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Colton Harris-Moore, at 18 years old, has already made his mark. The 6 feet 3 inches, 205 pound-teen has T-shirts. He has a ballad written for him. He is in the news. His escapades are the topic of numerous commentaries. He even has a Facebook fan page. In short he is a celebrity. In six short years he has risen from the virtual obscurity of Camano Island in Washington state to national and international fame. He has been compared to Huckleberry Finn, James Bond, Robin Hood and even Jesse James. His nickname is the Barefoot Burglar.
For some he embodies the free spirit of a bygone era, for others he is nothing but a petty criminal. However one thing for sure is that he has an uncanny ability to evade capture. He has been the subject of a massive manhunt in Washington state for the past two years, ever since escaping from a halfway house in 2008 where he was serving a 3-year sentence for theft and burglary.
“Somehow people like to live vicariously through people like this,” said Michael Allen, a history professor at the University of Washington's Tacoma campus. “It has elements of the frontier, lawlessness and anti-authoritarianism, and a lot of Americans love that.”
One of Harris-Moore's more spectacular acts involved the alleged stealing of small aircraft. Local radio personality Bob Rivers said his Cessna 182, worth about $150,000, was stolen from a locked hangar on Orcas Island in November. It was later found crashed on the Yakama Indian Reservation. Rivers decided to go public and participated in a FOX News interview broadcast nationally with Harris-Moore's mother, Pam Kohler, hoping that it would help capture the teenager.
“I'm not a fan of the media frenzy because I don't like the whole cult hero thing, but if keeping it alive helps solve it, then I think it's worth it.”
Adin Stevens, who owns Good Times Printing in Seattle, says orders for Harris-Moore T-shirts are coming in from all around the country.
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sold a couple hundred bucks worth this morning,” Stevens said. “With all the interest, I was forced to think about why I wanted to make the shirts. I really don't know, to be honest. I just think it's an extraordinary story. I can relate to Colton in a number of ways. It's a good outlaw story. ... I had my share of trouble growing up.”
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Law enforcement, naturally, has a different perspective on the escapades of Colton Harris-Moore. Officials in Island and San Juan counties said they have evidence linking him to the many alleged crimes in the form of DNA, fingerprints, eyewitnesses and surveillance videos.
"I scratch my head and ask, 'Why can't we catch this kid?'" Island County Undersheriff Kelly Mauck said. "Colton Harris-Moore, in my opinion, is a horrible criminal," Mauck said of the alleged activity. "He's very good at evading capture, but he's a horrible criminal."
Besides commandeering small aircraft and even boats, the teen has allegedly broken into hardware stores, homes, restaurants and ATMs. San Juan County Sheriff Bill Cumming said the teen doesn't always steal money but, rather, tools and other items that might sustain his life on the run. It was in San Juan County that authorities allege Harris-Moore stole two boats and two planes simply for the purpose of island hopping around the rural communities that are dotted with summer houses for vacationers.
Frustrating to officers, Mauck said, is that even when they get a tip that Harris-Moore is squatting somewhere, they can't just bust in and arrest him. By the time officers go through the proper channels of obtaining search warrants and otherwise abiding by the legal process, he's gone.
"We're forced to play by the rules and he doesn't play by the rules," Mauck said.
According to authorities, the teen has never shown violent behavior and is not known to be a drug user.
Colton Harris-Moore had a rough upbringing. His abusive father walked out after choking him during an argument at a family barbecue. His mother raised him in a mobile home in the woods on the island's South End. His home is a tarp-covered, single-wide trailer surrounded by tall cedar trees and decommissioned pickup trucks.
Pam Kohler said her son's father left when he was about 2, his stepfather died when he was about 7, and from the time Harris-Moore was in first grade, she knew there was something off about him - "sort of a disconnection."
He wouldn't listen to his teachers, started altercations at school and sometimes deliberately broke things around the house, Kohler said. And sheriff's deputies sometimes accused him of stealing things even when he hadn't, she added - such as a $300 bicycle she said she bought him for his birthday one year.
"Every time he had anything any good, everyone thought he stole it," she said. "What does that do to a kid?"
The criminal history of Colton Harris-Moore began on Oct. 8, 2003 when at 12 years old he was convicted of: Third-degree possession of stolen property. Case filed in Snohomish County. Sentenced to 11 days confinement, 16 hours of community service and six months community supervision.
Between Nov. 2003 and Feb. 2007 he managed to accumulate 8 more convictions. He was ordered to live at a group home in Renton, as part of a 3-year sentence but he escaped in April 2008. He has been on the run ever since.
Colton Harris-Moore will eventually be caught, ending his 15 minutes of fame but in the meantime the media will continue to report on his activities. The real question is what kind of person will this wayward teen turn out to be, assuming he is captured alive.
