SEATTLE — After a KIRO 7 investigation revealed a pair of thieves may have access to thousands of residential buildings and businesses through key boxes reserved only for the Seattle Fire Department, SPD’s Major Crimes Task Force is taking on the case.
Seattle Fire confirmed about 4,000 buildings use Knox boxes, which are emergency boxes that hold building fobs or codes assigned specifically to the Fire Department in case of an emergency. Firefighters use one of about 100 master keys that get them into the buildings.
Surveillance video obtained by KIRO 7 earlier this month showed a break-in at a Seattle condo building on June 3 that, according to the building’s records, occurred when thieves used the Fire Department’s code -- posted only in the Knox box. A man and woman stole packages from the lobby.
Newly released surveillance video shows a similar break-in on March 30 at a Seattle apartment building, where the pair stole money and an iPad from one business, a basket from another and packages from the lobby.
KIRO 7 showed the video to an employee at the building that was targeted in June. He did not want to use his name or the name of the building but had come forward with his concerns for public safety.
“Due to the fact that they are wearing different clothing, it’s hard to tell,” he said. “But from their height and their demeanor it does look like it's the same people, like they're comfortable doing this …. They’re just becoming more brazen.”
He was worried in June that the thieves might strike again. Now he said it seems they already had and his building never got a heads-up.
“It just seems to me that warning people is the right thing to do,” he said, “and not warning people puts the city at greater risk.”
The thieves stole the iPad, money, and other items at the apartment building on March 30.
An employee said he reported to police by April 4 that it was a Knox box break-in.
But according to building logs, thieves were still able to break into the condo building through the Knox box and steal packages on June 3.
“It’s super frustrating because it’s not just our building,” Alexandra Dennis, a resident at the burglarized condo building, said. She was unaware that 4,000 buildings had Knox boxes.
“That is terrifying,” she said. “I didn't realize there were that many.”
Seattle Fire said all 100 or so of its master keys are accounted for.
KIRO 7 asked if the Fire Department was going to warn building owners. Seattle Fire said it will notify them if and when the police investigation finds the Knox boxes were compromised.
In 2013, the Fire Department worked with the Knox Corp. to replace thousands of lock cores after a man was charged with breaking into three Seattle apartment buildings with his own makeshift master key.
The Fire Department said those new lock cores had “additional security safeguards.”
Cox Media Group
