Two guns stolen in Medical Lake vehicle prowlings

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office on Monday urged residents to lock their cars and remove valuable items following a spate of thefts around the city of Medical Lake.

The sheriff’s office said numerous vehicle prowlings have been reported in the area in recent weeks, and in almost every case the target vehicle had been left unlocked. Stolen items have included spare change, clothes and paperwork, as well as knives, electronics and two handguns, the sheriff’s office said.

In two incidents at the Silver Lake boat launch in late November, the thief or thieves broke windows to get inside vehicles. Witnesses described a possible suspect as a white man in his 20s, about 5-foot-7, with brown hair, jeans, a hooded sweatshirt and a backpack, the sheriff’s office said.

On Dec. 3, deputies arrested Joseph B. Thornton, 27, after he was caught inside a vehicle, the sheriff’s office said. He was booked into the Spokane County Jail on a charge of second-degree vehicle trespassing, a misdemeanor, and two warrants stemming from the same type of offense.