PORT TOWNSEND — Police are seeking information on a man they say stole two television sets from a motel April 14, and they are using a website to facilitate the investigation.
According to the police report, a man visited the Port Townsend Inn, 2020 Washington St., telling the clerk that he was a Verizon employee needing two rooms and that the company would call and pay for the room over the phone.
The clerk provided keys to two rooms, but when the promised call never came, she went to the rooms and found two flat screen TVs missing and no sign of the suspect.
In images taken from surveillance footage, the suspect appears to be in his 50s or 60s.
He wore glasses and a hat along with an Air Force sweatshirt. He was driving a 2007-2011 green Honda CRV.
The images and videos were posted over the weekend on www.CanYouID.me, a website established by the Lake Forest Police Department as a statewide resource that asks the public to help identify persons of interest and suspects.
In March, Port Townsend police posted video of a liquor theft at Safeway on the website, leading to the arrest of 29-year-old Forks resident Trinston Spencer Rigby.
The site has identified 202 subjects in the past five years.
According to Port Townsend Police Officer Patrick Fudally, the department first used the site when it started in 2010 but had stopped doing so because it was able to cover all its cases.
A reduction in staff changed that situation and the site has become “another tool we can use,” Fudally said in March.
Those visiting the site can type a location name into the search window and see all the investigations from that area.
Currently there are nine Port Townsend-based queries on the site.
For pictures of the suspect, visit http://tinyurl.com/PDN-IDMe.
Anyone with information on the suspect can contact Detective Luke Bogues at lbogues@cityofpt.us.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
