The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a break-in from Friday, February 28, where a person or group of thieves stole a safe out of a Parkland home.
Investigators believe that given what was stolen from the home, these thieves knew what they were looking for.
“Like it was very apparent that they knew what they were looking for,” Deputy Carly Cappetto with Pierce County Sheriff’s Office said.
The person who was hit, Sam Peterson, says there were at least 6,000 rounds of ammunition inside along with a couple of guns and very personal items.
“There’s an AR-15, a Ruger 10-22 rifle, a bunch of ammo, extra magazines,” Peterson said.
Peterson says some of those personal and valuable items inside that safe are hard to replace like his birth certificate, bank information and vehicle registration.
“My whole identity could be compromised because I have to put a fraud alert on all of my accounts now,” Peterson said.
Peterson says his cameras as well as neighbors caught a van circling around the block before pulling into his home. In the video, you can’t see the suspect or suspects but a white van equipped with a lift, which investigators believe was used to move the safe.
“And busted out the bedroom window. That is where they gained entry and they went and removed the gun safe out of my closet,” Peterson said. “Nothing else was gone except the safe,” he continued.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office says there isn’t much out there when it comes to suspect information.
Deputies are concerned about the weapons taken and the amount of ammo in the safe that could end up on the streets.
“Having this many guns and ammunition on the street in the hands of somebody that it doesn’t belong to is concerning,” Deputy Cappetto said.
Peterson feels he did everything right when it came to locking up his personal stuff, but he says this break in has changed his perspective.
“I have a hard time trusting people before and I am trying to figure out what I am going to do going forward because this hurt me so much that I can’t sleep at night since this has happened,” Peterson said.
If anyone knows anything about the suspects or suspected vehicle, give the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department a call.
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