One booked, another unidentified in rural business burglary

MOSES LAKE – A 24-year-old Moses Lake man was apprehended by the Grant County Sheriff’s Office Crime Reduction Team and other law enforcement Friday during a burglary in a rural area of Moses Lake, according to a GCSO statement. 

On Feb. 13, deputies responded to a burglary report at a shop near Robin Lane Northeast and Beacon Road Northeast. Upon arrival, they discovered the door had been forcefully opened but found no suspects at the scene, according to the statement.  

“The crime reduction team is a specialized team of deputies who focus on crime trends, areas of the county experiencing high crime rates,” GCSO Public Information Officer Kyle Foreman said in a Tuesday interview. “They also focus on crimes that require additional attention that patrol deputies may not be able to provide due to their heavy patrol workload. This was a team put together by the sheriff just for this purpose — to focus on unsolved crimes in Grant County.” 

On Valentine’s Day at around 6 p.m., CRT contacted the property owner for further discussion.  

“One of the CRT deputies, upon checking on duty on the 14th, started looking at what calls had happened in the previous 24 hours, and saw that there was a burglary attempt at that location and that there were no suspects in custody,” Foreman said.  “The crime reduction team deputy contacted the property owner, got some more information and suggested that the property owner put up a game camera to be able to capture any vehicles that come out of the property.” 

The business owner also told the deputy that another apparent second burglary attempt had occurred on Thursday, leaving behind shoe prints in the snow and on the shop door, according to the report.  

Later that night, the property owner alerted law enforcement after spotting a white Dodge pickup on the game camera pulling into the driveway with its occupants entering the shop. Deputies, accompanied by Moses Lake Police officers, arrived at the scene and arrested Roque Julius Salas, 24, Moses Lake, as he attempted to drive the pickup away. 

“It seemed like it was negated before he was able to steal anything, because (case logs) don't mention that we saw evidence in the bed of the truck,” Foreman said. “Based on the charges, I don't see any possession of stolen property or things that would indicate that he's making away with anything. We are still waiting to complete the search warrant though so he could have stolen goods in his truck. That is not information we know yet though.”  

Two distinct sets of footprints were found at the location. A Moses Lake Police K9 unit assisted in searching the shop and surrounding area but did not find any additional suspects. Salas, however, refused to identify an accomplice. 

“It's assumed that there were two people, and he's not giving up the second,” Foreman said. “There's evidence that suggests that there were two people. For one we have on the game camera that there was more than one person in the pickup truck and got out of the pickup truck. There are also two sets of shoe prints in the snow. But we only have one suspect, and he's declined to identify who his partner is.”  

Salas faces charges of second-degree burglary, first-degree criminal trespassing and providing false or misleading statements to law enforcement. Authorities have seized Salas’ Dodge pickup as evidence in the case.