Two men have been charged with second-degree burglary after stealing several items from Sacajawea Middle School last month.
At about 6:50 p.m. Jan. 24, Federal Way police officers were sent to investigate an in-progress burglary at Sacajawea Middle School, 1101 S. Dash Point Road. Based on witness reports and police investigation, officers located two men at a nearby bus stop who were in possession of property belonging to Federal Way Public Schools.
Joshua Roberts, 42, and Zaphett Spears, 43, were charged by King County Superior Court on Jan. 27. The county requested a summons for Spears and set Roberts’ bail at $1,000.
The arraignments are scheduled for 9 a.m. Feb. 8 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.
According to the charging documents:
A FWPS security guard reported that the school gym doors’ alarm had been activated around 6:50 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 24. Upon viewing school security cameras, the guard saw two men enter the gym and select items from within the school.
About six minutes later, a witness reported the burglary and said while walking near the school’s baseball field, the witness encountered two men in trench coats fleeing from the school toward Pacific Highway South while holding electrical equipment with wires protruding.
Around 7 p.m., a Federal Way officer located and detained two men who matched the witness’s description at a nearby bus stop.
The first man, later identified as Zaphett Spears, possessed a computer monitor, docking station and a speaker inside his trench coat. The second man, later identified as Joshua Roberts, had a computer speaker and a fog machine, and was wearing a gray trench coat. Both of the trench coats were adorned with stickers stating Federal Way Public Schools with a property identification number.
The school security guard confirmed the discovered items belonged to Federal Way Public Schools. Both Spears and Roberts denied burglarizing the school despite being found with the school property minutes after the burglary occurred, documents state.
Color footage from the City of Federal Way Safe City Cameras also captured Spears and Roberts fleeing from the school and Spears carrying a large object, later to be determined as a computer monitor. The men are seen stopping at a bus stop on the westside of Pacific Highway South and Dash Point Road before crossing the street to a northbound bus stop.
