PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles transient will return to court Feb. 5 to have a trial date set on two stolen property charges stemming from the Dec. 14 burglary of the Port Angeles Salvation Army’s Toy and Joy Center.
Edna Nicole Coe, 25, pleaded not guilty Friday to first-degree trafficking in stolen property and second-degree possession of stolen property.
She had been arrested last Sunday and booked into the Clallam County jail. She was released Monday on her own recognizance.
Superior Court Judge George L. Wood on Friday ordered her to return to court for a trial date on the felony charges.
At least $1,500 worth of toys, donated for distribution to children for Christmas, were stolen from the Salvation Army.
Coe was found in possession of items valued at $884 that had been stolen from the Salvation Army storage building, Port Angeles police said in a court document.
They said she sold some of the toys to Michael William Tripp, a 24-year-old transient.
Tripp was cited for misdemeanor possession of stolen property on Dec. 16. A case had been filed in Clallam County District Court by last week.
No additional arrests have been made in the case, and the investigation is still active, Port Angeles Police Detective Sgt. Tyler Peninger said Friday.
Police say that Coe sent a text message to Tripp asking if he wanted to buy some gifts.
Tripp told Officer Thomas Kuch that he met Coe and another woman at a Liberty Street business and followed them to a shack in the alley between First and Front streets where he purchased a basketball, a watch, four Barbies, a coloring book and a Hello Kitty backpack for $20.
Police have recovered about a quarter of the stolen Port Angeles Salvation Army toys. They returned most of those to the Christian charity in time for toy distributions before Christmas.
The recovered items included video games for older children, preschool learning tablets, dolls, socks and underwear.
The theft was discovered at 7 a.m. Dec. 14, when a neighbor walking a dog spotted several burglars passing toys, clothing and other gifts out a window and called police.
Police said that the burglars entered an unlocked window of the building.
The Salvation Army has hired a private security company to watch over the office at 206 S. Peabody St., police said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
