Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Police catch man in act of burglary

A Gurdon man was caught in the act of burglarizing Beechs Music Center on Highway 53 North. As of June 8, Larry Washingon, 41, was awaiting arraignment on a felony charge.

According to Marshal Don Childres, Washington, also known as "Chopper," was caught taking items out of the store and loading them into his car. Washington lists an address of North Street in Gurdon.

Childres said he and Officer Garry Marshall were patrolling businesses about 2 a.m. on Saturday morning, June 3, and pulled up on the burglary in progress. They discovered Washington at the scene alone, with no evidence of an anyone else involved.

Childres said, "We pulled in and shined the spotlight on him. He was standing in the doorway loading pictures, CDs, cosmetic jewelry and a weed-eater from the store into his car.

"And we caught him with the bolt cutters he apparently used to break into the place."

Childres said he and his officer took Washington to the Clark County Sheriffs Office, where he was put in jail.

Washington has been charged with commercial burglary, a felony.

"Apparently somebody used the bolt cutters laying at the scene to get into the building, Childres said. And Chopper was caught alone at the music store  loading merchandise into his car.

"The bad part about commercial burglary is the items do not necessarily have to be worth a lot of money to get someone in serious trouble. Low priced items or not, if convicted, Washington still faces the penalty for committing felony commercial burglary."