At 7:39 p.m. on May 8th Fircrest Police responded to a burglary in progress call in the city. A homeowner called 911 saying a man tried to push his way into their house and then ran into the woods south of the home.
University Place Police responded to assist and started checking the area for the suspect. The suspect was reportedly in his underwear at the time of the attempted burglary.
One Deputy located the man on a property and saw him start breaking into a horse trailer. The deputy was waiting for backup to arrive when they then saw smoke coming from inside the trailer.
Deputies called for the suspect to come out of the trailer, but he remained inside. West Pierce Firefighters responded and put the fire out. The suspect was found deceased inside of the trailer.
Detectives and forensic investigators were called out along with the Pierce County Fire Marshal to investigate the death. The Fircrest Police Department is handling the initial burglary investigation.
At this time we have not confirmed the identity of the deceased male and will await further information from the Medical Examiner’s Office.
