by AMANDA WINTERS

Sequim Gazette

Sequim police are investigating a series of burglaries reported by Sequim businesses Monday morning.

Lt. Sheri Crain said burglaries were reported at Eric’s RV, Red Dog Coffee, the Purple Haze Lavender store and the Sequim Gazette June 25.

Purple Haze store manager Vickie Oen said when she arrived to open she business she saw the doorjamb was broken. She immediately called the police, she said.

While she was relieved to see her store wasn’t vandalized, $9 in change was stolen, she said.

“That’s a lot of work for $9,” she said. “They must’ve been pretty disappointed.”

Crain said change was stolen from two places and three flat-screen TVs located inside three separate RVs were stolen from Eric’s RV.

Nothing was stolen from the Sequim Gazette.

Office Manager Naomi Blodgett said the door to the Gazette’s storage space was broken into similarly to the neighboring store, Purple Haze. Nothing was taken from the storage space, which mostly contains old furniture.

Crain said all the burglaries happened overnight and could be connected.

“On paper it sounds like we have a horrible burglary spree,” she said. “On the other hand, I want to put it in perspective: The city has had up until this point only 15 burglaries. 

“We’re still doing a little bit better than usual.”

The city hasn’t had the residential burglary issues facing Clallam County law enforcement, she said. Commercial storage areas are generally easy to get into because no one is there and small amounts of things are stolen, she said.

Most burglaries reported are not residential, she said.

People who know something about any of the burglaries being investigated are encouraged to call the Sequim Police Department at 683-7227 or submit an anonymous report through www.crimereports.com.