Fed-up victim turns vigilante to catch suspected package thief



MARYSVILLE, Wash. – Marysville police arrested a suspected package thief thanks to the victim who turned into a vigilante. On Wednesday, that man got his stolen stuff back.

It's a trip to the Marysville Police Department, he never expected to make.  Just last week, his surveillance cameras caught a thief stealing a package right off his front porch in Everett. However, he got it back only after he helped police catch one of the suspects seen in surveillance video from another theft in Marysville.

“I was going to spend two hours a day to drive through every residential and apartment until I found them,” he said. “And on the second day, I found them in the Target parking lot.”

From the Target parking lot, he said he followed the SUV, which he believed matched the ones in the surveillance videos he had seen on the news, to the Everett Mall about a mile away. That’s when he called police and waited for them to arrive.

Earl Troutman, also a victim, is thankful someone took action.

“You don't find that a lot in people anymore, and so I really have a lot of respect for him for that,” said Troutman.

Troutman also used social media to help catch the thieves, using tools such as the Snohomish County Crime Community page.

“I think a lot of people say they're not going to get caught, so why try? So, for me, it was just more about this happening to other people,” said Troutman.

So far only one person, a 31-year old woman from Lake Stevens, has been arrested in the package thefts case. At least two agencies are working the case to see if there are more victims and more suspects.

From the search of the vehicle, Marysville Police retrieved other stolen items. They're now working to get those items returned to rightful owners.