Five men arrested for burglaries targeting Kirkland families

Five men from California are in custody, accused of flying up and committing burglaries targeting Indian American communities in Kirkland and surrounding areas.

Police became aware of a pattern when Indian American/South Asian community members reported burglaries in the area.

Kirkland investigators reviewed crime data and noticed an uptick of burglaries against Indian American and Asian American victims.

Detectives got a break in February when surveillance cameras and an eyewitness captured images of three suspects and the license plate of a rental car used in a burglary in Kirkland’s Rose Hill neighborhood.

Police tracked down one of the suspects to Palmdale, California. They discovered that the suspect had been travelling regularly between California and Washington and renting short-term properties.

They also learned that the suspects would rent cars and swap out license plates with those from stolen vehicles.

On Sunday, March 24th detectives from Kirkland served a search warrant on a short-term rental home in Redmond.

Besides finding items from several burglaries, police also found high-end bags, $17,000 in cash and equipment used to defeat residential security systems. Police released a picture of the items they recovered.

“This is an impactful and successful outcome for our community,” said Kirkland Police Chief Cherie Harris. “Thank you to our community members for trusting law enforcement with your story and for all our community members’ assistance along the way.