Magazines used as cover for Oak Harbor burglaries, charges say
By JESSIE STENSLAND
Whidbey News Times Assistant editor
March 23, 2011 · 2:43 PM
Two door-to-door magazine salesmen accused of burglarizing an Oak Harbor home Feb. 22 are facing charges in Island County Superior Court.
Prosecutors charged 19-year-old Ricky Miller, a transient, on Feb 25 with residential burglary, first-degree trespass, third-degree theft and possession of marijuana. He pleaded not guilty March 7 and is being held on $15,000 bail.
Miller's co-defendant, 20-year-old Derrik Moss of Ohio, was charged with residential burglary and possession of marijuana. He was released after posting bail.
Detective Sgt. Teri Gardner with the Oak Harbor Police Department said it was an unusual case because an officer actually witnessed the alleged burglars in the act.
According to a report by Detective Mike Bailey, a NE Seventh Avenue resident called police after seeing two men at the back door of a neighbor's home while the neighbor was gone. One of the officers responding to the call saw the two men running out of the back door and arrested Moss, while Miller ran away, the report states.
An officer later found Miller hiding inside a garden shed in the backyard of a NE Eighth Avenue home, Bailey wrote.
According to court documents, Miller and Moss worked for a company that travels by bus across the country and sell magazines door to door.
Contact Whidbey News Times Assistant editor Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360.675.6611 ext. 5056.Comment on this story.
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