A 32-year-old Renton man pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing Miss Washington’s car and possessions, including her crown and sash.
Jayson Broderson-Matthai was sentenced to more than 31/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to 11 counts of identity theft, one count of taking a motor vehicle without permission and one count of possession of stolen property.
The stolen pageant items remain missing.
“I’m not sure why anyone who is not Miss Washington would want Miss Washington’s regalia, but there’s some pretender out there with a sash and crown,” Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said Thursday.
Broderson-Matthai took the items Feb. 28 after stealing Brittney Henry’s SUV from her Edgewood driveway.
Henry was named Miss Washington last year and said she had left several pageant items in her car because she had an early morning planned the next day.
The SUV was found abandoned behind a motel in Puyallup, but missing were her crown, two sashes, four pageant-style gowns, high heels, an iPad, three credit cards and a checkbook.
Sheriff’s deputies determined Broderson-Matthai used Henry’s credit cards eight times within hours of them being stolen. He bought items at Red Box, Lowes and Walmart – including a plush yellow duck later found in his girlfriend’s closet.
Broderson-Matthai was identified as a suspect after Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers released a bulletin with surveillance photographs taken from one of the stores where the stolen credit cards were used.
stacia.glenn@thenewstribune.com 253-597-8653
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