Renton businesses targeted in February

Published 6:00 pm Thursday, March 2, 2017

During the month of February, five shopping centers and a total of 11 businesses have been targeted by burglars throughout Renton.

The Renton Police Department in a post on NextDoor said the suspects are gaining access by entering through the roof and cutting holes to enter these businesses.

It started on Feb. 3 when the first two businesses, Lemongrass and Genki Sushi, were hit in the Renton Village shopping complex at South Grady Way.

According to David Leibman, public information officer for the Renton Police Department, there was $3,000 worth of damage done to the roof.

He added nothing was taken from these two restaurants and the suspects were not able to access to the restaurants themselves.

The next incident happened less than a week later on Feb. 9.

Two more businesses this time in the Village Square complex in the 12000 block of Bronson Way North were targeted.

This time the suspects were able to get inside the Pike Place Bakery and Pizza Dudes, Leibman said.

Between the two, he said, there was a total of $2,100 in losses reported to officers.

A week later on Feb. 16 the suspects were at it again. This time the location was the Sunset Plaza on NE Sunset Blvd. where Metro PCS and Toshi’s Teriyaki were the targeted businesses. Leibman said there was no reported dollar amount lost at these two locations.

This time, he said, the suspects had to move an HVAC system in order to gain access to the two businesses.

The suspects didn’t stop with those two locations on Feb. 16, they also made their way to the Highlands where they managed to break into the I Luv Teriyaki and Kim Phuong, a Vietnamese restaurant.

This time, Leibman said, they managed to get $1,100 in cash and jewelry.

And the latest incident came Feb. 21 to the Cascade shopping center where three businesses were hit.

Cascade Nails and Spa, Blue Dog Dance and Fairwood Martial Arts were the victim locations this time.

Leibman said nothing was taken from these three businesses. He added the only damage at this location appeared to be in the ceiling and on the walls where the suspects broke the drywall to gain access from one business to the next.

“(They are going through) a lot of effort for not that much,” Leibman said.

If you are a business owner and have a location in a strip mall throughout the city, he suggested emptying the till at night and not to leave any items of value out.

He also added that the police department has been telling business owners not to leave ladders or anything else outside that the suspects could use to gain access to the roof.

“There is evidence that they have scouted up gas pipes,” he said. “So ladders left outside might not even be used anyway.”

And residents can also help, Leibman said. If anyone sees any suspicious activity, especially near strip mall shopping complexes he urges you to call 911 and report it.

So far, the police department does not have any leads, he said. And there is no way of telling how many suspects the department is looking for.

“It could be one guy doing a lot of work or a bunch of guys doing no that much work,” Leibman added.