There has been an unexpected twist to the smash-and-grab tales we’ve been telling you on KIRO 7.
Last week, pajama-clad teenagers were seen across King and Pierce Counties brazenly smashing car windows in the driveways and parking lots of people’s residences.
On Tuesday, the Federal Way Police Department told KIRO 7 that while they do not have police reports on file from addresses that shared their security footage, another incident Sunday afternoon could connect them to the smash-and-grab spree.
Federal Way police said around 2:15 p.m. on Sunday, officers were sent to a robbery happening at the Safeway on 320th Street.
Callers reported that several women were “violently” assaulting a woman and tried to still her purse off her shoulder.
Among the witnesses was a retired police officer who saw the assault and intervened. One woman was detained at the scene by bystanders while the others took off in a stolen Kia.
Officers said they identified all the women as juveniles.
Police went to an apartment where one of the teenagers lives. Officers said when they knocked on the door, the teen tried to escape by crawling through a window but was captured by officers.
The teens were booked into the King County Juvenile Detention Facility for robbery.
Federal Way police said they saw a similar news story of teen girls in Bellevue on January 26. Federal Way police are now working with Bellevue police to investigate.
The first smash-and-grab occurred on Thursday, January 25, in Bellevue. Eighteen cars allegedly had their windows smashed by these young teens.
On Friday, January 26, video surveillance captured teens at two different residences in Federal Way. Several people could be seen in the video, as well as two getaway cars.
In Federal Way, car windows were smashed, items in cars were vandalized, and one homeowner alleges that the teens “attempted a home invasion.”
The most recent crimes occurred between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Sunday, January 28, in Tacoma and Kent. Video surveillance from those neighborhoods caught the same behavior seen in Bellevue and Kent.
Tacoma Police Department has told us they’ve collected video and other information from other cities and will pass it along to detectives to confirm if they’re connected.