Update, 11:30 a.m. April 9: Police say there have been three similar burglary incidents in recent weeks with ties to Redmond.
Lt. Charlie Gorman, a spokesman for the Redmond Police Department, said that in addition to Saturday's incident at Bella Bottega another burglary was reported in Education Hill that same day. In this incident, a home was broken into while the occupants were attending a movie at the AMC Loews theater in Woodinville.
Back on March 26, Gorman said, a vehicle was stolen from the restaurant in Redmond and the owners' home was burglarized in Medina.
In all three cases, Gorman said, police believe the vehicles' registration information was used to draw thieves to the unoccupied residences.
Gorman said investigators aren't sure whether the same people are responsible for all the break-ins, or if the cases simply indicate a new strategy thieves are using to burglarize homes. In any case, he said, a Redmond crime analyst has determined the trend has also emerged in Bellevue, Issaquah, Mill Creek, Bothell, Woodinville, Kirkland, Lynnwood and unincorporated king County.
Redmond Police are advising residents to keep their registration on their person, making photo copies for multiple drivers if necessary. Gorman says people should also do the same with their insurance card if it contains their home address.
“Keep that stuff on your person…(and) don’t make your vehicle a target for a thief,” he said.
In the two incidents that started at movie theaters, Gorman said cell phones were left in the vehicles and stolen during the car prowls.
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Original post: The home of a Redmond couple was burglarized over the weekend while they watched a movie at , marking the latest in a string of Eastside burglaries that started with a car prowl.
As our sister site Sammamish-Issaquah Patch , thieves have targeted people who are parked outside a large commercial store by breaking into their car, grabbing their registration info, and then traveling to their homes and victimizing them for a second time.
In this weekend's incident, jewelry and other valuables were stolen from the Van Wierigans’ home while they were inside the theater, according to a report from KIRO 7 News. Thieves had stolen their registration info from their glove box and then broke a glass door at their home to get inside.
KIRO said a King County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman has advised people to carry their registration with them or store it somewhere else in the vehicle besides the glove compartment.
Redmond Patch has left messages with the Redmond Police Department and King County Sheriff's Office and will update this post when we hear back.
