Thefts of candy, gum machines plague several local businesses

OLYMPIA – Olympia and Lacey police are looking for two suspects who might have a sweet tooth in a bizarre string of gumball and candy machine thefts at seven local businesses since Dec. 14 - including Tuesday's brazen 6 p.m. theft of three candy machines at El Sarape II on Cooper Point Road during business hours.

"I thought it was really strange," said El Sarape II hostess Angela Estrada. She noted that the suspects ignored the till containing cash that is near the foyer where the candy machines containing Skittles and Chiclets were stolen.

El Sarape II general manager Rodrigo Rodriguez said that the stolen candy machines were recovered Wednesday — destroyed at the end of a cul de sac in Tumwater. Rodriguez said he isn't sure what motivated the thieves; they couldn't have gotten much money because the machines had been emptied of coins Tuesday.

"Just more surprised than anything that someone would go through all the trouble and risk to steal a candy machine," Rodriguez said.

Olympia Police Detective Sgt. Dan Smith said the most recent theft of a portable candy machine occurred Wednesday during a nighttime burglary at Lacey Beauty College in the 700 block of Sleater-Kinney Road.

Other than the theft at El Sarape II, the thefts have occurred during burglaries while the businesses are closed, and the thieves have gained entry by hurling a rock — and, in one case, a concrete block — through a window, Smith said.

The first burglary occurred Dec. 14, involving Happy Teriyaki on College Street in Lacey.

Other area businesses hit by the gumball machine thieves include:

• Lee's Buffet on Capital Mall Drive in Olympia on Dec. 24.

• Olympia Supply on Columbia Street and Pho Hoa on Cooper Point Road, both in Olympia, on Jan. 2.

• Shankz Mini Golf on Cooper Point Road on Jan. 13.

Smith said police have no video surveillance of any of the burglaries. But they do have a description of two male suspects in their 20s — one Hispanic, the other white, in a maroon Ford Taurus.

Smith said he has never seen anything like it since he has been working as a police officer in Olympia. Rodriguez suggested that maybe the thieves want to sell the machines on eBay. Smith speculated, "I think they're just doing it for the cash."

Anyone with information on the gumball and candy machine thefts is asked to call Smith at 360-753-8300 or Crime Stoppers at 360-493-2222.

Jeremy Pawloski covers public safety for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5465 or jpawloski@theolympian.com.

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