LYNNWOOD, Wash. — A stolen truck out of Everett led investigators to a chop shop in Lynnwood. Snohomish County Sheriff’s Deputies said the stolen Everett truck had GPS and lead them to the Lynnwood property where they discovered a treasure trove of stolen vehicles.
The property’s owner said squatters moved in over a year ago. He said they bashed the front gate to get in and trashed the lot.
“This has made me cry when I go to my property there,” said owner Mike Dhillon. “It just makes me feel so bad when I go to my property and what they’ve done to my property.”
The Lynnwood lot used to be where he stored the equipment for his construction business. He leased it to someone at the start of the COVID pandemic. The owner said that lease let squatters in. That person passed away last year and the squatters took over. Dhillon said he’s called the police several times to help remove the squatters but was told they’re handcuffed by eviction laws.
“It’s just built up really there. There’s a mobile home there. We have no water, we have no sewage on site, they just live on the property,” he said. “They always have a hanging gun on their belt and big knife and it’s very scary. It’s a very scary place.”
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office got a call from Everett Police Department Monday, July 24. A truck stolen out of a business there, equipped with GPS pinged at the lot in Lynnwood.
“While they were out here they located that stolen vehicle that was stolen in hate commercial burglary as well as a second stolen vehicle,” said Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer, Courtney O’Keefe. “They observed a male and female suspect moving the vehicles around the property.”
Deputies then got a warrant to search the property. They arrested the two people seen in the stolen cars. Several others ran off. Investigators said they didn’t have probable cause to arrest them. Once on the property, deputies recovered stolen vehicles, one after the other.
“That includes vehicles, boats, and jet skis. This has been a two-day-long operation,” said O’Keefe. “They located a bunch of stolen property here as well. Likely thousands of dollars worth.”
A total of 13 vehicles were discovered on the property. Deputies said they’ve connected this crime scene to another property searched earlier this month on Locust Way. Investigators found either stolen vehicles there along with stolen guns, drugs, and a person hiding armed with a stolen gun.
“We do believe that some individuals involved in that property were also involved here in this one,” O’Keefe said.
Mike Dhillon said while the squatters are now gone, so are his expensive tools and construction equipment. He said his three excavators and a bulldozer are missing, and since he’s no longer in business they weren’t insured. He also has to pay for the cleanup.
“It’s a big loss for me. At least a quarter of a million-dollar loss for me,” he said.
Investigators said right now, they can’t confirm the two people arrested in Lynnwood with the stolen vehicles are the same pair who stole the initial truck out of Everett Monday. Investigators are contacting the owners of the vehicles to reunite them with their stolen property.
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