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Thursday, April 18, 2013
Marshal IDs shoplifting suspect using free website By Megan Hansen Editor
Coupeville Town Marshal Lance Davenport said he was able to track down a shoplifter with the help of the public and Internet. By utilizing a free web service called CanYouID.me, Davenport was able to post surveillance images of a man suspected of stealing hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise from a Front Street business. The March 3 shoplifting incident prompted Davenport to use the service shortly after becoming a member. The owner of the shop provided 30 minutes of surveillance footage of the suspect. Davenport said he was able to pull several good images of the man to create a suspect profile. The case against the man in question, a 25-year-old Whidbey Island transient, was forwarded to the Island County Prosecutor’s Office for consideration of charges. The website allows other law enforcement personnel as well as the public to search by town or city and look at images of people the police are looking for. If someone recognizes a person they can contact that agency directly. Davenport said within a week of posting images, he started receiving tips. “It took about a week or so for people to start seeing,” he said. “Every couple of days info would trickle in.” Davenport also said the information seemed to be coming from a wide variety of areas and didn’t appear to be coming from one group of people. “It proved very successful,” he said. Once Davenport had a suspect in mind he said he was able to compare the surveillance images with prior arrest photographs. The man has a criminal past for similar types of crime. “I feel strongly we identified the right person,” he said. Because Coupeville has such heavy tourism traffic, the website might also prove useful in identifying suspects who don’t live on the island. More often than not criminals go out of their area of residence to commit crime, Davenport said.
VOL. 18, NO. 37
Who REscued Randy?
Nathan Whalen photo
Members of the Coupeville Garden Glub want to know the name of the anonymous person who recently cleaned Randy, a bronze statue of a little boy pouring a bucket of water over his head. In the background is a statue of a little girl, named Sally, who is watching Randy. The two statues have been prominent features at Cook’s Corner Park near downtown Coupeville for more than 10 years. By Nathan Whalen Staff Reporter
Members of the Coupeville Garden Club are putting on their sleuthing hats to solve a mystery surrounding a popular statue. Club members want to know the name of the good Samaritan who recently cleaned a bronze statue standing in Cook’s Corner Park near downtown Coupeville. “We would like to know who and thank the person,” said Coupeville Garden Club member Mary Dent. The statue in question is Randy, a bronze sculpture of a young boy pouring a bucket of water over his head. The Coupeville Garden Club donated Randy to the town of Coupeville in 2000 and has been a popular feature at Cook’s Corner Park ever since. A water pump is hooked up to Randy which allows water to trickle from the bucket over his head. That trickle tends to leave water marks on Randy. She said it appears whoever cleaned the statue knew what they were doing.
Removing the lime scale requires the light use of a propane torch and then application of carnuba wax, said Larry Smith, public works superintendent for the Town of Coupeville. He said he contacted the sculptor about the best way to maintain the bronze statue. He said he was appreciative of the anonymous statue cleaner. “Kudos and thanks to whoever helped us out,” Smith said. Randy is one of two statues standing in the small corner park which is home to the annual tree lighting which takes place each December during the Greening of Coupeville. Randy’s partner Sally was placed at the
park in 2001 and named in honor of Sally Hart, who joined the Coupeville Garden Club in 1990 and headed the sculpture committee before passing away in 2001. Kind-hearted fans of the popular statue have paid special attention to the duo. Randy has been dressed in a cap and stocking when the temperature drops. Dent said she tied the yellow ribbons currently on Sandy’s pony tails. Sandy is seated facing Randy, but she doesn’t get the same water marks as the water-logged boy. The sculpture was cast by Jim Demetro, who works from his studio in Battle Ground, Wash. If anyone has any information about who cleaned Randy, call Dent at 360-678-7069.