REDMOND, Wash. — In the last few months, Redmond police have had their hands full with home burglary cases. In October, detectives asked the public for surveillance footage to help them solve five recent burglaries that were similar to one another.
The break-ins continued this December, however. KING 5 has now learned of two additional Redmond home burglaries. In both cases, the victims are members of the Redmond's Asian-American community.
"We have kids and they are scared. Is it safe to live here? Like, we don't know," said Rajeev Rangappa, a homeowner in Redmond's Hawthorne community.
Redmond residents said they saw a red SUV cruising the Hawthorne neighborhood Wednesday. Then, on Thursday afternoon, Rangappa's home was burglarized.
"I know clearly that it was our safe, they took it," said Rangappa.
Surveillance video from his front door show the thieves running away with his family safe, as well as a backpack full of unknown items.
That safe was filled with their family’s passports and other valuables, he said.
“All the jewelry of my wife, my son, mine, everything is gone," said Rangappa.
The break-in happened just thirty minutes after he stepped out of his home to go shopping and run some errands with his son and nephew. When he got home, he was horrified.
"Clothes everywhere," he said. "And they they opened all the drawers, so they just ransacked everything.”
It had turned out the burglars had made entry through his backdoor, after destroying his backdoor camera.
"They disabled it, and they had thrown it on the floor. So it was not working at that point of time," said Rangappa.
Sadly, he said the only footage he has of the suspects does not show their faces. So he went on social media and came to find he’d had a shared experience with a couple who lives just minutes away.
"I feel this is mostly targeted towards Indians or Asian community folks," said Rangappa.
Neeru Goyal said she also wants to know why she was targeted. She shared her story on the Nextdoor App.
She said her nearby home was burglarized just days prior.
"We came back on December 25, when we saw our whole house was ransacked," said Goyal.
Both victims were shocked about the similarities.
"Whatever we accumulate in last 15, 16 years, as a part of our savings is lost," said Goyal.
Goyal, though, thinks she has an idea of who was involved in her burglary.
She showed KING 5 a video from her Ring doorbell that revealed a man dressed in all black, knocking on her door for several minutes straight.
"He kept peeking through the window. That was little creepy," she said.
She said she and her husband do not know the man.
"He was making sure that there's nobody at home," she said. "That guy kept knocking on the door for five minutes.”
Police have not confirmed if he’s a suspect, but they did urge the public to call them at 425-556-2500 if you have any helpful information about recent burglaries.
Redmond police were not available for an interview this weekend, but the home burglary victims told us they are hoping police will be more communicative with them going forward, if anything, to let them know they’re working on their cases. They are hopeful they will find the burglars-- and the families' precious belongings.
In an email to KING 5, Redmond police said they are encouraging all homeowners to leave their lights on while they’re away to give the appearance of being home. They also said to secure valuables in an offsite safety deposit box or heavy-duty safe that can be bolted down.