Man suspected of wiggling through doggy door, stealing 11 guns

A burglar apparently wriggled through a doggy door to steal a well-stocked gun safe, Apple products, a TV, swords and “miscellaneous cutting instruments” from a north Spokane home, according to court records.

Then, court records say, the suspect brazenly contacted the man who lives in the home and offered to give back his iPad – for a reward.

Justin L. Woodruff, 27, was arrested last week in connection to the crime, which took place nearly a year ago. Police said it took a while to build the case against him.

“The short story is we didn’t get the fingerprints back on some of the evidence we collected until February, the detective did some follow-up … we filed a warrant for the arrest in May, and we caught up with Mr. Woodruff last week,” Officer Teresa Fuller said.

Court records say a man left his home in the 2400 block of North Lincoln Street and returned Aug. 5 to find the garage door propped open with a rake. A piece of the dog door had been removed, cabinets had been opened and the back door had been left open, court records say.

A gun safe that hadn’t been bolted to the floor was missing. Court records say it contained 11 firearms, including handguns, shotguns, bolt-action rifles and an AR-15 assault rifle. The other items, including various types of ammunition, were stolen from a bedroom.

Shortly after the burglary, the man was contacted by someone who claimed to have his iPad, court records say. The man was out of town again, so he asked a friend to meet the caller and retrieve the iPad. Without contacting police, the friend met the suspect at the Safeway store on Northwest Boulevard.

The friend later pointed out Woodruff in a photo lineup, and county forensic workers said fingerprints found on a gun box at the home matched Woodruff’s, according to court records.

On Thursday, Woodruff was transferred to the Spokane County Jail from the Airway Heights Corrections Center, where he was doing time for a previous conviction. He’s being held on suspicion of first-degree burglary and 11 counts of illegally owning a firearm. No bond has been set, but he’s scheduled to appear in court Monday afternoon.

Court records say Woodruff has five previous felony convictions.