Redmond Police Department (RPD) officers and detectives, along with members of other King County law-enforcement agencies, are teaming up to help identify the suspects responsible for a rash of recent apartment burglaries.
According to RPD Public Information Officer James Perry, there have been about 60 burglaries along the Interstate 405 corridor, including about 23 in Redmond and about 20 in Bellevue. Suspects have used tools and force to pry open doors with deadbolt locks and stolen items like cash, jewelry and personal paperwork for possible identity theft.
Many of the break-ins occurred in the middle of the day when residents were away and there have been no eyewitnesses, reads a RPD press release. Most of the Redmond burglaries have occurred in the Overlake area and some downtown.
On July 12, a Redmond couple returned home after leaving their apartment about 25 minutes earlier and found a suspect inside their home at the complex in the area of Northeast 40th Street and Bel-Red Road.
The intruder saw the couple, ran out the door and jumped off the second-floor balcony. The suspect fled on foot with nothing from the apartment in their possession.
RPD received a call at 3:32 p.m. and upon arrival a few minutes later, began establishing a perimeter in the area and requested a K9 unit to search for the suspect. A Renton K9 unit arrived at 4:05 p.m. (Redmond’s unit wasn’t available at the time) and searched for about 13 minutes, making a short track off the property before losing the suspect’s scent.
The residents could not identify the suspect, who has not been located. Perry noted that the suspect “most likely had a vehicle” to make a get-away.
The RPD press release notes for residents secure their valuables, get to know their neighbors and “report suspicious persons who seem to be lingering in the area or spending a lot of time and making noise at your neighbor’s door.”
RPD encourages people to answer their door and acknowledge verbally that they are home and ask who is there before opening up their home.
“Redmond police know through several successful investigations that our residents are our first line of defense; we have solved multiple crime series like this based on residents calling 911 to report suspicious activity. A clothing description or a license plate – if they can be safely obtained, can help us crack cases,” the release reads.
RPD asks that anyone who may have information about these crimes call its non-emergency line at (425) 556-2500 and call 911 if reporting suspicious activity or if they need an officer to come right to their location.
