Charges have been filed in two major organized retail theft cases in Bellevue, and charges are pending in a third after Bellevue Police detectives busted the crime rings that were responsible for more than $100,000 in stolen merchandise, the Bellevue Police Department announced.
In one case, three suspects worked together to steal $93,000 in handbags from Louis Vuitton in Bellevue, and a fourth suspect sold them.
Investigators say Billy Chambers, Memory Yearby, and Earnetra Turner stole from the same Louis Vuitton store twice in June. All three are charged with two counts of organized retail theft in the first degree, while the fourth suspect, Trey Kendall, was charged with trafficking in stolen property in the first degree.
According to charging documents, detectives found the bags for sale on OfferUp, set up a buy, and were able to arrest Kendall, who admitted that he knew the bags were stolen.
All four suspects have extensive criminal histories, according to charging documents.
Chambers was previously convicted for first-degree manslaughter for the 2008 killing of Seattle’s “Tuba-Man” Edward McMichael, a well-known busker who played his tuba outside Seattle sporting and arts events.
He has eight additional felony convictions, and is the suspect in a drive-by shooting in July where he was arrested on investigation of unlawful possession of a firearm.
Yearby’s criminal history includes 13 misdemeanor convictions and a case where she is accused of intentionally hitting a pregnant woman with her car before leaving without stopping.
Charging documents say Yearby has a history of at least 17 warrants for failure to appear or failure to comply with court orders since 2015.
Turner has four felony convictions, including robbery (2011) and attempted robbery (2012) in the second degree, along with eight misdemeanor convictions.
Kendall has three misdemeanors and three felony convictions on his record, including second-degree murder in 1997.
“These suspects were aggressive and coordinated in their efforts and often physically confronted employees or security who stood in their way,” said Captain Shelby Shearer. “These crew also caused significant damage to the stores during the thefts, causing some businesses to close for the day to clean up the mess.”
All four suspects’ bail has been set at $25,000.
In the second case, a suspect was charged after multiple thefts totaling nearly $13,000 from Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack in Bellevue in October and November 2021.
Janay Luckey, 24, walked into the stores and cut security tags off of merchandise before leaving without paying. According to charging documents, Luckey also used OfferUp to sell the stolen goods online.
Luckey was charged with first-degree organized retail theft and two counts of first-degree trafficking in stolen property in that case.
Luckey is also charged with two counts of first-degree organized retail theft and three counts of first-degree trafficking in stolen property in another case out of Seattle.
In the third case, two suspects stole $7,000 of perfume from Ulta in Factoria. According to police, one of the suspects was arrested in Kent, and charges are pending against the other, who is also a suspect in the Louis Vuitton thefts.
“We joined the state’s Organized Retail Task Force committed to cracking down on this crime,” said Captain Shearer. “These cases involved regional collaboration and partnerships with other law enforcement agencies and the affected businesses. Arresting these suspects reduces crime not only in Bellevue, but regionally.”
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