Busted Burglars: Five People Arrested for Robberies Targeting Indian American Community in Seattle Suburb
- The investigation began in February when residents of Kirkland complained about an increase in residential burglaries impacting individuals of Indian and South Asian descent in the community.
The Kirkland Police Department in Washington has arrested five people suspected of orchestrating at least 17 burglaries targeting Indian American and other South Asian community members in the Seattle suburb. The arrests were made on March 24, a press release on the Kirkland Facebook page said, adding that the local police worked with neighboring law enforcement agencies.
The investigation began in February when members of the Eastside Indian American and South Asian community “expressed worries to regional law enforcement about an increase in residential burglaries impacting individuals of Indian and South Asian descent in the community,” the press release said.
In late February, “surveillance cameras and an eyewitness captured images of three suspects and the license plate of a rental vehicle associated with a residential burglary in the North Rose Hill neighborhood,” the press release said. One of the suspects, identified as a man from Palmdale, California, had a lengthy criminal history as a convicted felon.
Investigators discovered that the suspect traveled frequently between California and Washington, utilizing short-term rental properties to change locations. The suspects also rented cars and swapped out vehicle license plates with stolen ones. This information gathered over a two-month investigation, led to the development of probable cause and the acquisition of a search warrant for a short-term residential rental in Redmond, Washington.
In the early hours of March 24, a multi-agency team served the search warrant at the Redmond address. Kirkland Detectives and ProAct members apprehended five adult men from Southern California, charging them with numerous burglaries committed in Kirkland, King, and Snohomish Counties.
“Evidence of the burglaries and technical equipment believed to be used for countersurveillance and defeating residential security features were found inside the rental,” the press release said. “Police were able to recover several suspected stolen items to include over $17,000 in cash and multiple high-end bags.” The suspects were subsequently booked into the King County Jail on various counts of Residential Burglary.
“This is an impactful and successful outcome for our community,” said Kirkland Police Chief Cherie Harris. “Thank you to our community members for trusting law enforcement with your story and for all our community members’ assistance along the way. And I also want to send a big thank you to the Lynnwood, Bothell, and Bellevue Police Departments for their critical assistance and collaboration in this multi-jurisdictional investigation.”
In December, the Snohomish County Robbery and Burglary Unit issued an announcement seeking the public’s help to identify the suspects involved in burglaries targeting Indian Americans in Bothell, in the Seattle metropolitan area.
Earlier in October 2022, police in Long Island’s Nassau County in New York arrested four members of an alleged Colombian burglary ring accused of targeting Indian Americans. The group reportedly committed “up to 30 heists” in Hicksville and surrounding areas, as reported by Newsday.
Meanwhile, in California, Lathan Johnson, 37, of Palo Alto, was charged with robbery and hate crimes for targeting, attacking, and robbing 14 Indian American women. In a press release, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said Johnson ripped necklaces from the necks of the victims and sped away in a car. In several of the robberies, he injured the women, who ranged in age from 50-73. The estimated worth of all the stolen necklaces is about $35,000, the DA’s office said.