Veteran robbed of pants, jacket and wallet in Centralia as thief goes on alleged shopping spree
By Jacob Farmer / jfarmer@chronline.com
A veteran’s trip to a Centralia gym took an unexpected turn Wednesday morning when he returned to the locker room to find his pants and jacket had been stolen.
Worse, the pants held the key to his truck, and his wallet.
Centralia police responded to the reported theft at the Thorbeckes Athletic Club and spoke to the victim and his wife. The victim said he had locked his pants and jacket in a locker. The lock to the locker was also gone, the man said, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The victim’s wife reported that the man’s cards had already been used to buy lottery tickets at the nearby Safeway grocery store. The purchases totaled $235 across two cards.
The investigating sergeant went to the grocery store and reviewed video of the suspect. He then spoke with the victim again, who reported that one of his stolen cards had since been used at a local O’Reilly Auto Parts, the purchases totaling $380.99.
The sergeant went to the auto shop. He spoke to employees. Apparently, the suspect had used one of the stolen cards to buy a battery and alternator for a 2003 Ford Focus.
The sergeant reviewed security footage. He saw a white Ford Focus leaving the parking lot. The sergeant accessed the Flock Safety camera system, got the car’s license number and discovered the car was registered to a Vancouver address.
The sergeant coordinated with Vancouver police to visit the address. Vancouver police found the car there, along with a man who resembled the suspect.
The suspect, Dustin D. Watts, 39, of Vancouver, was ultimately arrested after he allegedly admitted to the sergeant over the phone that he’d taken the victim’s pants off a locker room bench at Thorbeckes, according to the affidavit.
“Mr. Watts admitted to grabbing the pants and the jacket before going to Safeway to purchase scratch tickets and O’Reilly’s to buy parts he subsequently returned,” the affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, Watts had allegedly returned the alternator to another O’Reilly Auto Parts in Woodland and put the refund on a different card.
Watts made a preliminary appearance in Lewis County Superior Court Thursday to face charges of second-degree burglary, second-degree theft, second-degree identity theft and first-degree trafficking in stolen property.
A judge set bail at $20,000 cash or bond and scheduled an arraignment hearing for July 16.
Neither prosecutors in their affidavit, nor Centralia police in their daily press long, indicated whether the victim got his pants, his jacket, his truck key or his wallet back.
