Thieves ram-raid Seattle businesses with ‘crash and grab’ burglary trend taking off across the city
A newly opened boutique store in Seattle has suffered two crash-and-grab burglaries in four days as the troubling trend spreads across the state.
Rush Hour, which specializes in buying, selling and trading sneakers, streetwear and vintage items, was burglarized just before 5 a.m. on November 17 with a stolen Chevrolet Silverado.
The thieves then ran in to steal their merchandise, but the store’s owners were optimistic that this would not deter them and hoped to recoup some of their losses on Black Friday.
But on Nov. 20, they were targeted again by thieves who used a stolen Kia Sedona to break through the storefront and take expensive items left behind in the first raid.
Seattle police have said they are seeing more and more criminals using stolen cars to ram into stores as a tactic to steal expensive goods.
A newly opened boutique store in Seattle has suffered two crash-and-grab burglaries in four days, as the worrying trend spreads across the country
Rush Hour, which specializes in buying, selling and trading sneakers, streetwear and vintage items, was burglarized with a stolen Chevrolet Silverado just before 5 a.m. on November 17
On November 20, it was again targeted by thieves who used a stolen Kia Sedona to break through the storefront and take expensive items left behind in the first raid.
Rush Hour’s owners shared a video on Instagram after the initial break-in to say they weren’t “down” about the situation.
“We never go anywhere,” Sean said. ‘We are open, the store is still open. Show some support.”
However, a second car drove into their store and more items were looted from their business.
“I would hate to say that they didn’t take much because they took something,” co-owner Key said Kiro7.
‘They put a dent in what needs to be done, what we need to do to keep the store running.
‘Everything in the store is valuable to me. This is something we built from the ground up.”
“Someone stole a Kia and ran into the store, typical. It’s been happening a lot lately, but unfortunately it happened to our company that we only started a few months ago.”
The store has now been boarded up and a GoFundMe page was founded to raise money for repairs. To date, $3,200 has been donated out of a $25,000 goal.
‘We are writing to you with a heavy heart and urgently need your support. Rush Hour has unfortunately been the target of two consecutive smash-and-grab incidents, which have had a significant impact on us,” a statement from Rush Hour read.
The store has now been boarded up and a GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money for repairs. To date, $3,200 has been donated out of a $25,000 goal
“We were hopeful that we would be able to recoup some of our losses during the upcoming Black Friday sales. However, the extent of the damage now makes it impossible for us to operate from our current location.
“The financial pressure from product loss and the cost of repairs is overwhelming.”
The owners now want to move and reopen on December 2. It is not clear whether anyone has been arrested over the thefts. DailyMail.com has contacted Seattle police for comment.
Burglaries involving the destruction of vehicles in shops are increasing across the country and are being dubbed ‘crash and grabs’.
“SPD has seen these types of tactics, using a vehicle to ram the entrance of a business to steal merchandise from the inside, in multiple incidents,” a Seattle Police Department spokesperson said.
“It is not known if these incidents are related.”
A group of teens at Osage County Guns crashed through steel front doors in September 2022, causing more than $200,000 in damage before stealing 30 guns worth $28,000.
A man in a stolen Jeep smashed into a Chicago clothing store in late October before four others ran in to steal the items.
The owner talked about the incident in an Instagram video and promised to give the first customer after the burglary-proof Nike sneakers.
A group of teens at Osage County Guns crashed through steel front doors in September 2022, causing more than $200,000 in damage before stealing 30 guns worth $28,000.
“It was a total nightmare,” general manager John Dawson told Fox News Digital. “Our store was closed for five weeks and surprisingly, getting new doors was the biggest hurdle.”
Retail theft is a growing problem for many stores in the US, and the National Retail Federation reported that the issue cost the industry $94.5 billion in 2021.