"It’s cheaper to pay for a vacant space than to keep the space open and have reoccurring losses."
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Police are investigating after a Seattle smoke shop has been hit by thieves for the seventh time in a month.
According to the Seattle Police Department (SPD), at approximately 3:20 am Wednesday morning, officers responded to a burglary at Global Smoke and Vape, located on the 9400 block of 35th Avenue Southwest. Responding officers found a stolen white vehicle that the thieves had crashed into the front of the business.
Surveillance video obtained by KOMO News showed four people climbing over the broken gate in the front of the business and stealing merchandise, then apparently fleeing in a gold sedan.
According to the owner, two people were waiting outside while the four suspects were stealing the goods. He told the outlet almost $10,000 in merchandise has been stolen from his store, adding that boarding up the front entrance costs between $4,000-5,000, but that “the actual glass cost more than that (to replace).”
The owner has now paid a contractor to install vertical metal bollards in front of the store after replacement locks and gates failed to deter the criminals.
He added that he wasn’t closing up shop. "No, I'm not leaving. Why run away? The Seattle police and the city of Seattle has a responsibility to save the citizen. I pay the tax!"
The theft was the latest in a string of burglaries that follow a similar pattern of using a stolen vehicle to smash into a business. Typically, the car is a stolen Hyundai or a Kia.
Last year, the Democrat-controlled state legislature refused to change police reforms they passed in the wake of the riots that rocked Western Washington in 2020, which prohibit police from pursuing stolen vehicles.
Rick Wakefield, owner of Wakefield Glass in Seattle told KOMO, “Glass prices are up. Metal prices are up. Labor prices are up. We are seeing much more of this activity where it is stolen vehicles being driven through the front of businesses and merchandise taken.”
He added that when they install glass, it is broken almost immediately and that the process of ordering the glass and metal frames to installation can take at least 1-2 weeks.
On top of that, insurers may drop their clients after repeated break-ins. He told the outlet, "We leave Mondays wide open. Recently, that has even changed too, we have to have a pretty loose schedule because this is happening on Tuesday afternoons. Stuff is being driven into, and we're having to get it repaired."
“My heart goes out to these businesses,” he added.
Wakefield continued, “I feel like they (City Government) need to enforce the laws more. There’s only so much they can do, and they know these guys are just going to get back out and do it again. The part about stealing the car, they know that they’re not going to get chased. If they do get caught, then the prosecutors have to do something about it and enforce the laws.”
"Unfortunately, that’s what we’re seeing, a lot of businesses are just closing their doors. It’s cheaper to pay for a vacant space than to keep the space open and have reoccurring losses.”
A city spokesperson suggested to the outlet that the owner apply for a repair grant through the Seattle Office of Economic Development's storefront repair program. However, that grant will only cover up to $2,000, a fraction of the costs, and has requirements that many businesses do not meet.
Crime has continued to spike in the Emerald City following the city council’s decision to defund the police in 2020. Over 600 officers have left the Seattle Police Department which is operating well below safe limits for a city its size.
Earlier this month, the city flew past 2022’s total number of homicides which have increased 7 percent in the first half of this year and Seattle was one of 10 cities to report an increase, even as other cities saw a decline during the same time period. The city is on pace to crack the all-time-high of homicides.
According to the Seattle Police Department (SPD), at approximately 3:20 am Wednesday morning, officers responded to a burglary at Global Smoke and Vape, located on the 9400 block of 35th Avenue Southwest. Responding officers found a stolen white vehicle that the thieves had crashed into the front of the business.
Surveillance video obtained by KOMO News showed four people climbing over the broken gate in the front of the business and stealing merchandise, then apparently fleeing in a gold sedan.
According to the owner, two people were waiting outside while the four suspects were stealing the goods. He told the outlet almost $10,000 in merchandise has been stolen from his store, adding that boarding up the front entrance costs between $4,000-5,000, but that “the actual glass cost more than that (to replace).”
The owner has now paid a contractor to install vertical metal bollards in front of the store after replacement locks and gates failed to deter the criminals.
He added that he wasn’t closing up shop. "No, I'm not leaving. Why run away? The Seattle police and the city of Seattle has a responsibility to save the citizen. I pay the tax!"
The theft was the latest in a string of burglaries that follow a similar pattern of using a stolen vehicle to smash into a business. Typically, the car is a stolen Hyundai or a Kia.
Last year, the Democrat-controlled state legislature refused to change police reforms they passed in the wake of the riots that rocked Western Washington in 2020, which prohibit police from pursuing stolen vehicles.
Rick Wakefield, owner of Wakefield Glass in Seattle told KOMO, “Glass prices are up. Metal prices are up. Labor prices are up. We are seeing much more of this activity where it is stolen vehicles being driven through the front of businesses and merchandise taken.”
He added that when they install glass, it is broken almost immediately and that the process of ordering the glass and metal frames to installation can take at least 1-2 weeks.
On top of that, insurers may drop their clients after repeated break-ins. He told the outlet, "We leave Mondays wide open. Recently, that has even changed too, we have to have a pretty loose schedule because this is happening on Tuesday afternoons. Stuff is being driven into, and we're having to get it repaired."
“My heart goes out to these businesses,” he added.
Wakefield continued, “I feel like they (City Government) need to enforce the laws more. There’s only so much they can do, and they know these guys are just going to get back out and do it again. The part about stealing the car, they know that they’re not going to get chased. If they do get caught, then the prosecutors have to do something about it and enforce the laws.”
"Unfortunately, that’s what we’re seeing, a lot of businesses are just closing their doors. It’s cheaper to pay for a vacant space than to keep the space open and have reoccurring losses.”
A city spokesperson suggested to the outlet that the owner apply for a repair grant through the Seattle Office of Economic Development's storefront repair program. However, that grant will only cover up to $2,000, a fraction of the costs, and has requirements that many businesses do not meet.
Crime has continued to spike in the Emerald City following the city council’s decision to defund the police in 2020. Over 600 officers have left the Seattle Police Department which is operating well below safe limits for a city its size.
Earlier this month, the city flew past 2022’s total number of homicides which have increased 7 percent in the first half of this year and Seattle was one of 10 cities to report an increase, even as other cities saw a decline during the same time period. The city is on pace to crack the all-time-high of homicides.
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