Man suspected of 60 burglaries near Maple Falls, Glacier

A man suspected of more than 60 burglaries could be the reason behind a dramatic spike in break-ins and thefts around Glacier, Maple Falls and Peaceful Valley this year, according to the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.

Since January deputy sheriffs have taken at least 109 burglary reports — double last year’s number, and more than quadruple the annual figures from 2011, ’12, and ’13 — in the rural communities along Mount Baker Highway, according to the sheriff’s office.

At an Oct. 10 special briefing in front of Whatcom County Council members, Sheriff Bill Elfo said the main suspect is in jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Later, outside of council chambers, the sheriff’s office identified that man as Oleg Grigoryevich Fedchuk, 33. He’s been charged with residential burglary, trafficking in stolen property and possession of stolen property. More charges could be coming, Elfo told the council.

“He’s believed to be responsible for 60-plus burglaries in Maple Falls, and nine in Glacier Springs,” the sheriff said.

“Sixty?” asked councilman Ken Mann.

“Sixty. Sixty-plus,” Elfo said. “He has a very specific M.O.”

It could take more than a year for some of the evidence to get processed, because nonviolent crime is a lower priority for our state crime labs, according to the sheriff’s office. Deputies are exploring other, faster options to identify fingerprints.

Making the arrest

Court records show Fedchuk was first convicted of home burglary at the age of 16. He spent the next eight or so years in and out of Whatcom County Jail, for crimes like unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of stolen property in the first degree and residential burglary.

Then Fedchuk moved away, to live in the Midwest for a few years. He returned to Whatcom County in 2014. Since last November the number of burglaries has skyrocketed in the Maple Falls area, according to the sheriff’s office.

As of late October word had spread that deputies were looking for Fedchuk. A cashier in a Kendall store spotted him Oct. 30 and told police he’d driven off in a black Volkswagen Jetta, according to charging papers. The same car, a black Jetta with B.C. plates, had been seen in the area of several recent burglaries, according to the sheriff’s office. A deputy caught up to the car less than an hour later, at Chestnut Drive and Golden Valley Boulevard.

The Jetta driver sped off, barreling though a stop sign at Kendall Road, and accelerating to 75 mph in a 45 mph zone, according to charging papers. Neighborhood kids were waiting for their school bus, so the deputy ended the chase rather than risk a crash, according to the charging papers.

On Nov. 3 a burglary victim turned on a tracking device of a stolen Macintosh computer, and traced it to a home in the 3500 block of Cedarville Road, near the Deming Logging Show grounds. Remotely the app took photos of a woman and a man: Fedchuk’s ex, who is the mother of two of his children, and her new boyfriend, according to charging papers.

Sheriff’s deputies found Fedchuk outside the house. He tried to escape but deputies tackled him and found he had a “scan tool” valued at $1,000, stolen from Walmart earlier the same day, according to charging papers. The Mac was found inside in the house. Fedchuk’s ex told deputies he’d given it to her as a gift.

Glacier Springs

It’s no secret that many homes in the foothills of Whatcom County are vacant or occupied part time.

Glacier Springs, for example, has been hit with 10 break-ins and a handful of car prowls in the past couple of months. That’s a lot for a housing development of about 100 homes, said Brian Lawrence, president of the Glacier Springs property association.

Since then two community meetings have been held in the foothills to address the problem. Seventy or so concerned citizens attended one meeting in Glacier, Lawrence said at the County Council meeting.

“What concerns me most,” he said, “is the fear that has been instilled in our community, a fear that (residents) feel they must act on their own because the sheriff’s office is — we feel — ill-equipped to handle this crime spree.”

One sheriff’s deputy is assigned to patrol about 300 square miles in the foothills of Whatcom County, west of Mount Baker and east of Guide Meridian. A second law officer splits time between working for the county and the U.S. Forest Service, patrolling the forest land east of Glacier and around Baker Lake.

So if those deputies get tied up on something else, response times slow down.

“We’ve had neighbors actually approach cleaning ladies with weapons, because they were not sure who they were,” Lawrence said. “We fear that our once quiet community is now paralyzed with this fear of criminal activity.”

Janet Frey, who owns a cabin in Glacier Springs, fears what might happen if residents take matters into their own hands.

“We’re armed up there,” Frey said. “Someone’s going to get hurt.”

Frey’s cabin was broken into sometime around Oct. 23, with medication and guns stolen. Six hours after 911 was contacted, a deputy reached the scene to take photos and make a report.

More suspects

On the Tuesday morning of Fedchuk’s arrest, Frey got a phone call saying that he’d been caught. Three more homes were broken into in the hours that followed, she said.

Detectives believe at least three other groups of burglars are working in the foothills. One suspect from one of those groups, Benjamin Frank Williams, 32, was arrested but released from jail on $1,000 bond, according to the sheriff’s office. Williams has been charged with burglary of a Silver Lake home and possessing stolen property from other local thefts.

Other suspects remain at large.

Deputies have suggested residents in that part of the county invest in security cameras. Some are wary, however, of what constant surveillance might do to Glacier Springs, Frey said. Others think it’s better than the alternative.

“We’re shaken,” Lawrence told a reporter.

“Shaken is the right word,” Frey said. “Don’t say we’re scared.”

Correction on Monday, Nov. 16. At the county council meeting Sheriff Bill Elfo did not identify the suspect, Oleg Fedchuk, by name.

This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Man suspected of 60 burglaries near Maple Falls, Glacier."