LC sheriff's deputies arrest burglary suspect in Spokane Valley

Zack Jay Judge of Spokane Valley was arrested in the early morning of Feb. 3 on charges of second degree burglary, theft of a motor vehicle and malicious mischief in the third degree. Judge remained in Lincoln County Jail as of press time.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office received a complaint from the Wilbur Auto body reporting a theft of a vehicle from the impound lot on Jan. 10, according to the sheriff’s department.

The stolen passenger car had been impounded by Lincoln County Deputy Kurt Cuzzetto Dec. 16 and searched in connection to a case from Dec. 16.

That day, Cuzzetto was patrolling in Creston, when he pulled over a gray Ford Mustang heading eastbound on Watson Street. The driver had a suspended license, and the car had an expired registration, yet was shown to have been sold the year prior, according to the sheriff’s department.

Cuzzetto then executed a search warrant on the Mustang, which yielded meth, ecstasy and multiple methamphetamine pipes, as well as eight credit cards and checks that appear to have been stolen. It also yielded a ledger that contained names, birth dates, addresses, social security numbers, phone numbers, passport information, relative’s information, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, bank routing numbers, emails and passwords of several people.

Victims contacted lived as close as Washington and as far as Michigan and Pennsylvania. Judge was one of the passengers connected with the vehicle in that Dec. 16 stop, according to the sheriff’s office. Charges were filed on several vehicle occupants for multiple counts of identity theft and possession of a controlled substance.

Deputy Dan Christian took the initial complaint of the reported stolen vehicle from Wilbur Auto Body Jan. 10, according to the sheriff’s office. The suspects cut the chain link fence of the business and stole the impounded vehicle.

Cuzzetto determined the location of the pickup truck, then partnered with Spokane County investigators and shared pictures and crime intelligence with detectives. A couple weeks later, the sheriff’s office was contacted by a Spokane County Detective, who said he had information on the suspect vehicle and provided pictures that matched the department’s video surveillance from the night of the theft. The stolen car was entered into the state system and was recovered by Spokane City officers several days later, resulting in an arrest of the operator.

Then, Feb. 3 Lincoln County Sergeant Jerad McLagan and Cuzzetto served a search warrant in Spokane Valley. A SWAT team, five detectives, crime scene analyst, K-9 team, and significant resources including a MRAP, Bear Cat and medical response vehicle joined McLagan and Cuzzetto in serving the warrant.

McLagan and Cuzzetto arrested Judge, at the scene. Evidence was recovered and a confession was obtained from Judge.