Suncrest hit by rash of burglaries

When Eddie Hatch and his family moved from Southern California to the Suncrest neighborhood near Nine Mile Falls, they were looking for a quiet, crime-free community.

What they experienced three weeks after moving to Suncrest was a rash of neighborhood thefts, including the loss of two motorcycles from a trailer at their home.

Hatch’s fence was cut and two Honda CR125 motocross bikes were taken sometime between 3 and 5 a.m. Dec. 13.

Hatch’s sister, Debbie Schmitz, and her children are staying with him while their home is being built. The bikes were Christmas presents for her sons.

But because she isn’t a permanent resident at the house, the bikes weren’t covered by insurance, and she’s out $6,000.

The boys rode the bikes only twice and had waited two years to get them. Schmitz is offering a $1,000 reward for the bikes and has the bikes’ vehicle identification number.

A Stevens County Sheriff’s report indicates that five thefts were reported on Dec. 13 in Suncrest. According to Hatch, neighbors lost dirt bikes, personal watercraft and street bikes during the spree.

Hatch and Schmitz both said they were told by the deputy investigating the theft that, “they would be better off doing their own investigation.” They might get more results that way because of lack of official manpower to investigate property crimes. Mike Baumgarden, a real estate agent who lives in Suncrest, also heard that neighbors were told to do their own investigation because of lack of manpower.

“I think that’s ridiculous. Several of the cops live out here. I think that’s a pretty poor excuse,” Baumgarden said.

In September, Stevens County voters rejected a .3 percent sales-tax increase that would have covered increased operating costs and other law enforcement expenses.

“You know the biggest problem (in passing tax increases) is that we do that and Colville ends up with more police, we don’t. You’ve got the county seat in Colville, and Suncrest is just a neighborhood; it’s not even a town. It’s somewhat neglected. We pay a ton of taxes out here. We just don’t have anybody speaking for us here. We don’t have a local government,” said Baumgarden.

Baumgarden estimated that 4,000 to 5,000 people live in Suncrest, a development located on Lake Spokane.

Stevens County Sheriff’s Capt. Mike George disagrees that Suncrest is neglected but confirms that recently there have been several thefts and vehicle prowlings in the area.

“We do have a shortage of manpower, but we don’t encourage people to do their own investigations. But sometimes they hear things through the grapevine, and we encourage them to report it to the detectives assigned to those cases,” said George.

George recommends that people record serial numbers and store them in a couple of different places. “You’d be surprised at how many weapons are taken, and the owners don’t know their serial numbers,” said George.

“Property crimes are down the list of cases that we’re going to jump on because crimes against persons are going to take priority over property crime,” said George.

But George emphasized that all crimes still need to be reported. “If there are 10 crimes down there, and only one gets reported, it looks like you have a low crime rate, when in reality it may be much higher.”