BELLEVUE, Wash. — Four stolen cars were recovered and five suspects were arrested at a Bellevue apartment complex early Friday morning.
During an altercation, one of the suspects intentionally rammed an occupied police K9 vehicle, according to the Bellevue Police Department (BPD). The officer and K9 who were in the car were not hurt.
A resident at the Hampton Greens Apartments called 911 at around 2:50 a.m., reporting what looked like several people attempting to steal cars from the parking lot. When officers arrived at the complex, they spotted two stolen vehicles, a Kia van and Kia Rio that had been abandoned and left running, according to BPD.
Officers then spotted the suspects who were driving through the parking lot in two different vehicles, both Hyundais. Both drivers fled from police, one of them ramming into the occupied Kirkland police car in an attempt to escape.
After a foot chase and a K9 track, officers arrested a 17-year-old passenger and the 20-year-old driver of the car that rammed the police vehicle.
Officers used a spike strip to flatten the tires of the other car that fled the scene. With the assistance of a K9 unit, police arrested three more suspects, ages 13, 15 and 16 years old. Two of the suspects had previously been reported as runaways. Two additional suspects fled the scene on foot and police are still working to find them.
All of the stolen vehicles were recovered. Bellevue police said they urge owners of Kias and Hyundais to use steering wheel locks or an alarm with an immobilizer to prevent thefts.
The involved cars have a reputation of being easy to steal.
It's such a problem that the City of Seattle along with several other cities across the country filed a lawsuit against Kia and Hyundai. The suit claimed the spike in thefts are a public safety and nuisance problem.
The lawsuit cites in July 2022, Seattle police reported a 620% spike in thefts compared to the same time a year before.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office and Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force said car thefts are increasingly being done by teenagers.
“One of the biggest increases in crimes that we've seen is just a lot of violent crime involving juveniles and when you're looking at the violent crimes that they're committing, a lot of them are using stolen vehicles,” said Sgt. Darren Moss with the Pierce County Sheriff's Office.
Moss said one factor is a TikTok challenge and the other is that teens aren’t facing enough consequences once they’re caught.
“It's just really concerning, because the kids are doing multiple crimes over and over and over again, they're not learning their lesson the first time,” Moss said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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