Some of the sports memorabilia stolen following a Trufant Family Foundation fundraiser in Renton May 18 was recovered Wednesday morning during a raid by a Seattle Police Department SWAT team of a barn outside Renton.
Constance Trufant, chair of the foundation and mother of football standout Marcus Trufant, told KIRO-TV that a stack of Marcus Trufant trading cards were found but not some of the expensive auction items.
The Renton Police Department, which is investigating the Trufant theft because it occurred in Renton, indicated still not recovered are number of mini-helmets and autographed footballs. The department is asking that the public, memorabilia dealers and collectors notify their local police by calling 911 if they have information about the missing memorabilia.
Anyone with information that’s not time sensitive is asked to call Renton Police Detective Robert Onishi at 425-430-7529 and refer to case 2013-05372.
The theft of the Trufant memorabilia is one of four cases involving stolen moving vans the Seattle Police Department has investigated in recent months.
In the Trufant case, police found the empty moving truck the morning of May 19, dumped within just a few miles of the suspect’s barn, near Southeast 194th Street and 196th Avenue Southeast, according to the Seattle Police Department.
The department’s Auto Theft and Major Crimes units tracked down a 43-year-old suspect after a witness purchased stolen computer equipment from him. The witness realized the equipment actually belonged to one of the victimized couples, who were featured in local news story after the suspect stole their moving van, according to police.
Seattle police investigators have been interviewing the suspect and others and have been in contact with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office about the case, according to Seattle Police Detective Mark Jamieson.
The Trufant fundraising event, “Dress to Impress,” was held at the Renton Pavilion Event Center in downtown Renton. In a statement on the foundation website, Lloyd and Constance Trufant indicated the U-Haul truck was secured at the Larkspur Hotel parking lot at about 12:15 a.m. Sunday, May 19.
The rental truck contained items not sold or not yet picked up, along with supplies or props for the fundraiser.
Here is the description provided by the Seattle Police Department of the other three cases:
The string of van heists began on New Year’s Eve 2012, after a couple—who had just moved to Seattle—parked their moving van in front of their new apartment in the 900 block of Dexter Avenue North. The next morning, they awoke to find that their moving van was gone.
Police later found the empty moving van in Maple Valley.
The next case came in March, after a couple preparing to move out of state packed up their moving truck and parked their truck outside of their apartment on 6th Ave and Olive. The next morning, they discovered someone had made off with their moving truck, which was later found (empty) by King County Sheriff’s deputies in Renton.
A month later, on April 28, 2013, police believe the suspect swiped another moving truck, and an attached Acura sedan, from a hotel parking lot in Vancouver, Wash. Once again, police recovered the missing and emptied truck near Renton.
