DuPont police have arrested two teens suspected of burglarizing two homes and stealing from parked cars over the past two months.

The investigation began Friday morning when a detective responded to a burglary in the Hoffman Hills area, DuPont police reported. As he was leaving the area, he spotted a newer model Audi occupied by two men. The detective ran the license plate and discovered the car had been reported stolen.

The driver tried to elude the detective. At one point, the occupants stopped the car and fled, police reported.

Officers from DuPont, Lakewood and Steilacoom located and arrested the two 17-year-old boys on suspicion of being in possession of a stolen car.

During an interview, the two reportedly admitted they had gone back to the area to get more property from the house. They also said they'd committed 15 thefts from parked cars and burgled two homes.

During search warrants, officers recovered another stolen vehicle, three guns and 73 stolen items, police reported.

Officers are returning the property as the owners are identified.

The teens, both of whom live near Olympia, were booked into juvenile detention.

A 32-year-old man accused of breaking into a Fife car dealership early Tuesday initially made off with a bunch of silver lug nuts but, in the end, got a trip to jail.

Pierce County prosecutors charged Jeffrey Gene Hernandez on Wednesday with second-degree burglary in connection with the incident.

Court documents provide the following information:

The alarm at Hinshaw's Acura sounded about 3:15 a.m. Tuesday and Fife police responded to the car dealership.

An officer arrived and spotted someone inside the dealership. The officer heard a metal object drop to the ground and the burglar started running.

The burglar, later identified as Hernandez, scaled the fence that surrounded the dealership's property and appeared to be ready to surrender. However, as the officer approached, the burglar took off. He ran across Interstate 5 and headed toward the Emerald Queen Casino.

The officer did not chase the suspect across the freeway. He found a bag where the burglar stopped momentarily. The bag was filled with 12 silver lug nuts, a tire iron, a pair of gloves, a flashlight and a car jack.

Inside the dealership, the officer found a new car with a smashed window and other body damage. A pair of bolt cutters was inside the car and a silver lug nut was on the floor next to the car.

Another officer arrested Hernandez near the casino. Hernandez reportedly was sweaty, wet and covered in mud. Officers found a silver lug nut in his pocket.

"The defendant maintained that he had accompanied a friend to the dealership and was trying to talk the friend out of stealing," court documents state.

Tacoma police are asking for the public's help in identifying a man who's suspected of burglarizing a North End home earlier this month.

Investigators released pictures of the burglar and his truck today in hopes of identifying him.

The burglary occurred about 6 a.m. June 15. The man broke into an unoccupied home in the 700 block of North Warner Street.

Witnesses reported seeing the burglar park next to the home in a red pickup truck. He loaded several items from the home into the back of the truck and then drove off, police reported.

Afterward, witnesses discovered the home's back door had been kicked in.

The burglar is described as a white man in his 40s. He is 5 feet 8 and 150 pounds, with sandy hair.

During the crime, he wore a plaid shirt and blue jean jacket. He drove a small, older model red pickup truck with a red detailing sticker across the driver's door.

Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers is offering up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and charges filed in the burglary. Callers may remain anonymous.

Reach Crime Stoppers at 253-591-5959. Tips also can be submitted anonymously to TPD here.

Pierce County prosecutors have charged a man with burglarizing a woman's Parkland apartment early Wednesday and then running through traffic on Highway 512 in an attempt to get away.

Andrew Kyle Pinson, 20, was charged Thursday with residential burglary, disorderly conduct and being a minor in possession of or consuming liquor.

Court documents give the following account:

A woman called 911 shortly after midnight Wednesday and reported someone had reached into her bedroom window and tried to open it. She yelled to her 11-year-old son to get help.

A neighbor spotted the suspected burglar running from the back of the apartment. The neighbor followed the suspect after the victim reported what had happened.

The neighbor chased the man as he headed toward Highway 512.

"Officers responded and saw the neighbor pointing down the westbound on-ramp to SR 512 on the corner of 108th and A streets," court documents state. "Several motorists were also flagging the officers down to tell the officer they had seen the suspect running down the on-ramp."

A deputy saw the burglar running eastbound in the westbound lanes of Highway 512.

"The defendant's presence on the highway created an obvious traffic and public safety hazard and almost caused an accident," court documents state.

Another deputy took Pinson into custody a few minutes later as Pinson tried to hitchhike.

