Seattle police arrest 5, recover 4 stolen cars in city-wide auto theft operation

Seattle police arrested five people as part of a city-wide auto theft operation that began last weekend, the department announced Wednesday.

According to police, officers were doing surveillance and routine checks of vehicles around 12:30 p.m. last Saturday when they noticed that some stopped cars had no license plates, modified trip permits or returned as stolen after records checks were completed.

Officers detained the occupants of those cars and identified them. Police said “a few” of the people had outstanding warrants and booked them into jail.

Police recovered four stolen cars, two guns and drugs during the operation.

Of the five people arrested, one was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle; two were arrested for felony warrants, including possession of a stolen vehicle and burglary; and one was arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm. Those four suspects were booked into the King County Jail, police said.

A fifth suspect was also arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle but was medically declined at King County Jail. Police transported him to Harborview Medical Center, where he was later released.

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