12 break-ins, 1 parking lot, after concert in Seattle

SEATTLE — Concertgoers coming back from a Friday night show at the WaMu Theater in Seattle were stunned to find at least a dozen of their cars had been broken into.

Cory Sokol of Seattle was among the break-in victims. According to Sokol, he had parked his car in a lot right across from Lumen Field at around 8:30 p.m. He did not get back to his car until 11 p.m. or so.

“It’s just frustrating to have parked for a concert for three hours and then to have everything gone through like that,” said Sokol. “My trunk was gone through. A couple people said their house keys got stolen.”

Sokol says nothing was stolen from inside his car, but he estimates he’ll have to pay $200 to $300 to repair the window that was busted in.

“It had to have been multiple people to have gone through this parking lot that quickly,” said Sokol. “It was definitely organized. I don’t know if they watch show or game schedules or something like that.”

What surprised him was despite all the foot traffic in the area, food vendors and law enforcement, nobody seemed to notice what happened.

After KIRO 7 aired Sokol’s story Saturday night, more drivers came forward to report broken windows.

Kalabria Fleming said she parked in the north lot of Lumen Field for the same concert and returned to see her car window smashed.

“It was a typical Friday the 13th,” she said.

Nothing was taken from her car, either, but she said at least two other vehicles parked near hers were also targeted.

Fleming talked with a Seattle Police officer and was given a case number.

Then, she had to drive home with a broken window in the rain.

Another person contacted KIRO 7 to say the same night, their car was one of a handful with broken windows at a parking lot on Melrose Avenue in Capitol Hill.

On Sunday morning, KIRO 7 saw workers using blowers on the pavement, and spotted additional shattered glass at the pay lot across the street.

KIRO 7 contacted Seattle Police with the case number from the Lumen Field incident. Officials said the incident report referenced three car prowls but did not mention break-ins in other locations.

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