Brazen thieves stole nearly everything a U.S. Coast Guard family owns, including two vehicles.
They were parked outside the Best Western Plus on South Hosmer Street in South Tacoma with the family inside.
These thieves had no way of knowing, but they stole from a man serving our country.
Bo Partsch has been in the Coast Guard for nearly seven years. He and his family stopped here on their way to his new posting.
Now just about everything they brought is gone.
“Everything, everything,” said Partsch. “They hopped in my truck and drove my truck, trailer and the jeep away.”
Partsch hasn’t slept much since Saturday night when he made a terrible discovery. Someone had stolen just about everything the family owned.
“It’s my whole life inside those two vehicles,” lamented Partsch. “Not just my life, but my in-law’s life and everyone else, my four kids.”
He says the people running the Best Western here on South Hosmer Street suggested he park his vehicles out in the open to keep them safe. The 25-year-old Coast Guardsman, his wife, four children and in-laws are on their way to his new posting in Seattle.
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Not even his uniforms were spared.
“My boots, my pants, my blouse, my undershirts, my belt, everything that I have for work is gone,” Partsch said.
The theft happened on a night so busy, Tacoma police didn’t respond for six long hours. But Officer Shelbie Boyd said, by telephone, they are hopeful they will find what was stolen.
“I guess if I find a silver lining, the fact that their vehicle, it kind of stands out a bit,” said Officer Boyd. “So, if the plates are still affixed, obviously a Michigan plate is going to stand out. So, I am hopeful that at least their property is going to be returned to them at some point.”
“That’s my truck,” said Partsch, pointing to grainy video. “The jeep is on my car trailer. You can see my belongings stacked up to the back.”
The owners of the Best Western shared with Partsch the surveillance video of his vehicles being stolen. But they would not allow us to share it with viewers. Now he is warning others from staying anywhere near here.
“Especially if you value anything that you have with you,” advises Partsch. “Don’t stay here.”
He has been going around Tacoma trying to find his vehicles. Tacoma Police say they are looking, too.
Partsch and his family have set up a GoFundMe account. Here’s a link.
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