SAMMAMISH, Wash., Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Authorities in Washington state said a suspected mail thief was up a pond without a paddle when he led a resident on a low-speed kayak chase.

The King County Sheriff's Office said they received multiple reports about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday about a man in his 30s and a woman in her 20s going through mailboxes in Sammamish.


Witnesses used their vehicles to box in a car the pair were allegedly filling with mail and the suspects fled on foot before deputies arrived.

The sheriff's office said deputies set up a perimeter around the area and arrested the woman without incident, but the male suspect allegedly grabbed a kayak from a nearby yard and attempted to flee across a pond.

The man was pursed by another resident with a kayak, who was able to easily catch up because the suspect neglected to grab a paddle and was propelling the boat with his hands.

"He was actually going backwards when I talked to him. He was pushing the water backwards, sitting on the back of the kayak. It was really a sad sight," Nolan Conway, the resident who pursued the suspect, told KOMO-TV. "When I caught up to him, he didn't say anything. He just kind of sat there. And he's like, 'alright, I'll come to shore.'"

"The moral of the story is, if you're going to steal a kayak, steal a paddle too," said Nolan Conway's father, Brian.

King County sheriff's Sgt. DB Gates told the Seattle Times there was a "large amount of mail" in the car.

The female suspect was arrested on suspicion of mail theft, while the male suspect was arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft and mail theft.