News

Cleaning crew steals thousands of dollars in jerseys from Safeco Field

A cleaning crew stole more than $11,000 worth of Mariners jerseys from inside the stadium and police are still looking for the thieves and the jerseys.
The theft happened two days after the Mariners last home game of the season.  KIRO 7 dug into the police report and the company that employed the crew to find out if more could have been done to prevent this crime.
Surveillance cameras captured the cleaning crew breaking into the kiosk, but police are still working to identify the thieves because they were employed by a temp-type agency called Labor Works.
"I don't know what the hiring process is for them,” Patrick Michaud with the Seattle Police Department told us.
KIRO 7 wanted to find out more about Tacoma-based Labor Works so we visited their storefront in Tukwila. That's where we learned Labor Works puts people to work the day they walk in and apply; background checks are only done when the client requests one.
KIRO 7 called the Mariners, and they told us they didn't do a background check on these suspects because they weren't working when fans were present.
As for the stolen merchandise, Seattle police say the thieves are likely selling it places like eBay and Craigslist, and they have had detectives checking those websites.  They say it's really tough to prove a jersey is stolen, though.  They warn fans not to purchase team merchandise on sites like those.

SEATTLE — Want to talk about the news of the day? Watch free streaming video on the KIRO 7 mobile app and iPad app, and join us here on Facebook.