From our sister site The Tukwila Blog:

Over the past month, Tukwila Police say they have noticed a trend of purse snatching incidents in the South King County area including Tukwila, Renton, Kent, Covington and Auburn.

“Locally, we have had several incidents at Costco in which purses were taken from shopping carts, vehicles and taken by force from victims who were not looking and or loading items into their vehicles,” police said. “Our Community Police Team (CPT) detectives are investigating these incidents.”

Police say that the suspects are males between 16 to 20-years old, and are using newer stolen vehicles and/or vehicles with only temporary tags in the windows to commit these crimes.

“There are usually two to four males in the suspect vehicles at the time these crimes are being committed,” police said. “We believe that these suspects are associated with other incidents in the region and are part of several different crews hitting shopping center parking lots. They are targeting mainly women that appear to be alone with visible purses or handbags.”

Police advise residents to look around before walking to your car, opening your car door, loading groceries, etc.:

    • Look for vehicles slow-rolling through the parking lot and or pulling up alongside or behind you or multiple other cars.
    • Do not leave your purse or handbags unattended in your vehicle while you load items into your vehicle.
    • Do not leave purses or handbags unattended in your shopping cart.
    • If your purse is lost or stolen, immediately notify your credit card(s) company and or bank of the loss and have them deactivate your cards.

Scott Schaefer

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