Thieves smash ‘people lives’ as 3 Auburn businesses hit overnight, including glass shop

AUBURN, Wash. — Three Auburn businesses were hit overnight – all by people driving a car right through the door.

The shop with the most damage is a glass store called ‘Mary Jane House of Glass.’ The store said between inventory and damage, it’s now out about $100,000 right before the holidays.

KIRO 7 also covered a smash-and-grab at the shop in late August. The owners said they had finally replaced all the plywood with new windows on Tuesday. Those new windows were up for less about 24 hours before this latest break-in happened, causing even more damage this time.

Auburn police said both burglaries were done using stolen KIA vehicles.

“They just started smashing stuff,” said a junior manager at Mary Jane House of Glass, Emma Covington.

Intricate pieces of functional art, made by local artists, were smashed and broken among the large piles of glass from the windows and shelves.

“All of this is people lives that they spent designing this work,” Covington said. “We’re not just a glass shop, we’re a glass gallery.”

Covington said the case right by the front door carried about $50,000 worth of pieces alone. It was knocked over when the white KIA sedan slammed into it.

“It’s devastating,” Covington said. “This is a home away from home, this is a family.”

The burglars are also seen on camera smashing display case after case, loading up their arms with water pipes. Covington said it’s a major toll on the small business. All the damage came just as they were gearing up for Black Friday.

“This is a huge deal. To hit a store like this right before the holidays,” she said.

Another employee said as Auburn police were responding, officers got another burglary call about a mile away.

Thieves smashed into the back of ‘Detailed Experience,’ a barbershop.

“From the force, it knocked everything this way,” said owner Toby Johnson.

He wonders if the criminals were trying to get inside “Lucid”, a cannabis shop right next door.

He said the criminals even slashed every salon chair in the shop. But the criminals only stole a few items, like his backpack.

“You work so hard every day… it just sucks,” Johnson said.

The suspects also used a car to smash into a third business called ‘Ames’ - a neighboring drywall and supply store.

“It’s like they didn’t understand what they were hitting,” said Chase Comstock, who operates security at Lucid.

Comstock said the shop had recently installed concrete blocks after two break-ins at its Auburn location this year.

“It’s been very effective,” Comstock said.

Meanwhile, at ‘Mary Jane House of Glass,’ the store said they were working to get similar blocks and now feel that level of protection is critical.

“I was born in Federal Way and raised in Auburn. It’s not the same place that it was 25 years ago,” Covington said. “The consequences are that less places like this are going to want to do business.”

‘Mary Jane House of Glass’ is next to a cannabis dispensary called ‘Evergreen Market,’ which also has concrete barricades. Employees at the glass store said they were not sure if the thieves were trying to get next door in this case as well.

Auburn police are investigating if the three smash and grabs are related.

Late Wednesday afternoon, a store partner at ‘Mary Jane House of Glass’ said police found the stolen car, which appeared to have a store sticker on it, and had their inventory inside. He guesses that the sticker came off of the shop’s window cling film.

Auburn police said the King County Sheriff’s Office arrested one person, but are still working to figure out if that suspect is connected to any of the burglaries.

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