Gold Bar burglary suspect held on bail

Burglary suspect and registered sex offender Brett Card, who allegedly found his weeks of eluding law enforcement to be a real thrill, is now sitting in the Snohomish County Jail.

Card allegedly burglarized at least one home in Gold Bar — multiple others are being investigated — while violating his parole and shirking community custody.

The felony case was filed in Everett District Court, according to the Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. The felony dismissal deadline is 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2. Bail was set at $20,000 in that case.

The 26-year-old was arrested on Jan. 11 on a second warrant for failing to register as a sex offender. An omnibus hearing in Snohomish County Superior Court is set for Feb. 22, and a trial call hearing is scheduled for March 9. Card’s bail for the additional charge is set at $5,000.

He was found in a Gold Bar trailer, about 15 miles east of Monroe. Gold Bar Police Chief Dave Casey had received a Crime Stoppers tip that led him to the property, where Card was arrested less than an hour later.

Police and residents had been searching for Card for weeks. A newly formed local action group called the Sky Valley Watch Dogs shared what information they could to help law enforcement pinpoint his whereabouts. The coalition also was on alert to the rash of recent burglaries in the area.

There have been at least a dozen instances in the past two months where homes were broken into under similar circumstances, and jewelry and other small items were stolen. Casey is still investigating these cases, and advises residents to stay vigilant.

An 18-year-old man was at home during the burglary for which Card is the suspect. He was able to identify Card, because he had previously met the man known to some as “Wild Card,” according to police.

Card had recently spent 30 days in jail in October for failing to register as a sex offender. He was convicted of third-degree child rape in 2015, which in Washington is when a person has sex with someone at least two years younger — between the ages of 14 and 16 — and was sentenced to 27 months of confinement and 36 months of community custody.

It is believed that because Card wasn’t confronted the day he allegedly broke into the occupied Gold Bar home, he turned around and ran out of the house. He admitted to the burglary upon his arrest, according to probable cause documents. He told Casey he had done work for the homeowner before and sold her meth, but she hadn’t paid for either. Card sold her jewelry he stole, but would not tell deputies where.

He said he knew law enforcement was looking for him, according to the documents. While he was hiding out he called his fiancée and asked her and others to send in tips saying they had seen him in his hometown of Forks.

His plan was to hop on a train and get out of Washington while officers were chasing false leads, according to the documents. Card told Casey fleeing from police was one of the greatest rushes he had experienced. On his personal Facebook page, his profession was listed as a “Career Criminal.”

Card was asleep in the trailer when Casey and backup officers surrounded the trailer. He quickly gave himself up. He was “pretty down and out,” Casey recalled.

Card told him he had jumped into the river a few days before. He was walking along the railroad tracks when a spotlight fell on him, which he believed were police, so he tried to escape. He lost everything, including any extra food and dry clothing he had. He tried to find places to stay out of the elements, and hadn’t eaten for days.

Casey previously cautioned that Card would alter his appearance regularly. His hair had been dyed bleach blond when he was arrested.

That same day Casey was able to determine Card was not responsible for at least one of the recent burglaries. That means someone is still out there who may have carried out others.

“The rest of them I don’t know,” he said.

Casey said the only similarity Card and the other burglar have in common is that they are both white males. Other than that, their appearances are very different. The good news is that there have been no new reported burglaries since it was publicly shared that the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office was looking for Card and investigating the burglaries. 

“I don’t think we have a bunch of burglars working here; we have two specific, and it’s likely we just have one other person,” Casey said.