KING COUNTY, Wash. — Six defendants accused of organized retail theft were arraigned in King County court Monday, part of what prosecutors describe as a steady flow of cases hitting Puget Sound businesses in 2026.
The cases involve some of the region’s most recognizable retail names: Lululemon, Nordstrom, Target, Safeway, Ross Dress for Less, and Ulta Beauty.
“None of these cases made the news, but businesses sure felt the impacts of these crimes,” Casey McNerthney, spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, said. “King County prosecutors are taking action when we get those cases from police investigators.”
All six defendants are innocent until proven guilty.
The six King County organized retail theft cases
McNerthney detailed the cases during the weekly Crime and Punishment segment on “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio:
- Alleged theft at the Lululemon store at U Village in Seattle.
- Alleged thefts at Safeway stores in Bellevue and West Seattle.
- Alleged theft at the Target at Factoria Square in Bellevue.
- Alleged theft at the Nordstrom at Bellevue Square.
- Alleged theft at the Ross Dress for Less in Lake Forest Park.
- Alleged theft at Ulta Beauty at the Factoria Square location.
The Ulta Beauty case ties directly into one of Seattle’s most persistent crime corridors.
“What she allegedly told police was that she was reselling these stolen items down there at Third and Pike in downtown Seattle, which is a problem that we deal with, too,” McNerthney said.
Why these are felonies, not shoplifting
Standard shoplifting charges are misdemeanors handled by city prosecutors. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office handles felonies, meaning these cases involve suspects accused of hitting stores repeatedly or stealing at levels that push charges into felony territory.
“These are different than regular shoplifting cases, because those are much more common. Those are handled at the city level by law,” McNerthney said. “These are the ones where you have people over and over and over going to stores.”
Washington ranks No. 1 in the country for retail theft, Forbes study finds
The six cases arrive against a statewide backdrop that puts Washington at the top of the wrong list.
A Forbes Advisor study ranked Washington as the most impacted by retail crime in the country, giving it a total score of 100 out of 100. Washington accounts for 48% more retail theft than its share of the U.S. population would predict. The state ranked third-worst for total value of stolen goods, averaging $347 lost per resident, roughly double the study average of $173. Larceny-theft incidents were the second-highest per capita in the nation, and the growth rate from 2019 to 2022 was the second-worst, climbing 24%.
The Washington Retail Association puts the cost at roughly $2.7 billion in stolen goods in 2021, translating to hundreds of millions in missed local and state tax revenue.
What Washington retail theft costs consumers and taxpayers
McNerthney addressed the argument prosecutors frequently encounter.
“We hear arguments all the time of ‘It’s just property,’” he said. “But there’s no obligation that these businesses keep stores open when they get hit with major losses. At best, prices go up, at worst, stores close, and neither of those options are good.”
Kroger closed Washington Fred Meyer stores in Everett and Kent, with the company partly blaming “a steady rise in theft.” Crystal Leatherman, WRA’s director of policy and government affairs, has noted that businesses hit by repeat theft often end up spending heavily on security just to stay open.
In a state that funds government largely through sales tax, hundreds of millions in missed revenue represents money that never reaches state coffers. Fewer legal sales mean less tax revenue at a time when Olympia is already wrestling with budget shortfalls.
Washington lawmakers push for organized retail theft reform
State Rep. Mari Leavitt, a University Place Democrat, has been pushing for stiffer penalties on organized retail crime in Washington. Her bill last session sought sentencing enhancements for coordinated theft rings. It cleared a public hearing but didn’t advance. Leavitt has said she has since worked with a King County prosecutor to strengthen the language for another attempt.
“You can create all the tools you want, but unless we have resources to prosecute these cases, it makes it difficult,” Leavitt told The Olympian.
State Rep. Roger Goodman, a Kirkland Democrat who chairs the House Community Safety Committee, called retail theft a “huge problem” during a work session and signaled the Legislature will be looking at ways to address it.
The resource question keeps surfacing. Washington ran a retail theft prosecutor pilot program that produced real results before the state killed it over a $500,000 line item.
What happens next
Monday’s hearings were arraignments, the first formal step in a criminal case, where defendants enter an initial plea. From here each case moves through the standard King County court process.
McNerthney said his office continues to file organized retail theft cases as police investigators bring them in.
“This time last week we talked about organized retail theft cases, and this morning there are another six of those cases in court for arraignments,” he said.
Charlie Harger is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here. Follow Charlie on X and email him here.