Police arrested a Montesano woman after she broke into an Aberdeen residence near Pioneer Boulevard late Saturday evening.
Venus J. Lind, 50, was charged with residential burglary, a felony, after being arrested early Sunday morning.
The initial call came in at 11:58 p.m. on Saturday, said Cmdr. Steve Timmons of the Aberdeen Police Department. The suspect, Lind, had made her way into a residence on the 1200 block of North Fairfield Street, located up the hill off Pioneer Boulevard, when one of the residents discovered her downstairs, wearing only a T-shirt.
The resident alerted other residents, who confronted the suspect, Timmons said.
“She was in the house,” Timmons said. “She took an ID badge from one of the homeowners’ place of employment, had the car keys in her hand, and some other items.”
Lind fled after being confronted, Timmons said, heading north up Pioneer Boulevard, while police responded to the call. Officers arriving on the scene talked to the residents and neighbors, and discovered Lind had attempted to gain entry to another house nearby.
Police called in Officer Chad Pearsall, off duty at the time, in the effort to located the suspect with his partner canine Mac.
“He can track step to step and get us to the right area of what direction they went,” Timmons said. “It’s amazing.”
Police also launched a drone with infrared viewing capability.
“Between the two of them, they were able to locate her,” Timmons said. “She was between two cars in the back of a residence.”
Lind was detained without an issue once officers closed in and contacted her, Timmons said, and taken down to the police station, where she was booked into the city jail.
“The officer believe based on what he saw that she was under the influence of drugs of alcohol,” Timmons said.
Burglaries of occupied residences are unusual, Timmons said, with most would-be burglars targeting vacant or empty homes.
“This is actually pretty rare. Usually our burglaries are unoccupied residences,” Timmons said. “Get out, call 911. We don’t advise people to make contact. Get out, call with us, let us deal with it.”
Contact Senior Reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or mlockett@thedailyworld.com.
