EPHRATA, Wash. (20OCT2014) - Grant County Sheriff's Office reports that a suspect in a recent Sagebrush Flats Rd NW residential burglary is in custody thanks to an animal camera. Steve Kiona, age 37, Electric City, WA, was taken into custody last night for investigation of burglary. Already a convicted felon, he was also found with a loaded firearm in the back seat of his vehicle, as well as items potentially taken from the Sagebrush Flats residence.
At approximately 1:50PM yesterday, GCSO received the call for a suspected residential burglary. After conducting a search and determining the home was empty, a preliminary inventory list of stolen items was made. Fingerprints and photographic evidence were also taken. The home occupant then advised the GCSO that an animal camera positioned on the property pointed towards the driveway. After looking at the camera's SD card, a dark colored vehicle with a clear image of the license plate, as well as a suspect, were discovered.
While the suspect was not immediately identifiable from the image, the license plate on the vehicle was traced to a registered owner who said he sold the vehicle approximately 4 months earlier. The previous car owner no longer had the suspect's contact information, but he did identify the suspect from the animal cam image as the same man who purchased his car.
At approximately 6:10pm yesterday, the previous car owner called GCSO saying that the suspect had come to his home asking for a vehicle bill of sale. GCSO responded and was able to apprehend the suspect shortly afterward as he was traveling on SR 28.
Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones said, "This was a good catch. Between the animal camera and the quick-thinking former car owner, we were able to identify and get this suspect off the street within hours of the burglary."
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CR# 14GS12920
PR76/AGT2
