SOUTH KITSAP
An Auburn man called police Jan. 5 after he was sold a broken Nintendo Wii video game console by a Port Orchard man at the Mullenix Park-n-Ride parking lot.
The man told sheriff's deputies that he'd bought the console on Craigslist and made arrangements with a 28-year-old Port Orchard man selling the Wii to exchange the console for $250.
When the man returned home, the console didn't work and the contact information for the 28-year-old was fake. Luckily, the man's wife had the license plate number of the car driven by the suspect.
Serial numbers from the Wii showed it was reported stolen in December. The man who reported its theft said he had been friends with the suspect but had cut off the friendship after the man "got involved with drugs and started to steal items from him," according to the report. The man said he hadn't seen the suspect in over a year.
After gathering more information about the suspect, the deputy went to an address along the 2500 block of Stetson Avenue on Saturday to contact the man.
The suspect's girlfriend was at the house and she said he wasn't home. The deputy asked the woman if he could search the home to confirm the suspect wasn't there. The woman conceded.
The deputy found the man hiding in a closet and arrested him.
The suspect said he didn't steal the game console but instead bought it online from someone. When he learned it was broken, he said he tried to pawn it off to someone else.
He was taken to Kitsap County jail on suspicion of possession of stolen property and trafficking stolen property. Bail was set at $20,000.
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/jan/14/broken-wii-leads-deputy-to-alleged-thief-hiding/
