On Monday the Pierce County Prosecutor’s office charged Nicholas James McCulloch, 33, with residential burglary and malicious mischief. Prosecutors have identified McCulloch as a High Priority Offender.

“Our High Priority Offender Unit focuses resources on repeat offenders,” said Prosecutor Mark Lindquist, “Our goal is to reduce crime and make our community safer.”

On August 6, 2016, a woman called police because she observed a car drop off a man at the house next door, which was her mother-in-law’s house. She observed the man go to the back deck and then lost sight of him and thought he went into the home.

Police arrived and noticed a window had been broken out in the home. Officers found shattered glass on the ground from the broken window and observed McCulloch inside the home. Police gave commands to McCulloch but say he ignored them and fled the house on foot. He was later caught by police.

In the home police noticed drawers were pulled out and emptied leaving items on the floor and a storage tub was filled with items from around the home.

The victims came home and said that they do not know McCulloch and he was not allowed in the home. The victim said the plastic tub was taken from another area in the home and filled with items from around the house including checkbooks, jewelry, wallets, electronics and other items.

McCulloch had two warrants for his arrest at the time for two other pending superior court cases.

Bail is set at $450,000.00

The High Priority Offender Program uses data, technology and intel to identify and target the small percentage of offenders who are causing a large percentage of crimes. The goal is to reduce crime by focusing resources on chronic offenders.

Charges are only allegations and a person is presumed innocent unless he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.