Police Arrest 13 In Organized Retail Theft Investigation In North Seattle

Seattle Police arrested 13 people in an organized retail theft investigation in the Northgate neighborhood on Tuesday.

Throughout the day, police worked with loss prevention staff at two large retailers to identify and arrest shoplifting suspects, many of whom tried to make off with hundreds of dollars worth of items.

Police recovered multiple containers of laundry detergent, kitchen knives, a vacuum, sneakers, a tablet computer, car speakers, 11 cans of Spam, a backpack full of jeans from suspects arrested during the operation. In one instance, a suspect paid for several food items at one of the stores, but then stole two bags of shirts and a USB fan.

Police arrested the suspects, identified them, provided them with trespass admonishments—legally preventing them from returning to the retailers—and later released them from the North Precinct before forwarding their cases to prosecutors. However, police booked one suspect into jail for burglary after learning she had previously been trespassed from one of the retailers. Officers also booked another woman for narcotics possession with intent to deliver after finding she was carrying approximately 100 fentanyl pills, fentanyl powder, and a scale.

Detectives in SPD’s General Investigations Unit continue to follow leads in these cases.