Deputies follow footprints in snow, arrest man suspected of burglarizing east Spokane homes
April snowfall helped Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputies arrest a man suspected of burglarizing multiple east Spokane homes last week because his shoes left unique footprints.
The investigation began when a deputy responded to a burglary call on the 7700 block of East Princeton Avenue near Camp Sekani Park last Thursday around 7:30 a.m., according to court documents.
The homeowner said a man had tried to break into her home around 4:30 a.m., and surveillance footage saved on the internet showed him stealing the cameras themselves, court documents say.
His footprints in the early morning led to three other homes, according to court documents. The shoes the person was wearing left the “FILA” logo on the ground.
Across the street from the first house, deputies found the suspect was recorded on security camera footage and took the cameras again, court documents show. The suspect was not able to get inside.
Two other homes reported the suspect broke into garages but only took a set of motorcycle keys from one of them, according to court documents.
As a deputy asked the homeowners about the stolen keys, he overheard a person call on the radio about a suspicious person who matched the description of the burglary suspect, court documents show.
Deputies found the man, Jason D. Hill, 41, had a number of burglary tools in his car – including a mask, gloves and a pry bar – in addition to security cameras that were the same brand as the those taken from the first homeowner to report the burglaries, court documents say.
His shoes also had the same pattern found at the four homes that reported attempted burglaries, court documents show.
Hill told the deputies he had been sleeping in his car and the cameras were fake, according to court documents.
Since he was arrested on suspicion of burglary and malicious mischief on April 2, Hill has also been charged in a separate case with possessing stolen property and identity theft, according to court records. He is being held in the Spokane County Jail on a $55,000 bond.
In 2012, Hill was arrested in Post Falls while asleep in a car from which he appeared to be stealing a radio. At the time, he also had a felony warrant out of Washington for attempting to elude police.