Valley Hit Big By Burglaries

A wave of burglaries has hit Walla Walla, Columbia and Garfield counties in the past few months, prompting some local law enforcement officials and citizens groups to get better organized.

They're asking for help from residents and hunters to be on the lookout for suspi­cious activities, hoping citi­zens' tips will lead to arrests. During the past several months, cabin owners, busi­nesses and residential house­holds alike in the mountains and down in the valley have experienced a spike in break-ins and vandalism.

In Columbia County alone, 16 burglaries occurred since Sept. 1, with six hap­pening during the first five days in October. Tim Quigg, who has been a dispatcher for the county's sheriff's office for nearly three decades, said that rep­resents one of the biggest waves the county has seen in his time. The last big wave was at least 10 years ago with a smaller spate in late 2006 that led to the arrest and con­viction of Eddie Terry and Michael Hankins in 2007. Of the recent burglaries, five affected businesses on Main Street, five involved residences and six mountain cabins.

"We're going to need help from the people," Quigg said. "We need extra eyes and ears out there." The sheriff's office has assigned extra patrols and manpower in an effort to cur­tail the activities, but that will only go so far, he said. "We can't be everywhere at once." The biggest problem in the Waitsburg area has been cabin break-ins, said Frank Rese, a school bus driver and former Prescott school principal who is organizing a block watch effort together with other cabin owners. He has already collected $1,000 in pledges for a re­ward and hopes to have at least $1,500 to entice wit­nesses to come forward with information. Rese estimated there have been at least a dozen break-ins on Jasper Mountain, Lewis Peak and Dent roads. Several Waitsburg residents with cabins have been hit more than once.

"It's almost a form of ha­rassment," Rese said. "They use bolt cutters and cutting torches. They're fairly seri­ous about it." In addition to the reward money Rese is collecting, he plans to start a license-plate tracking effort and produce decals to identify local residents. Since the mountain roads straddle the county line, some of the cabin break-in Rese learned about occurred in Columbia County as corroborated by the sheriff's report. Even Garfield County, where burglaries happen once every other month at most, saw two in August and September. They affected three businesses in Pomeroy: a lumber yard and two res­taurants.

"That's well above nor­mal," said Bruce Barkhuff, Chief Deputy for the GarfieldCounty Sheriff's Office.

Barkhuff's office has col­lected evidence from the scene and sent it to a lab. Since many burglars already have a criminal record, their fingerprints and other per­sonal information are in a national database. Law enforcement officials advise residents observing suspicious activities to report them immediately since time can make the difference in thwarting a crime.