SEATTLE — Police are looking for jewelry robbers who have been targeting people for a little more than a week on Beacon Hill and in the Rainier Valley.
According to the Seattle Police Department, more than 20 women and men have been targeted on streets, at bus stops, and in grocery stores and shopping centers in the South Precinct.
Police said the robbers would grab their victims from behind or walk up to them. The robbers would then ask the victims a question and snatch their jewelry and purses.
“It’s purely a crime of opportunity,” said Lt. Dan Whelan of the Seattle Police Department.
Police believe the robberies started on Aug. 14, when two robbers followed a woman out of a Beacon Hill market and ripped two gold and jade necklaces from her neck.
KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Stacy Sakamoto spoke with the store employee, Thai Phan, who saw the woman leave the market. The woman ran back into the store to tell him of the robbery. Phan said he ran after the two suspects.
“I saw them run over there and I tried to chase them, but I could not make it. They ran faster than me, I guess,” Phan said.
Manilyn Oberg didn’t hear about the robbery on her street until KIRO 7 Eyewitness News told her, but she said she heard another incident that happened nearby.
“One of my friends, her mom’s necklace was snatched so it was really terrible, I was really surprised,” Oberg said.
Ever since the robbery at the Beacon Hill market, more than 20 people have contacted police about similar cases.
Anyone with information about the robbers is asked to contact the Seattle Police Department’s robbery unit at 206-684-5535.