Thief targets probation officers, steals their badges, plus lip gloss and underwear

The home belonging to a married couple who are both probation officers was burglarized twice recently, but more than their guns, ammunition, electronics and duty equipment, including badges, was stolen. Also taken were 20 pairs of women’s underwear, lip gloss, lotion and a coffee cup.

The wife interrupted the first burglary at their home in Spokane Valley in August, and the thieves fled. The second theft was reported Dec. 9 and police immediately got a lead when one of the couple’s stolen credit cards was used at a local Fred Meyer store that same day.

Police located the man who used the credit card, who said he got it from a friend who had stored several items in his garage that day. The items, including a generator and flat-screen television, matched belongings stolen from the couple, according to court documents.

The man agreed to wear a wire when talking to his friend, who was identified in court documents as Truk V. Carey, 42. Carey reportedly discussed the theft and the items in the man’s garage during the recorded conversation, according to court documents. Police also saw Carey with some of the stolen items during surveillance, court documents say.

The woman living in the home had been Carey’s Washington state probation officer in 2013 and twice revoked his probation and sent him back to jail.

The couple’s car was stolen in the second burglary and was recovered in Spokane the day after it was taken.

Carey was arrested Sunday. He is being held in the Spokane County Jail on $350,000 bond on suspicion of first-degree burglary, theft of a motor vehicle and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Carey’s criminal history includes convictions for residential burglary and delivery of a controlled substance.