HOQUIAM, Wash. — A Puyallup man is in the Grays Harbor County Jail, accused of stealing thousands of dollars in tools and selling them to an undercover police officer.
A Hoquiam business owner called 911 on June 7 to report the missing tools. The sheriff’s office says the man also caused about $20,000 in damage to the building.
After about a month of investigating, the department zeroed in on a suspect and set up a time to meet him to purchase some of the stolen tools.
On July 1, they met him in Tumwater to make the exchange and arrested him.
Detectives say as they continued looking into the case, they wound up at a home in Thurston County and another in Pierce County – and were able to recover most of the stolen tools.
The Puyallup man is being held on a $20,000 bail.
©2025 Cox Media Group
