Alleged burglar targeted military

A 24-year-old Oak Harbor man is accused of burglarizing the homes of military people while they were on deployment and then selling the items to his girlfriend’s mother, according to court documents.

Prosecutors charged Dedrick Johnson in Island County Superior Court Oct. 16 with two counts of residential burglary, two counts of trafficking in stolen property in the first degree and malicious mischief in the second degree.

Johnson pleaded not guilty Oct. 29.

According to a report by Oak Harbor Detective Mike Bailey, a 19-year-old man admitted to giving Johnson a ride to two Oak Harbor homes to “pick up some of his things” to sell to his girlfriend’s mother. They stopped at a home on NW Eighth Avenue, where Johnson grabbed a case of DVD movies and a DVD player, and at a home on NW Cathlamet Drive, where he got a bag of DVD movies.

It turned out, Bailey wrote, that Johnson broke into the two homes, which belonged to sailors on deployment.

Johnson sold the items for a total of $60, Bailey wrote. If convicted of the charges, Johnson could face up to seven years in prison under the standard sentencing range.

Johnson is being held in jail on $10,000. His “extensive criminal history,” the report states, includes multiple fourth-degree assault and burglary charges.

You can reach News-Times reporter Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewstimes.com or call 675-6611.

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