Police seized two stolen guns, a ballistic vest, and more than two dozen credit cards and government IDs when they arrested a theft suspect in lower Queen Anne last week.
At 10:45 a.m. on December 15th, a caller in the 700 block of 5th Avenue North requested police assistance to get her stolen property back. The caller explained the day before, her backpack had been stolen in the University District. As she was loading her car, she left her backpack containing her credit cards/IDs, laptop, iPad, and other electronics propped up against the vehicle while she went back inside. When she returned and found her backpack gone, she checked surveillance footage from her residence and saw a suspect drive up, take her bag and then leave in a black Chevrolet sedan. After reporting the theft to police, the victim monitored her stolen items using trackers on her devices.
The victim called police again the next day after she tracked one of her items to a parking garage in lower Queen Anne. Arriving officers found a black Chevrolet sedan in the garage that matched the vehicle in the victim’s surveillance footage. Police looked inside and could see a firearm near the driver’s seat.
The victim used her cell phone to emit a sound from one of her stolen items, and officers could hear it inside the car.
As police were investigating, the suspect came down to the garage. Officers detained him and the victim positively identified him. Police placed him under arrest and discovered some of victim’s credit cards in his wallet, and the keys to the car in his pocket.
After a judge approved a search warrant, officers searched the vehicle and found two stolen guns, a ballistic vest, two dozen credit cards and state IDs, plus several passports and social security cards. Officers also recovered and returned several of the victim’s belongings.
Police booked the 37-year-old suspect into the King County Jail for possession of stolen property, theft, possessing a stolen firearm, and unlawful possession of a firearm because he is a convicted felon. When the suspect was identified at the jail (he refused to provide his name at the time of the arrest), officers also learned he had a Department of Corrections warrant.
Police continue to investigate this case, and have already learned some of the recovered credit cards and IDs were reported stolen in car prowls around the greater Puget Sound area.
Please be vigilant this holiday season and don’t leave bags or packages unattended!
If you are the victim of a crime please report it to police. Several types of crimes – such as car prowls – can be reported online or over the phone. Officers and detectives will investigate to the fullest extent possible, and you might help identify a crime hotspot or serial criminal.
