Witness helps lead police to stolen televisions

A witness who noted the license number of a car used in a theft helped Vancouver police recover two flat-screen televisions Tuesday.

Two men took 55-inch and 60-inch flat-screen televisions at 11:40 a.m. from the Cascade Park Fred Meyer, 11325 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd., loaded them into an Acura Integra, and drove off, said Vancouver police Sgt. Steven Dobbs.

The car’s rear license plate was missing, but the witness saw the front plate, said Dobbs, with the East Precinct’s Neighborhood Response Team.

Officers found the car, with its hood still warm, at a nearby apartment complex at 11900 N.E. 18th St. They went to the apartment associated with the vehicle and tried to make contact with the occupants, but nobody would come to the door.

A District Court judge approved a search warrant, and it was served at the apartment at 4:10 p.m. Officers found several people in the apartment, along with the two stolen television sets. Officers notified the retailer, and the two recovered TVs were turned over to representatives of Fred Meyer.

Pavel P. Sokirkin, 19, and Aleshin Yevgeniy, 20, both were arrested on suspicion of second-degree theft and second-degree possession of stolen property. There also was a District Court warrant on Yevgeniy.

The 1996 Acura Integra which was used in the commission of the felony theft was seized, Dobbs said.