University Place Animal Control Officer Spots, Tracks and Arrests Trio of Suspected Burglars

(Editor's note: This is from , who reported some good news regarding an arrest of three suspects on Tuesday)

At 4:30 p.m. this afternoon, an 18-year-old female called 911 from her house in the 3500 block of 67th Ave West. She reported someone broke out her window and that she thought they were trying to gain entry.

As she locked herself in the bathroom, a witness also called 911 to report that she watched the suspect break the window and that he was dropped off by a vehicle which was now circling the block, waiting for the suspect. The witness gave a description and license plate of the suspect to our dispatcher. The suspect apparently got spooked and fled with two other getaway suspects northbound on 67th Avenue.

UP Animal Control Officer Travis Lyons was listening and copied down the suspect vehicle information. He spotted it at 19th and Mildred and stayed behind, updating the changing location until a felony stop could be conducted. Three suspects are in custody and booked into jail. All three had prior criminal convictions to include, robbery, burglary, theft and assault. Two had active warrants for their arrest and all were from outside of UP; Spanaway, Downtown Tacoma and South Tacoma.

I can’t say enough about how much I admire the work that was done not only by patrol, and our civilian witness but mostly by Travis Lyons for his attention to detail. His job is Animal Control and Code Enforcement yet his awareness for all public safety matters makes him a huge part of our team and UP a safer community.