Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a thief who stole $4,000 worth of firefighting gear out of the personal truck of a Mukilteo firefighter.
The theft happened outside the firefighter’s home south of Lake Stevens early Tuesday morning. The man was seen on surveillance video attempting to break into other vehicles.
The thief got away with a long list of valuable, taxpayer-funded gear that will be hard to sell on the black market.
“It's very specialized gear,” Snohomish County sheriff’s spokesperson Shari Ireton said. “It's going to be very hard to get rid of. So, we're really hoping the community can help us get the equipment back and help out the city and get this guy into custody.”
It's not clear what was behind the theft, but Ireton told KIRO 7 this type of theft has increased with the opioid epidemic in Snohomish County.