Enterprise Road for the theft of services report, Chief Deputy Kevin Hester told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
The deputy found the extension cord and unplugged it, then went next door to a property filled with broken down cars, trash and other items strewn around as well as several outbuilding and old RVs, where he found the cord ran into the house, Hester reported.
The deputy knocked on the door of the house, but received no answer, Hester wrote. The deputy then went to another door to try, but also received no reply.
Hester reported that the sheriff’s office has made quite a few responses to the residence and the deputy knew that the property owner was currently in Whatcom County Jail, but that numerous people also “flop” at the home.
As he was at the second door, the deputy heard a car door shut in front of the home and went back around, where he found Riddle leaving the home carrying two bags of tools, Hester reported. A second man was in the car and appeared to have driven there.
Riddle told the deputy that the owner of the residence had asked him to pick up the tools, but as the deputy investigated further, he found that to be untrue, Hester wrote. Riddle became less cooperative as his story fell apart, according to Hester, and he was eventually arrested for breaking in and stealing the tools.
