By: Mark Fitzgerald An independent contractor who had been delivering the Kitsap Sun in Bremerton, Wash., was part of a burglary ring that used his route information about vacation stops to plan break-ins, authorities say.
Kitsap County (Wash.) sheriff's deputy last week arrested 23-year-old Paul Eugene Woods and charged him with being part of a group responsible for more than 100 burglaries of homes, mailboxes, and vehicles. Altogether the ring stole goods worth more than $250,000, authorities say.
Police have arrested seven alleged members of the ring, and were still looking for a few more suspects, Charles Horton, the Sun's director of audience development, told E&P Friday.
"I've never heard of this happening, this is a first for me," Horton said of the charge the carrier was a crook.
Woods' delivery contract had been terminated hours before his arrest because he failed to show up for work, the paper said.
Horton said Woods had been delivering the paper for about five months. It's believed the ring did not start operating until January.
"Evidence discovered during the course of the investigation included newspaper delivery route lists, for the Kitsap Sun newspaper, indicating newspaper recipients' vacation dates," the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office said in a statement reported in the Sun by Andrew Binion.
The paper encouraged subscribers concerned about the situation to contact Horton, but he said he received only a couple of calls in the days after Woods' arrest.
Woods was recruited in the normal way the paper gets independent contractors, Horton said. They typically answer an ad in the Sun, are screened by the recruitment manager, and spend three to five days riding along with a district manager to learn delivery procedures, Horton said.
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