After burglarizing a Bainbridge home, man makes getaway in kayak

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND – A Suquamish man was arrested Sunday after burglarizing a Bainbridge Island home, taking three valuable instruments and evading a police search by kayaking away from the area on the north end of the island, police said.

Thomas Horton, 30, was taken into custody without incident at his home in Suquamish, according to Bainbridge police, and he was charged with a felony count of residential burglary in Kitsap County Superior Court on Monday.

The break-in at a West Port Madison home on Sunday morning prompted police to send out photos of Horton, asking the community for help in finding the man. Later that afternoon, police sent out a community text alert urging people near Bloedel Reserve to stay inside while a K9 team searched for the man, who Bainbridge Island Police Sgt. Scott Weiss said took three valuable stringed instruments, some silverware and a rain jacket from the home.

Weiss said Horton later told a detective he had been using drugs and was looking for something to eat and drink.

Aware that police were looking for him, Horton stole a kayak and paddled out to the Indianola area, where Kitsap County Sheriff’s deputies were called about a male in his underwear, Weiss said. Horton’s mother picked him up and brought him to his home in Suquamish, where police took him into custody at about 5 p.m., Weiss said.

The musical instruments were recovered, he said.

Nathan Pilling is a reporter covering Bainbridge Island, North Kitsap and Washington State Ferries for the Kitsap Sun. He can be reached at 360-792-5242, nathan.pilling@kitsapsun.com or on Twitter at @KSNatePilling.

Consider supporting local journalism in Kitsap County: Sign up for a digital subscription today.