Possible serial burglar nabbed after eating chips, guacamole at restaurant

SEATTLE — Police are crediting high-quality home surveillance video and a KIRO 7 News story for possibly busting a hungry serial burglar in North Seattle.

The manager at Tacos Guaymas says the burglar managed to open a locked middle door, but it's what he did inside that has many scratching their heads.

The taco shop at 6808 East Green Lake Way has had three burglaries in four months , but none like Saturday’s.

At about 6:30 a.m., another manager arrived to open the restaurant only to find a stranger inside. But he didn’t appear to be there for money.

“I guess he got hungry and we were the only restaurant around here that he was able to get in so..,” said manager Tania Selland. “The only thing they were able to find was a dirty glass with milk and whipped cream. The guy poured himself some chips and guacamole and left.”

He didn't go far. Seattle police tracked the 23-year-old suspect to the coffee shop next door.

Officers found a stolen rental truck believed to be his, full of yard supplies.

An officer then remembered seeing KIRO7's story about a man seen on surveillance video trying to break into a nearby house earlier the same morning.

"I saw the video and recognized this suspect as the same guy that we just arrested for this burglary, so we were able to close out two cases pretty quick,” said Seattle police Det. Patrick Michaud.

The homeowner's Nest Cam captured the burglar ripping out light fixtures, stealing a house key and digging through the garden eating rotten strawberries, all while the family slept.

“It was disturbing. It was creepy,” said homeowner Samuel Blackman.

Blackman and Selland are both pleading for an increase in police presence and faster response times.

"It took them a good hour to show up. It wasn’t until we called the second time that they showed up,” said Selland.

KIRO 7 analyzed SPD's Crime Dashboard and found that burglaries in North Seattle are up a bit. As of September of this year, there were 276 reported burglaries.

The same time last year, there were 227.

Police are awaiting a warrant to return the stolen items back to the homeowner.

Cox Media Group