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Woodinville man attacked while attempting to stop theft at Rite Aid

WOODINVILLE, Wash. — A Woodinville man thought he was doing the right thing when he tried to stop thieves inside a Rite Aid store but got attacked.

Peter Horvath went inside his neighborhood Rite Aid Monday afternoon in what he thought would be a routine visit. It turned into a day he says he will never forget.

“The other gentleman just hit me. Hit my head right here and according to the police hit me three times, I don’t even remember. I fell down on the concrete and hit my head again,” Horvath said. “These people just started shoveling stuff inside this big bin box.”

“I grabbed the box from one side, and the other lady held it from the other side and I told them, ‘You guys are not going to leave with these items.’”

The thieves got away with a couple of thousand dollars worth of products, and police are still searching for them.

According to the National Retail Federation, Seattle ranks 10th in the nation when it comes to organized retail crime.

About 69% of retailers said they had seen more organized retail crime over the past year. Some reasons for the spike were COVID-19 policies, changes to sentencing guidelines, and the growth of online marketplaces.

King County Sheriff’s Office detective Tracy Owens, who is working the case, said, “A lot of stores (have) developed new rules with loss prevention. What they can and can’t do when facing thieves and liability issues with employees. Since then, things have only ramped up.”

“Police will still make arrests and hold people accountable, but there are steps retailers can take and it’s a combined effort between law enforcement and retail establishments to stop thieves,” Owens said.

One Woodinville resident told KIRO 7 she wouldn’t have felt comfortable doing the same thing.

“He became involved, and he put himself in jeopardy because he doesn’t know if they have a weapon or anything,” Patricia Shaffer said.

Deputies said in Horvath’s case, he was lucky things did not escalate more than they did.

The authorities do not recommend any citizens take the law into their hands by grabbing hold of a suspect in situations like the one that occurred at Rite Aid. They say that a person should try to be a good witness, remember as many details as possible and report it to law enforcement.