Pinson was "highly intoxicated" and said he'd been kicked out of a Parkland strip club. He said he was in the area of the victim's apartment but denied reaching in the window.

This won't be good for their Karma.

Pierce County prosecutors have charged a man and woman with burglarizing an East Side Buddhist Temple and being in possession of a stolen vehicle.

Prosecutors charged Michael F. Shelby and Leanne L. Browning on Monday with second-degree burglary and unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle.

Court documents provide the following information:

Pierce County sheriff's deputies responded to the temple at 2625 72nd St. E. just before 8 a.m. Friday. The head monk reported that he'd seen two people go into an unsecured shed and start stealing a Buddha statute, electric hand tool and a weed eater.

The monk took photographs of the suspects and showed them to deputies. Deputies found a red Nissan pickup truck on the property next door that didn't belong there. The truck was reported stolen to Tacoma police.

As deputies investigated the burglary, there was a report of a possible robbery at a Safeway. The suspects had arrived in a blue Ford pickup truck that also had been reported stolen to Tacoma police.

The deputies from the temple responded to the Safeway and identified the two robbery suspects as suspects in the temple burglary.

Browning admitted to deputies she'd been at the temple but claimed Shelby forced her to burglarize the shed. She also admitted deputies would find her prints on the stolen Nissan truck at the temple. The two had been sleeping in the Ford truck, she told deputies.

Shelby denied taken anything from the temple.

Burglars swept through a South Hill neighborhood during the overnight hours this weekend, stealing electronics, alcohol and cash from six homes as the occupants slept.

The burglars took advantage of doors left unlocked and windows kept open because of the hot temperatures.

The spree is of concern to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department.

"People need to be more vigilant," sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said. "Unfortunately, we live in a society where you've got to lock your house."

No arrests have been made in the weekend burglaries.

Deputies report the burglaries occurred between 11:30 p.m. Friday and 7:30 a.m. Saturday in the Mountain Park neighborhood, south of 160th Street East and west of Meridian Avenue.

Six homes were hit. The burglars snagged cash, alcohol, digital cameras, laptops, DVD players, camcorders and video games.

"It concerns us deeply that they are going into occupied homes," Troyer said.

No one was injured.

Investigators are looking for any information on suspicious people, vehicles or activity in the Mountain Park-area on the night of the burglaries.

Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers is offering up to $1,000 for information leading to arrests and charges filed in the case. Tipsters may remain anonymous.

Reach Crime Stoppers at 253-591-5959.

It can also lead to criminal charges.

At least that's what two men have discovered.

Prosecutors on Tuesday charged Douglas J. Dumbleton, 37, and Christopher S. Salais with residential burglary after they were found at the Graham home of an elderly woman who died several months ago.

Court documents provide the following information:

A neighbor called Pierce County sheriff's deputies Monday after seeing a vehicle pull into the driveway of a home in the 28200 block of 68th Avenue East. The truck was quickly parked in the garage and the doors closed.

"The neighbor reported that he was not sure who owned the property because the elderly woman who had lived there had passed away approximately six months ago," court documents state. "The neighbor reported that no one should be at the residence, and that it may have gone to the bank."

Waited outside the home, the deputy could hear things being moved in the garage.

A short time later, Dumbleton walked out of the weeds with his hands up.

"I'm coming out," he said.

Salais also walked out.

Dumbleton told the deputy the two planned to take the wood stove from the house and other things from the garage.

"One man's trash is another man's treasure," he told the deputy. He also said he knew it was a mistake and wrong.

The deputy found two tables, fencing wire, a box of DVD movies, a box of holiday lighting and other household items in the truck.

Sumner school officials plan to resume classes Friday at Lakeridge Middle School.

The school sent students home this morning after diesel fumes from a backhoe began drifting into the school's ventilation system.

The fumes didn't sicken students.

District spokeswoman Ann Cook says the school will run the heating-ventilation system tonight and conduct additional air tests Friday.

About 550 students attend the middle school.

Here's the automated e-mail the district sent at 4:22 p.m. today:

=> Read more!

Tacoma police have arrested a 19-year-old man in connection with two home burglaries and he's being investigated for others in Bellevue, Mercer Island and Renton.

