Bridal store burglars: Help ID pair of suspects seen stealing wedding dresses, laptops
WANTED IN SEATTLE --
If you have daughters, or have ever been married yourself, you know how stressful it can be picking out the perfect wedding dress. Women can wait months on a special order to arrive, so when ‘smash and grab’ burglars stole 11 gowns from a wedding shop on N. 85th St. in Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood last January, the store manager's first concern was for her brides.
Surveillance video shows one suspect shattering the glass. A short time later, he rushes in and steals the dresses, snatching them up and climbing back out through the broken window. A few minutes later, a second suspect reaches through the glass to steal another dress and that’s where he gives us the best look at his face.
Seattle Police are hoping somebody recognizes him, or the other suspect who's seen walking a dog outside in the middle of their caper. Detectives have exhausted all leads and need your help.
At 'I Do Bridal,’ Jen Tran works hard to help women look stunning on the most important day of their lives -- a day thieves tried to ruin.
“It`s about 3:15 in the morning when this whole thing starts,” describes Ret. Det. Myrle Carner with Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound. Surveillance video shows the first suspect breaking the window on a door before walking away, “Then a little time lapses, he comes back and knocks all the windows out and he reaches through and he puts the wedding gowns about two feet further into the store," adds Carner. In a bizarre twist, the next time we see the suspect, he's walking a little black dog, but it's not long before he's back. "This time he grabs a whole armload of these dresses, steps out through the door that's broken and then disappears," said Carner.
"They actually were size 8 dresses, so he grabbed all size 8's only which is odd,” said Tran. She was very relieved to find out that the thief stole sample dresses. The customer's gowns were locked up. Still, that's thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise and the crooks weren't done, as a second suspect appears on camera. “Actually reaches through the glass and takes a wedding dress and this is what's disturbing. He steps outside and he just casually stuffs a whole wedding dress into his coat,” describes Carner. Then, the thief returns and steals five laptop computers. At this point, it's 6:15 in the morning, but these crooks didn't go far. "One last shot shows them where they are actually walking past the same place where they entered and they are just walking by like, look what we did. We got away with it," said Carner.
Since the break-in, 'I Do Bridal' has installed motion sensors and upgraded their alarm system. They also leave the lights on overnight, doing everything they can to protect their customers. "It's a memory that could be taken away from these brides and that's not something we are willing to risk," said Tran.
If you recognize either of these suspects and I think that shot showing one of them with a little dog might be a good clue to help you identify them, Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound will pay you a cash reward of up to $1,000. Call the hotline at 1-800-222-TIPS(8477), or submit an anonymous tip by using the P3 Tips App that you can download to your smart phone for free.