Mercer Island police have identified property found in a van that crashed into a Mercer Island residence Dec. 23 as goods that were stolen in a string of burglaries around the island.

MIPD Public Information Officer Leslie Burns said considerable damage was done to the home in the 5600 block of 84th Avenue S.E. The occupants of the home were upstairs and therefore unharmed.

The series of events began at around 9 p.m. Dec. 23, when MIPD responded to a residential burglar alarm. As officers were responding to the alarm, another patrol officer attempted to make a traffic stop of a van for driving without tail lights near near the 6000 block of Island Crest Way, near where the alarm went off.

When the officer tried to stop the driver, he accelerated, fled down the dead-end of 84th Avenue and crashed into the house.

Burns said the suspect, Chad Richard Zachariasen, a 50-year-old Seattle man, is likely connected with various local burglaries. Zachariasen is a white male, 6-foot 2-inches, weighing 175 pounds.

The suspect remains at large.