Blood trail leads police to Olympia burglary suspect

Olympia police arrested a 27-year-old Red Lobster employee early Wednesday morning after he allegedly broke into the restaurant, then left a trail of blood that allowed police to find him.

A Thurston County Superior Court judge set bail at $2,500 for Kyle W. Chase, who appeared in court on Thursday. He is being held in the Thurston County Jail on suspicion of second-degree burglary.

The Olympia Police Department gave the following account of the events leading to Chase’s arrest:

Officers responded to the Red Lobster restaurant in the 4500 block of Martin Way just after 1 a.m. They discovered a broken window and a rock under one of the tables near the broken window.

Officers also found a trail of blood between the window and the area where dish rags are stored.

The trail of blood and broken glass led across Martin Way, where officers found the suspect riding toward them on a bike with a large bandage on his hand. The suspect said he had been in a bicycle crash after checking on his grandparents who live nearby. Besides the bandaged hand, the suspect showed no signs of injuries that could have resulted from a bicycle crash.

An officer went to the grandparents’ home and found blood outside of the home and in the kitchen, bloody rags in the washing machine, and a shoe covered in glass shards.

Officers arrested the suspect.

This story was originally published August 28, 2015 at 11:14 AM with the headline "Blood trail leads police to Olympia burglary suspect."