Prosecutors charged Jordan Wilson Lee with eight crimes Wednesday - two counts of first-degree theft and one count each of first-degree burglary, residential burglary, second-degree theft, theft of a firearm, second-degree malicious mischief and first-degree trafficking in stolen property. He was arraigned Wednesday and ordered held in Pierce County Jail in lieu of $75,000 bail.

Court documents provide the following information:

A Tacoma man came home Feb. 18 and found he had been burglarized. The burglar stole more than $2,500 worth of property, including a 9mm Ruger pistol and a platinum VISA card, and then left the back sliding door and door to the basement open. A woman living at the house later got a call from her credit card company saying that the VISA had been used to buy food. Someone also had tried to withdraw $200 from the ATM.

Earlier this month, the man returned home to find it had again been burglarized. This time, more than $3,500 worth of property had been stolen, including a flat panel TV and iMac computer. The victim, who was very upset, told officers the computer had been chained to the leg of a table. The computer and table leg were gone. The burglar also broke a window, causing $800 in damage.

Seven days later, the burglary victim spotted his computer being sold on Craigslist.

"Posing as a buyer, he had convinced the posting party to send additional photos of the computer," court documents state. "(The victim) was able to determine that the computer was his based on the customized desktop on the computer as well as its appearance and peripherals."

The seller's e-mail was listed as leeups@hotmail.com.

The victim contacted Tacoma police detectives, who obtained a search warrant for Lee's home. They served the warrant Tuesday and found "a bundle of stolen loot in the defendant's bedroom and home," court documents state.

Investigators also discovered several flat panel TVs and the Tacoma man's 9mm Ruger. A credit card stolen in a burglary at a Mercer Island home was located.

Lee initially told officers he'd purchased the stolen items on Craigslist. He later admitted to the two Tacoma burglaries and others in Mercer Island, Renton and Bellevue. (Reports on those crimes will be forwarded to the King County Prosecutor's Office for a charge decision.)

Lee told officers he would conduct surveillance on the homes he broke into.

"He said he enjoyed driving by the residences after he had broken into the homes to watch the upset homeowners reporting the burglaries after they were discovered," court documents state.

Puyallup police are warning residents to be vigilant after a rash of residential burglaries in the past few weeks.

The burglaries have occurred on weekdays, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., according to a crime alert from the police department.

The burglars have targeted unoccupied homes. They've been kicking in the front or back door (some have been unlocked) to get inside, then stealing computers, electronic game systems, jewelry and cash.

The suspects have burgled homes on 31st Avenue Southeast, 20th Avenue Court Southeast, South Meridian and 17th Street Southwest, the department reported.

Officers ask residents to:

* Lock all doors and windows, especially when out of the house.

* Use heavy-duty dead bolt locks and strengthen the door jamb with screws that are at least three inches long.

* Be aware of suspicious vehicles in your neighborhood.

"If you answer the door during the day, and the person asks if someone lives there that you don't know, they may be setting up for a burglary," the crime alert states. "Call the police and provide a description of the person and their vehicle, if they have one."

Burglars ransacked a Puyallup home Saturday, then loaded some goods into a vehicle and stole the vehicle out of the home's garage.

Puyallup police report the burglary occurred sometime between 5:30 a.m. and 9 p.m. Saturday at a home in the 2300 block of 43rd Street Southeast.

The suspect (or suspects) kicked in the back door to the garage, then made their way into the home, police reported. No one was inside at the time.

"The house was ransacked and numerous items were stolen," the department reported in a crime alert. "It appears that the stolen property was loaded into the victim's vehicle that was in the garage, and then the vehicle was also stolen."

Officers have no suspects. Detectives are continuing to investigate.

The department offered the following crime prevention tips:

For security at your home, consider the installation of a burglar alarm. Talk to your neighbors about keeping an eye on each others' homes. Let your neighbors know when you will be gone for extended periods. Always call the police when you observe suspicious activity in your neighborhood. Trim shrubs around your house to lower than three feet high and trim tree branches so they hang no lower than 6 feet above the ground. This will maximize visibility of your home from the street.

Two would-be burglars were captured on a surveillance camera trying to break into a coffee stand recently.

The owner of Caveman Coffee has posted the footage on YouTube and is asking anyone with information about the attempted break-in to call Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers at 253-591-5959.

The Caveman Coffee stand is located at 176th Street East and 66th Avenue East.

The burglars tried and tried but were not successful in getting into the stand.