PORT TOWNSEND — Police say a transient arrested after three residential break-ins Friday night is connected to three downtown restaurant burglaries from the previous night.
Rusty R. Fisher, 37, is currently in custody at the Jefferson County Jail for investigation of three counts of burglary and one count of malicious mischief after he was allegedly caught attempting to burglarize three homes in the Castle Hill neighborhood
Friday.
Fisher is scheduled to make his first court appearance at 11 a.m. today in Jefferson County Superior Court, 1820 Jefferson St.
On Thursday night, three restaurants were hit by burglaries: Courtyard Cafe, 230 Quincy St.; the Banana Leaf Thai Bistro, 609 Washington St.; and Pippa’s Real Tea, 636 Water St.
The burglar took cash from all three locations along with a laptop and an iPad from Pippa’s.
Owner Pippa Mills said at the time she didn’t care about the cash but the laptop contained business data that would take months to recover. She offered a $100 reward for the machine in an article in Sunday’s Peninsula Daily News.
At 10:30 a.m. Monday, a man contacted Mills by phone saying he had the laptop, offering to bring it to her if she would give him a ride to his home on Hastings Avenue.
Mills assented, contacting police and a friend to serve as a bodyguard.
About 30 minutes later, the man arrived followed shortly afterward by Port Townsend Police Sgt. Troy Surber, who was investigating the burglaries.
Mills said the man, who was in his late 40s or early 50s, was not pleased to see Surber and had to be convinced that he would not be charged if he said where he acquired the laptop.
At that point the man said he’d taken the laptop away from Fisher, according to police.
Mills paid the reward and drove the witness, along with the laptop, back to his home. Then she took the laptop along with the recovered iPad into evidence, where they will remain for the time being.
Recovering info
Acknowledging that it could take some time to release the equipment, the police, with the assistance of Port Townsend Computers, is in the process of recovering Mills’ business data.
Port Townsend Detective Luke Bogues said he is recommending that the prosecutor add charges relating to the Thursday burglary at Fisher’s court appearance.
Bogues said that Fisher had several items in his backpack “that didn’t make sense,” including a Honda key and a Rhode Island transit pass.
Bogues said Fisher could be responsible for additional burglaries and car prowls and would investigate any possible connection.
Reporting issue
There has been a recent increase in car prowls, mostly in the uptown neighborhood, that people are not inclined to fully report.
“There is the feeling that it’s not a big deal. People give the information to dispatch but don’t want to actually report the crime,” he said.
“They don’t want to make a big fuss because the stuff wasn’t worth that much, but we need to know what property was taken so we can connect the crimes to the individuals and hold them accountable for their actions.”
Mills said her lesson learned is to back up her data, and she plans to recruit an online service to do so.
In the meantime, she hopes to recover data and graphical images that are necessary to run the business.
Mills lauded the Port Townsend Police Department for its diligence, saying “they are doing a job that everyone here should be proud of.”
“Some of my New York friends got snarky over the weekend, saying ‘so much for living in paradise,’ ” she said.
“But if this happened in New York no one would have cared and I’d never have gotten it back.”
To contact the police department about this or any other crimes, call 360-385-2322.
________
Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
