Ronald Bailey was being held at the Thurston County Jail Tuesday on suspicion of second-degree burglary after his arrest on suspicion of taking the cash from the Mottman Road Jack in the Box. His bail was set at $10,000.
According to court papers:
Two employees reported to Tumwater police that they had stepped to the back exit to have a cigarette early Sunday morning when the burglary occurred. One employee said that as he returned to the drive-through window, he saw a man walking outside away from the restaurant, and "did not think anything of it," until he opened the register to give change to a customer and found that it was completely empty other than a few coins.
The Jack in the Box was open only to drive-through customers at the time, and the exterior doors to the building were all locked.
A store manager arrived, and they all watched surveillance video from the restaurant, which showed a man opening the closed drive-through window and crawling through it. The suspect retrieved a set of keys to the register, opened the register and took all the money inside.
During a Tumwater police officer's investigation, he learned that a man had been arrested for misdemeanor disorderly conduct several blocks away, at the McDonald's in the 5600 block of Capitol Boulevard. The arresting officer's description of the suspect matched the man seen crawling in through the drive-through window at the Jack in the Box. Also, the suspect arrested at the McDonald's had a clear bottle of vodka, similar to a bottle in a hip pocket of the man who burglarized the Jack in the Box.
Bailey, who was in custody at the Nisqually Jail for the disorderly conduct citation, was rearrested on suspicion of second-degree burglary and taken to the Thurston County Jail. Bailey denied setting foot inside the Jack in the Box.
Tumwater Police Detective Jen Kolb said Tuesday that a burglar entering a fast-food restaurant through a drive-through window during business hours is not something police usually see.
Jeremy Pawloski: 360-754-5445 jpawloski@theolympian.com
