Ann Druet woke up on Memorial Day in 2014 to find her lawn chairs and solar lights missing from the front yard of her Salmon Creek home near Chinook Elementary School. Druet soon got her belongings back, but more than a year after the theft, she’s still watching the case work its way through Clark County District Court.
“I’m glad that it’s finally happening,” she said.
Molly Nolan, who loves decorating her house and porch, had a large lantern and antique bird feeder taken from her front yard the same night Druet’s stuff was stolen.
The pair talked and watched surveillance footage captured by Druet’s security cameras. The video shows a white sport utility vehicle parking next to Druet’s house. Two people get out and begin pulling the solar lights out of the ground and putting them in the SUV, along with the chairs.
As word got around the neighborhood, it became evident that other people had items missing from their lawn: fountains, stepping stones, potted plants, wind chimes, bird feeders and statues. Each story was similar — a few items stolen overnight from the front yard, Druet said. Nobody’s house had been broken into.
While walking through the neighborhood, Druet saw an SUV that seemed to match the vehicle in the footage. She talked with a neighbor, who watched the video and told her the people associated with that SUV lived near her, in the 14500 block of Northwest 19th Avenue.
“We were just so shocked that it was literally people in our own neighborhood,” Druet said. “It’s like what they say: ‘Don’t pee in your own backyard.'”
Nolan explained the bizarre scenario to Clark County sheriff’s Deputy Scott Holmes and told him who she thought the thieves were.
Holmes contacted the suspects, Elvia Witthaus, 46, and her boyfriend Patrick Quigley, 51, at Witthaus’ home.
“Her backyard was full of crap,” Holmes said, adding that it faces a greenbelt and there are no neighbors behind her.
At first, Holmes said, the couple admitted to the thefts and cooperated. The couple brought out several items that had been in the yard and residence, according to a probable cause statement that Holmes filed in District Court.
“They both confessed to stealing several more items in which they did not have an account of due to the large number,” the document said. Witthaus said she would try to make things right. She explained to him that she had been having a rough time and started taking things from people’s yards after some of her own things went missing, Holmes said.
Witthaus gave back Druet and Nolan’s belongings, which Holmes put in his patrol car and returned. He also took Nolan to Witthaus’ house, where Nolan took photos and videos of the yard to make an inventory of what was there.
“When I walked into her backyard, I couldn’t believe what I saw,” Nolan said. “I was just absolutely disturbed.”
After a second trip to identify and match missing belongings, Witthaus said she no longer wanted to let people onto her property and was getting an attorney, Holmes said. She posted “no trespassing” signs on her property.
So, Holmes dug deeper to figure out what crimes had been committed and how many. The reported thefts in the area were widespread; neighbors claimed hundreds of items were missing, Holmes said. But, was it all taken by the same person? Could those people prove ownership of their belongings?
Neighborhood residents posted fliers asking people to email descriptions or pictures of any items that had been recently stolen from their front porches and yards. Forty people emailed back, including 16 people with pictures of their belongings that matched items Nolan had documented, she said.
Holmes referred the case to Clark County Superior Court for consideration of felony charges. It went to the bottom of the prosecutors’ pile and then, when it was finally up for review, the office decided to move the case to District Court, Holmes said.
The time lag was unnerving for invested neighbors who wanted to see some retribution for the thefts. This was the first time that the neighborhood had to band together to address a problem, Nolan said.
“You don’t want a whole bunch of time to pass because you want it still fresh in your head,” she said.
The prosecuting attorney’s office had follow-up requests that added to the time lag, Holmes said. Throughout this process, the residents who had their stuff stolen were communicating with each other and with Holmes to get updated on the case’s status.
“If every neighborhood was like this, you would never go there and steal stuff,” Holmes said.
Witthaus and Quigley have each been charged with second-degree criminal trespass, third-degree theft and nine counts of third-degree possession of stolen property. Both of them have decided to go to trial. Quigley’s is set for later this month, and Witthaus’ trial was set over to August.
Quigley’s attorney, Nicholas Wood, declined to comment about the case as it’s an ongoing legal matter.
Meanwhile, Druet took an extra precaution and staked a bright yellow sign into her lawn that reads, “Smile, you’re on camera,” next to a friendly smiley face.
