PORT TOWNSEND — Police arrested a man this week in an investigation of shoplifting from a Port Townsend business after a North Olympic Peninsula resident identified him from a photo posted on an online investigation website publicized by the Peninsula Daily News.
Trinston Spencer Rigby, 29, of Forks was identified from a surveillance photo Port Townsend police posted on the www.CanYouID.me website, Detective Luke Bogues said.
The man who made the identification said he did not want to be named because he had intended to make the identification to police anonymously.
He had checked the website after reading a Feb. 26 front-page story in the PDN about Port Townsend police’s use of the statewide website created by the Lake Forest Police Department in King County and contacted Bogues.
Rigby was arrested Wednesday and, Bogues said, has confessed to taking two flashlights valued at $86 from Henery Do It Best Hardware in Port Townsend on Dec. 30.
The photo posted on the website was from the store’s surveillance video.
“This was an outstanding example of cooperation between community members and law enforcement,” Bogues said.
“I’m ecstatic [about] the experience of using CanYouId.me, and I hope we can replicate this success to solve additional crimes against people and businesses in Port Townsend,” Bogues added.
The success of the website as an investigative tool for the Port Townsend police has encouraged police in Port Angeles.
Port Angeles police, although listed as a participating agency on the website, had not used it recently.
Brian Smith, Port Angeles deputy chief, said he intends to establish log-on privileges for officers and use the service frequently.
“We will be using this in the future,” he said.
“This is an appropriate tool for law enforcement that could have made a difference to us in past cases.
“The Lake Forest Police Department deserves a lot of credit for making this available to other agencies.”
Bogues said he confirmed the identification with Forks Police Officers Julie Goode and Todd Garcia.
Bogues arrested Rigby for investigation of third-degree theft when Rigby appeared in Jefferson County District Court on another matter Wednesday.
According to Bogues’ probable-cause statement, Rigby was wearing a camouflage hat like the one visible on his head in the Henery Hardware surveillance video.
Bogues said Rigby provided a written statement confessing to the theft of flashlights but was not taken into custody, instead being released on his own recognizance.
“He was being helpful and had shown up for his court appearances, so I released him,” Bogues said.
Bogues forwarded the case to the Jefferson County prosecuting attorney recommending Rigby be charged and summoned to court.
No paperwork had been filed by Thursday afternoon.
On the free website created in 2010, police investigators from throughout the state can post photographs of people captured on video that they could not identify.
The site asks members of the public to click on a photo and send information if they recognize the person.
None of the people in the photos has been charged. The photos are from police investigations.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
