Late yesterday we published a news release from the King County Executive‘s office, which provided first word of a reported $7,500 theft from KC Water Taxi – which refers to both the Vashon and West Seattle foot ferries – fare boxes. The announcement came too late to get more information from the KC Sheriff’s Office, which is handling the case, but Sgt. John Urquhart has just provided more details: The suspect is described as a 30-year-old Tacoma man who was arrested this past Saturday night, booked into jail, and released the next day. Urquhart’s update also includes more details of exactly how the theft is believed to have happened:
Detectives began their investigation on May 27th, after the Marine Division of the King County Dept. of Transportation believed money was disappearing from a safe at Pier 50. Fares from passengers riding the ferry are deposited in small “vaults”, and then stored in a larger safe before the vaults are picked up by an armored car service.
Believing the thefts to be an “inside job”, detectives eventually determined a particular employee might be involved. After further investigation, a search warrant was obtained for his Tacoma residence and seven of the stolen vaults were found. The suspect took the vaults over a period of time and would break them open using a hammer. … The Marine Division believes 26 vaults in total were taken, worth about $330 each, and approximately $7500 in cash.
Charges are not yet filed but are expected; KCSO says the suspect had worked for the county since April.
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