Road shop burglary suspects arrested

"Two men were arrested and stolen items from the county's Bayview Road Shop were recovered on Wednesday afternoon.Island County Sheriff Mike Hawley said the episode started at 3 p.m. when a neighbor called in a possible trespassing complaint at Bell's Lane on Bell's Beach. The neighbor suspected that people were living in a house that should have been unoccupied. The neighbor also gave the license number of a suspicious white van.Deputies responded and searched a weekend type house, Hawley said. The owner, contacted in Seattle, said no one should have been there, but there were signs that people had been living there. Law enforcement began processing the scene for evidence.Meanwhile, at 6 p.m. Deputy Shawn Warwick saw the suspicious van on Bayview Road and arrested its two occupants, both described by Hawley as homeless South Whidbey residents. Inside the van were power tools and other items suspected to have been stolen from the Road Shop, as well as martial arts weapons.Robert Troy Hawkins, 20, and Nathan Berger, 19, were taken into custody by Deputy Craig Caulk. On the way to jail, Hawkins started banging his head inside the patrol car and broke several windows. He was treated at Whidbey General Hospital before the two suspects were booked into Island County Jail.On Thursday afternoon they were arraigned in court on suspicion of burglary, possession of stolen property, malicious mischief and possessing dangerous weapons. Hawkins and Berger were released on their own recognizance. "

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