SPOKANE, Wash. -- Authorities followed footprints in the snow early Monday to track down a burglary suspect.
It happened around 4 a.m. at the K-Mart store near Sprague and Havana.
Investigators said Kevin Bockelmann, 25, used a baton to smash the front doors and ran straight to the jewelry counter. He scooped up $25,000 worth of merchandise before fleeing on foot, according to police.
The break-in caused the alarm to go off and officers quickly arrived on scene. They spotted the man’s footprints in the snow and immediately called in a K-9 unit. Officers followed the tracks over fences and into yards for five blocks.
The footprints stopped at a home in the 4400 block of East 1st Avenue. Bockelmann walked out of the house carrying a backpack with the stolen jewelry reportedly inside.
Police took him into custody for second-degree burglary and first-degree theft.
