Surveillance footage from inside a Centralia area garage captured this image about 4:50 a.m. on Saturday
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Diana Howard says she has a regular nighttime visitor to her Centralia-area garage, picking through the stock of goods she keeps in her freezer, and she’d like him to “shop” elsewhere.
Four times in the past month, the 63-year-old has discovered various items missing from the upright freezer she keeps in her detached garage, she said.
It’s disturbing to realize that when she is sleeping, someone has been prowling around in her garage, she said. Howard thinks he may live nearby, because he seems to know when she makes a run to Costco, she said.
“He’s very fond of seafood,” Howard said. “First it was (a carton of) cigarettes, the next time a six-pound bag of scallops, then a carton of cigarettes, then a whole bag of shrimp.”
Early last week, Howard set up a surveillance camera at her property on Old Highway 99 near 220th Avenue Southwest.
She was hoping it would capture pictures of the intruder, but when it did just before 5 o’clock on Saturday morning, she was more than startled.
“That was without a doubt, the creepiest feeling I’ve ever had in my life,” Howard said yesterday.
She reported it to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office, and is hoping someone will recognize the man in the footage.
In the surveillance photos, she can see he brought a black garbage bag with him, pulled it out and began loading it up, she said.
“It’s just bizarre, he’s picking through the freezer,” she said. “He passed up the Costco lasagna, go figure.”
Howard said her husband passed away a year ago, and sometimes at night when she can’t sleep, she goes into her garage to smoke a cigarette and pray.
“I feel very fortunate I have not run into him,” she said.
Howard said she never used to lock the garage, and intentionally left it unlocked after she installed the camera.
But it’s locked now, she said.
Thurston County sheriff’s Lt. Greg Elwin said today they will be reviewing the pictures when they get them.
He cautions however, that “baiting” a felon by leaving a door unlocked is potentially dangerous and not a good idea.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Nicely put George.
Actually, I DO get it. A CRIMINAL is dead… nobody forced him to go to that residence that night. He took it upon himself to commit a crime, and he paid the price for it. It is his own fault that he went to that place that night, and he KNEW that he was doing a bad thing. You want to set an example for your children or grandchildren, you don’t do it by committing crimes. There is NO “gray areas” about it. If he was going to obey the law, he would have not gone there, and he would be alive. He chose to BREAK the law, however, and he paid the piper for his actions that night. If it was my relative who had gone there and gotten killed, I would feel the same way (considering my experiences with certain relatives and their actions, I DO know what it is like).
Instead of sugar coating what he did that night and placing ALL of the blame on the one who did the shooting, the person who was killed needs to be given his share of the blame for the events that happened that fateful night. BOTH men decided to violate the law. One of them was taken to court and punished for his actions; The other one is explaining to his maker why he led a life of crime.
As for having complete knowledge of the issue, story, or case, John McKenzie, Do you? Do you know EVERYTHING? No, you do not. Lalalollipop, I DO comprehend… criminal actions come with consequences… If you want to take your chances, then you better be prepared to pay for your actions. Are you willing to risk getting killed in order to steal the belongings of another person? I know I’m not.
I DO get it.
George you just don’t get it. No one does until the shoes on the other foot, but ,its like you have two left feet. You think you know it all, but you are so simple minded and have nothing but a comment about anything and everything that doesn’t mean squat and I don,t care what you say. Everything isn’t black and white like you think they are, there are a lot of gray areas. You can read but you don’t comprehend at all.
You dont get it. Your not as smart as you think you are. You voice your opinion without the complete knowledge of the issue,story, or case.
Any compassion I have for someone ends when they are in the process of committing a felonious act. Did the relative of yours deserve to die for what he was attempting to do? If the owner had waiting a couple of minutes for them to enter the building, then I would say yes. In this case, it is no, since they had not entered the building. But stop making excuses and glorifying the person… HE WAS THERE TO COMMIT A FELONY.
I don’t feel any compassion for the homeowner who did the shooting. He had ample opportunity to follow the law and call the authorities, yet decided to take matters into his own hands. Again, if he had waited a couple of minutes, then he would have been cleared of any wrong-doing. However, in the end, HE TOO BROKE THE LAW.
So how does that compare to a person setting up a camera to catch someone stealing from her garage? It doesn’t. Just because a person can’t come to grips that their relative was taken down while in the process of committing a felonious crime doesn’t mean that the person in the new case did anything wrong. Besides, it helped to identify and catch the person who was committing the crimes.
Perhaps if another homeowner had thought of that, but he didn’t. Likewise, if another criminal had thought long and hard about it, he wouldn’t have taken it upon himself to become a convicted felon and steal from another person.
And if it had been MY relative getting shot and killed while committing a crime, I would be very accepting of that fact… and I would place the ultimate blame on the shoulders of the ones who decided to commit the crimes in the first place.
So what is there for us to understand and accept? Why sugarcoat the criminal enterprises of a person who had been previously convicted of crimes? I accept the fact that a person was killed while committing a crime, and that’s it.
The point is George, John isn’t in denial and doesn’t condon his brothers behavior or bad choices, but he still is his brother and loved him. John and I do not believe Tom should have been murdered. Brady shouldn’t have taken the law into his own hands. All of you that want to express your opinions and lean toward Brady’s defense, sounds like you have no value of human life, no matter what the case may be. We believe if Brady would of left it in the laws hands, Tom would still be here and would have to be held accountable for his actions before the courts. He didn’t have to be shot dead. All of you need to try to understand and show a little compassion.
No George ,I know the facts of the case. I am not in denial. Tom was and always will be my Brother. He did not deserve death for his crime. No Buck, I am not mad. I would describe my mental state as heart broken and disappointed in my older brother. He was a human-being that made his share of mistakes. Some people could show a little more compassion. The circumstances surrounding the shooting make things a little more difficult for our family. Knowing Tom was shot and killed while running for his life. The same as shooting a man in the back. That is,”Just not right”. Consider, how you might feel ,if it was one of your family members.
Whos john mc? Whys he so mad?
Hopefully, the person who was caught on tape in this case DOES get caught and prosecuted. Hopefully, the person who set up the camera to catch the thief does NOT get prosecuted. John McKenzie, you need to accept that your relative was NOT at the residence that night selling cookies, but was there to commit a felony (or are you still in denial over that?). Brady, you need to accept that the person who did the shooting at that residence was breaking the law when he did the shooting (when he could have easily called the authorities… or waited 5 minutes for the bad guys to come inside…).
Leslie, I like that idea…
You are a fool, like Brady. Dumb Bitch. Grow up fool.
You are a fool, like Brady. Dumb Bitch.
well being she did this in Washington, she will be prosecuted for filming him without his permission. just look at the brady case, he is serving 5 years in prison for shooting a convicted felon and tweeker who was breaking into his house. So i wouldnt be surprised if they get her for crazy BS law. she must not know she lives in washington, the state that protects the meth heads….and other various criminals.
should set up a “bear trap” that would catch him!!!