Spokane Valley Investigative Unit (SVIU) Detectives arrested a habitual thief for the second time is just over three weeks. Phong Quang Do, a nine time convicted felon, was released from jail on his own recognizance for five felony charges of theft on June 3rd. Do was arrested again on June 27, 2016 at approximately 3:00 p.m. and charged with two new counts of Theft 2nd Degree Retail Theft with Special Circumstances.
Detective Jerad Kiehn, investigating additional theft complaints believed to be committed by Do since his release from jail arrived at Sears on North Division yesterday afternoon. Detective Kiehn spotted Do outside the Sears store and immediately contacted a Sears Loss Prevention Officer (LPO) to advise him of Do’s presence. The LPO observed Do select a silver chain necklace, conceal it in his front shorts pocket and exit the store without paying for the necklace.
Detective Kiehn observed Do walk out of Sears and get onto an STA bus. When it was safe to do so, Detective Kiehn arranged for Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputy Tim Greenfield to stop the bus and take Do into custody in the area of the 10800 block of North Indian Trail Road. The necklace was located in Do’s front shorts pocket with the store’s sales tag still attached.
Do was also charged for a theft committed on June 24, 2016 at Sears on North Division where Do was observed stealing a Dewalt saw without paying for it.
Do is a nine time convicted felon and detectives arrested and charged him with five additional felonies in late May of this year. At that time, Do was immediately released on his own recognizance by Judge Sypolt at his first appearance hearing even though Prosecutors requested a substantial bail.
Property Crimes Detectives continue to be extremely frustrated with a system that does not address habitual offenders who by their own actions make it clear they will continue to prey upon our community business and citizens if they are not in custody and out on our streets.
The Spokane Valley Police Department and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office want to assure the citizens we serve; we will continue to aggressively investigate property crimes with the goal of holding people accountable for their criminal behavior as we work to keep our community safe.
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Original Press Release from June 3, 2016:
Prolific Thief Nabbed in the Act
Spokane Valley Investigative Unit (SVIU) Detectives arrested a habitual thief who specialized in stealing tools from a variety of area retailers and selling them at local pawn shops.
In early May, 2016, Detective Jerad Kiehn noticed a variety of retail thefts in the Spokane Valley and Spokane City that involved the same basic method and suspect description. An adult male driving a blue minivan was observed walking into Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart and Sears where he would select high end power tools. The suspect would walk around the checkout stands and flee the area before Deputies could be called. Detectives conducted a lengthy follow up investigation and identified the suspect as 37-year-old Phong Quang Do. Video from the retailers combined with physical surveillance confirmed that Do was actively stealing items and pawning them at local pawn shops. On occasion, Do would return to the same store multiple times on the same day.
On June 3, 2016, Detectives from SVIU conducted surveillance of Do in an effort to arrest him for a variety of property related felonies. Before he could be arrested, Detectives witnessed Do leaving the Sears store at Northtown Mall where he had just stolen a $250 trimmer. Sears employees confirmed he had just taken the item and fled the store without paying. Do drove six blocks away to the Gold Bay Pawn where he sold the item for $60 cash. The trimmer was still sealed in its original packaging when Detectives recovered it from Gold Bay later in the day.
Spokane City Police Officers assisted SVIU Detectives by conducting a traffic stop of Do and his blue minivan on East Sprague Avenue a few minutes after he left Gold Bay Pawn. Detectives arrested Do and booked him for multiple counts to include Theft 2nd Degree, Retail Theft with Special Circumstances, Trafficking in Stolen Property 1st Degree and an unrelated Theft warrant.
Detectives continue to follow up additional leads of other property that had been stolen and then pawned by Do.
Do has at least 9 prior felony and 5 misdemeanor convictions including Felony Drugs, Riot with a Deadly Weapon, Domestic Violence Order Violation and Felony Theft charges. Given his criminal history and continuing criminal behavior, Detectives will request a substantial bail to be set to help keep Do from being released and continuing to preying on our community.