Two women are suspected of stealing a $9,000 handbag from Hermes in Bellevue as part of a highly organized theft ring whose members fly in and out of cities all over the country, ripping off high-end retail stores.
The suspected thieves allegedly use stolen credit cards to buy the luxury goods.
One suspect, 55-year old Lihua Li, was arrested by the Bellevue Police Department on Tuesday and investigators are hoping wide distribution of surveillance images will help detectives identify the other.
According to court documents, Li and the other woman allegedly used multiple fraudulent credit cards at Hermes on Sunday.
One of those stolen credit card numbers belonged to Angie Dozer of Londonderry, Ohio, who told KIRO 7 on Thursday she’d “never even heard of the store” until her bank notified her an Hermes purchase in Bellevue had been charged to her account.
Dozer called her local police department where an officer told her there was nothing they could do because the crime happened thousands of miles away. “I was more frustrated at the fact that I was told, more or less, the thieves were going to get away with what happened,” she told KIRO 7 in a phone interview. “That’s not right at all.”
So Dozer called Bellevue police directly to file a report.
When one of the suspects returned to the Hermes on Northeast 8th Street the next day, a store manager called Bellevue PD and Officer Amir Mousavi was able to make an arrest.
“That’s the best thing about it,” Mousavi said. If Dozer “hadn’t called, we wouldn’t have known about it, and the suspect would have been gone.”
Investigators believe the other woman has flown out of the area, which is why they're now asking for help from the FBI.
“We believe this is probably just the tip of the iceberg,” Officer Seth Tyler said. “If they’re operating here in Bellevue, they’re probably operating in other cities, other states. We’ve asked the FBI to look at this case to see if there’s anything federally that can be done to launch a nationwide investigation.”
Lihua Li is still behind bars at the King County Detention Facility in downtown Seattle. Her bail has been set at $35,000. Police believe, if she’s able to bail out, Li will be a flight risk.
If you know anything about the unidentified woman, contact the Bellevue Police Department.