SEATTLE - Police are looking for a man they believe is connected to a string of tire thefts spanning more than a year from one local tire store. But, the break in the case may stem from detective work by the store managers themselves.
Les Schwab Tires in Seattle' Ballard neighborhood has recorded the disappearance of about $70,000 in tires since at least September 2008, say store managers. The tires range from about $60 to $200 apiece, and tended to go missing in sets of four.
The case eventually gained traction when store employees noticed that "User 9" was arming and disarming the store alarms at an unusual frequency, even on days he wasn't scheduled to come in. "User 9" was the code corresponding to their contracted janitor. Store alarm logs also show "User 9" arming and disarming the alarm system three times on Labor Day, when the shop was closed.
The managers installed hidden surveillance cameras on Oct. 20 and, as one manager put it, "four hours, 15 minutes later, we watched the guy come in and steal eight tires."
The surveillance camera shows a man walking into the store at about 4:16 a.m. and begin rolling tires out of the door. He carries tires out of camera view, two at a time, and a second camera appears to show the man putting items into a pickup truck outside the door.
The tire store stopped contracting with the janitorial company at the end of October. They say after losing an estimated 700 tires over the last year and a half, not one has gone missing since.
Seattle police said they are seeking an arrest warrant for the suspect, a 29-year-old man.
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