Lakebay Post Office Burglary Suspect Arrested, Again

An arrest was made April 28 in connection with the burglary of the Lakebay Post Office April 3 and the break-in at the Belfair Post Office in Mason County April 17. The two cases were earlier reported as being unrelated.

The suspect, Nathan Drew Lindquist, 48, of Bremerton, was arrested and booked into the Mason County Jail. He faces multiple criminal charges for the two post office break-ins but was released the following day.

This is not the first time Lindquist was apprehended and charged with postal theft, with criminal cases in multiple jurisdictions stacking up against him.

U.S. Postal Inspector John Weigand said Lindquist is the same suspect awaiting trial for an earlier string of post office burglaries including the Lakebay Post Office in June 2019, four post offices in Kitsap County and the Allyn Post Office in Mason County. Weigand said the postal inspection service solved those cases in 2020.

WestNet Taskforce agents made the arrest. WestNet is a multi-jurisdictional task force that includes the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Naval Criminal Investigation Service and the Washington State Patrol, in addition to law enforcement from Kitsap, Mason and Pierce counties.

Weigand said WestNet primarily investigates narcotics, but “they do a lot of mail and postal crimes as well, with a postal inspector attached to the task force unit.”

Lindquist is currently on pretrial release for the charges already filed against him.