SPOKANE, Wash. — Two porch pirates accused of stealing dozens of Christmas presents off porches in Spokane last year has been arrested again, police said on Thursday.
The Spokane Police Department received a call at about 1:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve from someone reporting that their neighbor had a package stolen off of their front porch near the 2500 block of W. Crown Avenue, according to Sgt. Terry Preuninger.
The caller gave police a description of the suspect vehicle and license plate, along with a description of the suspects.
Surveillance video that the victim provided to police showed a woman with dark hair and distinctive highlights, a "12 hoodie" and distinctive black shoes with white soles going up to the packages and looking at them, Preuninger said. The victim told SPD that the stolen package was the gift of a jack-in-the-box for a child.
Officers recognized the suspect vehicle as belonging to 33-year-old Megan Tureman and 52-year-old Duane Yarnell, who were accused of stealing approximately 35 items from at least five separate victims in 2019. The stolen packages, some of which included horse feed and personalized gifts, were found wrapped under a Christmas tree belonging to Yarnell and Tureman.
Many of the theft victims could not be found, Preuninger said.
At about 1:30 p.m. on Christmas Day, officers set up surveillance near Yarnell's home on 2900 block of W. Wellesley Avenue. Shortly after, they saw the pair pull up to the property and start to open the gate.
When officers contacted them and arrested Tureman, she was still wearing the same "12" hoodie and black shoes. Yarnell was also detained and had a warrant out of Colfax, Preuninger said.
Tureman told officers that the stolen jack-in-the-box was sitting in a bag on the driveway, Preuninger said. The bag also contained other stolen items addressed to people that were not Tureman or Yarnell.
Yarnell and Tureman were both placed under arrest for third-degree theft, with Yarnell getting an additional charge of third-degree possession off stolen property. They were booked into the Spokane County Jail on the charges.
The pair was accused of stealing yard art and mail from homes in Northwest Spokane in August 2020. One of the stolen pieces included a kneeling soldier statue from a veteran's yard that they then sold on social media to an unsuspecting buyer in Chewelah, Preuninger said.
The two have a combined 173 felony charges, including second-degree possession of stolen property, forgery, second-degree theft, identity theft, mail theft and criminal conspiracy.
