Row, Row, Row Your Boat, Gently Past Police

2 suspected thieves arrested in Washington's Jefferson County after trying to flee in rowboat
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 12, 2024 7:45 AM CST

It started out as an escape by SUV and ended up as a failed escape by rowboat. That's according to police in Jefferson County, Washington, who describe a botched burglary that ended up with two arrests and a sunken getaway vessel. MyNorthwest.com and KIRO 7 report that the incident took place Tuesday morning, when a homeowner called 911 over what he said was the theft of about $11,000 worth of gold and jewelry from a storage container. He told authorities that the perps were a man and woman dressed in black who left the scene in an SUV with covered license plates.

The homeowner even hurled firewood at their vehicle to get them to stop; a window is said to have shattered, but the suspects got away. Deputies in Kitsap County eventually found the flipped-over SUV, which had crashed near Port Gamble, though the suspects had by then fled on foot. KOMO notes that deputies then sent up a drone to track them down, and it soon spotted them, in a reportedly stolen rowboat on Port Gamble Bay, trying to row away using makeshift paddles, including a piece of plywood.

However, the rowboat soon began to flood with water, "forcing the suspects to swim back to land and right into the hands of deputies," who arrested them, per KIRO 7. KOMO notes that the suspects were uninjured, despite the cold temperature of the water, and booked into Jefferson County Jail. Sgt. Brett Anglin tells the outlet that the SUV would be impounded for processing. It's not clear if the homeowner's jewelry was recovered. (More dumb criminals stories.)

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