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153 stories matching burglari
- Seattle’s Burglary Panic Didn’t Survive the Record Book
Police Chief Rogers pushed back on calls to expand the force, producing department figures that showed theft reports down by half—and blamed the rest on sneak thieves rather than professionals.
- A Burglary Charge Thrown Out
After being held on a $2,000 bond, a man accused of burglary is released when the court realizes the case against him is meritless.
- The Burglary in the Cathedral
A legal loophole in Washington Territory prevents a man accused of living inside a church from being charged with burglary, sparking a public outcry against the prosecutor.
- The Unseen Crime Wave in Early Seattle
A local report exposes how the Seattle police force in the late 1880s suppressed news of burglaries to keep them out of the papers, hoping to solve the crimes quietly—with disastrous, ineffective results.
- The Burglar Who Walked Into Tacoma From Everett
A single suspect arrested in Everett for robbing a hired girl at gunpoint is now being investigated by Tacoma police as the prime suspect behind a string of local burglaries that have plagued the city for months.
- Spate of Burglaries Stirs North Yakima
A series of brazen daytime thefts has left residents guarding their doors and tallying their missing heirlooms.
- The Trial of the Jar Thieves
Three men face time in the penitentiary after confessing to a clumsy burglary at a local store.
- Holiday Crime Wave Sweeps Tacoma
While crowds gathered for the Fourth of July celebration, a brazen spree of burglaries and robberies left residents on edge.
- The Burglar Who Stole From Himself
A clever thief in Seattle pulls off a double deception: stealing from a store and then framing a Chinese employee for the crime.
- The Man Who Wasn't: Tacoma’s Mysterious 'John Doe' and the Burglary That Never Was
Police Chief Fackler returns from Everett with a prisoner who fits the description of a local thief, but lacks the evidence to prove it. A tale of mistaken identity and urban anxiety in early 20th-century Tacoma.
- A Sixteen-Year-Old's Descent
A young boy is sent to reform school following a string of grocery store burglaries in Everett.
- The Burglary of a Stage Carpenter’s Home
A theatrical family returns to their Seattle home to find their belongings ransacked, exposing the city's ongoing struggle with property crime.
- Domestic Dispute Turns into Burglary Charge
A former husband is hauled into court after an unauthorized retrieval of his personal property from his ex-wife's home.
- A Captain's Midnight Wrestle With an Armed Robber
Capt. W.W. Gardner loses a small sum but saves his watch after a holdup at Thirteenth and I streets—part of a burglary wave police cannot seem to stop.
- The Burglary Mystery at the Bostwick Hotel
A young woman arrested in Ellensburg for a room robbery in Tacoma is released after the accuser drops the charges.
- The Judge Who Ejected His Own Lawyer: A Tacoma Courtroom Meltdown
In a bizarre turn of events at the Thurston County Courthouse, Presiding Judge Laurence silenced defense counsel Bronston and refused to hear the prisoner's testimony, leaving John Halson to face burglary charges in silence.
- The Audacity of the Midnight Knife: A Burglary Attempt on Fourth Avenue
Two men risked everything to crack a store's back door in the dead of night, only to be thwarted by a vigilant clerk and the sound of sawing.
- The Great Money-Jar Heist
A notorious career criminal and his accomplices are captured after a daring burglary at a Seattle clothing store, prompting the store owners to turn the crime into a promotional spectacle.
- Age Technicality May Free Convicted Youth
A young man sentenced to reform school for burglary finds a path to freedom after it is revealed he is over the legal age for juvenile detention.
- The Great Jailhouse Swap
A bungling jailer manages to swap a suspected burglar with a drunk man, allowing the suspect to pay a fine and walk free while the wrong man sits behind bars.
- A Desperate Theft in Wallula
A hungry drifter is sentenced to ten months in the penitentiary after stealing from a Chinese household in Wallula.
- The Outlaw and the Neckties
After months of eluding sheriffs across the Pacific Northwest, a horse thief and burglar is captured in Spokane, but his case leads to a messy legal feud back in Colfax.
- Two Burglaries Rock Richland
A post office and a general store are looted in a single night as deputies scour the countryside for suspects.
- The Ethics of the Sting
A century before modern debates on police entrapment, Washington courts were already grappling with the line between preventing crime and creating it.
- The 'Reform' Administration's Policing Scandal
A scathing report accuses Seattle’s new municipal government of total incompetence in failing to curb a wave of burglaries, despite increased spending on the force.