Crime & Safety

Kirkland Police Catch Five More Burglars in the Act Over 24-Hour Period

Four were caught fleeing the scene in the Kingsgate area Tuesday and another was busted trying to get away on north Rose Hill.

Kirkland Police caught five suspects in two separate home burglaries within a 24-hour period this week, one group of four nabbed on north Rose Hill and the other in the Kingsgate area.

The latest cases come just two weeks after Kirkland Police captured two other suspects in the act of burglarizing a home near Bridle Trails. And just Wednesday, the Kirkland Police K-9 unit helped Bellevue Police capture two burglary suspects.

“Catching burglars in progress is rare,” said Sgt. Rob Saloum, Kirkland Police Department spokesman. “What we hope this does is send a message that we are actively responding to these cases.”

Late Tuesday afternoon, officers were called by a homeowner in the 13400 block of 121st Avenue in the Kingsgate area after his rear slider door was shattered whole he was at home. The suspects, one adult man and four juvenile males, allegedly grabbed some items and fled, but were spotted not far away in a car by an officer. Kirkland Police say two of them admitted to committing other burglaries in the area.

Then Wednesday, a woman who lives in the 12300 block of NE 109th on Rose Hill came home to find an adult man in her garage, which had been locked, loading her belongings into his vehicle. He left, but the woman called police and provided a description and license plate number, and police stopped the suspect and arrested him not far away on on 132nd.

“The homeowners did a good job,” Saloum said. “It’s got to be scary when someone is at your home.”

Burglary is on ongoing problem not only in Kirkland but throughout the Eastside, and Saloum said he had not looked at recent figure to determine if the recent cases represent an increase in such crime.

But he did say that the street price of heroin and other abused drugs is high right now, and the recent cases could be related to that. “The reality is that a lot of these people are trying to steal property to pawn or sell and get drugs,” he said.

Saloum advised anyone who even suspects such a crime is in progress to call 911 immediately.


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