PORT ANGELES — A man and his 14-year-old son were arrested Tuesday after they allegedly stole an inventory computer and digital camera from a Safeway store in hopes of getting reward money for returning the items.
Joe D. Wick, 37, and his son each face a charge of second-degree theft.
The son is not being named because he is being tried as a juvenile.
Port Angeles police said the father and son duo stole the equipment — together worth about $3,180 — from a man who was stacking shelves for the Peninsula Bottling Co. on Monday at Safeway at 110 E. Third St.
Wick took the cart the equipment was sitting on when the employee wasn’t looking, according to a police report.
Surveillance footage showed him leaving the store with something heavy under his sweatshirt, police said.
A couple hours later, Wick called the bottling company to say he found the computer in the Safeway parking lot and inquired about a reward, police said.
The camera was found at their hotel room, police said.
The items were returned.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
