PORT TOWNSEND — Port Townsend police feel they’ve found the man responsible for one of a rash of residential burglaries.
Now they are working to solve the other 38 cases.
Andrew Nicholas Gaikowski, 19, was arrested April 1 during a burglary in process at 794 Parkridge Drive in Port Hadlock.
After his arrest, Port Townsend police officers said they found evidence tying Gaikowski to a break-in Jan. 27 at 156 Price St., Port Townsend, one of the 39 reported in the city since Dec. 1.
Gaikowski, of Port Hadlock, remained in custody in the Jefferson County jail Wednesday, and is scheduled for a pretrial hearing at 8:30 a.m. Friday.
He is charged with two counts of residential burglary and possession of stolen property.
Port Townsend Sgt. Ed Green said that police are “hitting it pretty hard” to find more evidence and follow leads.
Seeking evidence
“We are looking to see if [Gaikowski] is involved in any other burglaries or malicious mischief,” Green said Wednesday.
“We do not have any evidence either way, but there could be other individuals involved.
“For this reason we are asking people to report anything they might see.”
Green said no residential burglaries have been reported since Gaikowski was taken into custody.
Break-ins have occurred throughout Port Townsend, although many recently have been concentrated in the North Beach area.
Burglary victim Paula Hill is awaiting more news.
“I’m glad they caught the guy,” she said. “But I don’t think that one person committed all these crimes, and I don’t think that the person they caught is the one who robbed my house.”
Hill was one of about 50 people who attended a public meeting with police, which was billed as a report to the community about crime.
Locking doors
Attendees, like Port Townsend Mayor Michelle Sandoval, walked away with a simple message: Lock your doors.
“I think it’s unfortunate that one or two people can cause such a widespread problem,” Sandoval said. “We’ve always felt pretty safe here. Now we hear that we should be locking our doors.
“It is disheartening that we have lost our small-town feel,” she said.
Sandoval said that people hear but do not obey the “lock your door” message.
“Many residents feel victimized, but they don’t change their behavior,” she said.
Sandoval, a real estate agent, said that at times, she asks for keys to place in a lock box for clients and is told that keys do not exist because “everyone leaves their doors unlocked.”
Remembers Gaikowski
Gaikowski’s arrest caught the attention of Christine Hemp, a local writer who met him in a program she ran called “Common Chord” when he was about 14 years old.
The program, which was cut due to funding, promoted interaction between troubled kids and police officers.
“He thrived in the program,” Hemp said. “He had a lot of points against him due to a bad family situation, but he was a gifted artist.”
The program consisted of a weeklong retreat where the students played music and wrote poetry.
Gaikowski wrote a poem to Officer Barbara Carr, now Jefferson County Juvenile Court administrator, which said in part “because of you I will respect cops. . . . in their blue uniforms with their screaming sirens. They aren’t so bad when you get to know them.”
Hemp said that Carr wrote Gaikowski a poem in return.
“I am really disappointed that the program was discontinued,” Hemp said. “A lot of the kids who were troubled at the time are now doing really well.
“It made me sad when I read that Andrew was arrested.”
North Olympic Crime Stoppers pays up to $1,000 cash reward for information leading to an arrest and the filing of felony charges in connection with the burglary string.
Information can be reported anonymously to Crime Stoppers at a 24-hour-tips line, 800-222-8477.
To contact the Port Townsend Police Department, phone 360-385-2322.
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Jefferson County reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
