A 31-year-old Shelton man has been charged with a felony count of second-degree possession of stolen property after police alleged he used a credit card that was taken from inside a car that had been stolen on Bainbridge Island.
Tylan Karl Cuzick was charged with the felony Thursday, April 3 in Kitsap County District Court.
According to a statement of probable cause, Cuzick was seen at a Shell gas station on Viking Way in Poulsbo on Oct. 20, 2013 that contained items that were stolen from the vehicle that had been parked and then stolen that same day on Bainbridge Island.
The stolen vehicle was found the following day, but the owner discovered that items from inside the vehicle — a Pendleton blanket, jumper cables and credit and debit cards — were missing.
Video from the Shell gas station showed Cuzick in a red Jeep Cherokee drive up to the pumps, get gas, and then go into the store. Police claim Cuzick was videotaped as he used one of the credit cards stolen from the Bainbridge vehicle.
Police began searching for the Jeep, and were later told by the Suquamish Police that they had found the vehicle, but the occupants ran off when approached by police.
Inside the Jeep, police found items that had been stolen from the Bainbridge vehicle, including the Pendleton blanket and jumper cables. An officer also saw drugs and glass pipes used for smoking methamphetamine in the Jeep, as well as digital scales and syringes.
Officers also found 1.19 grams of whitish crystals that later tested positive for methamphetamine, according to court records, and checks that appeared fraudulent that had been made out to Cuzick.
Police then found numerous items that had been reported stolen from two storage units in Poulsbo between Oct. 26 and Oct. 28. The items, valued between $2,000 and $5,000, included household goods, automotive items and tools.
A purse and driver’s license that had been stolen on Oct. 29 was also found in the Jeep, as well as a flash thumb drive taken during a car prowl in Silverdale on Oct. 20.
A Bainbridge detective later caught up with Cuzick when he was in the Kitsap County Jail in early April after his arrest on two outstanding warrants from Mason and Jefferson counties.
Cuzick allegedly admitted using the stolen credit card at the Shell station in Poulsbo, but said he had gotten the cards from another person and not the stolen vehicle.
He also said he didn’t know how the other stolen things had gotten into the Jeep.
Cuzick allegedly told the Bainbridge detective that he had worked as a heroin delivery man for “El Chapo,” the Sinaloa drug cartel leader who was arrested in Mazatlan, Mexico in February.
Cuzick said he was no longer able to get pounds of heroin after the arrest and said his Tacoma Mexican drug connection “dried up,” according to court documents. He said he was willing to help authorities work to fight drugs, but he wanted the arrest warrants from Mason and Jefferson counties dropped, as well as the Bainbridge charges, and asked to be released from jail for his help.
The Bainbridge detective declined the offer.
Bail was originally set at $100,000 for identity theft; $5,000 for a felony charge of failure to appear/contempt of court; $10,000 for a Jefferson County felony charge of second-degree burglary; and $1,100 for a different failure to appear charge.
Possession of stolen property in the second degree carries a maximum prison term of five years and $10,000 fine upon conviction.
