King County Prosecutors on Wednesday charged Madison Neilsen, a 19-year-old man from North Bend, with second degree burglary.
Issaquah Police officers responded to a burglary alarm at about 3:45 a.m. on May 9 to Rite Aid, 1065 N.W. Gilman Blvd.
Police found Neilsen behind the Rite Aid, near the Ross clothing store, Det. Sgt. Scott Trial said.
The officer who apprehended the suspect reported that as he approached Neilsen, he heard heavy breathing. When asked why he was breathing so hard, the suspect stated that he was afraid because he was a transient and he had been smoking pot behind a nearby building, according the court documents.
Neilsen denied being in the store at the time of the burglary and stated that he had seen others in the building, but officers did not find anyone else in the building or nearby.
When police watched video surveillance from a nearby camera, they observed a man enter the store wearing the same clothing as the suspect.
Neilsen was recently sentenced for an attempted residential burglary on Feb. 29 this year. He also had an additional prior residential burglary charge from 2006, an escape from 2006 and eight warrants, according to court documents.
Neilsen is accused of about $500 worth of damages to a window at the Rite Aid. Nothing appeared to have been taken, police said.
His arraignment is scheduled for May 28.