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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1876 | 6 |
| 1877 | 8 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 5 |
| 1885 | 22 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1887 | 8 |
| 1888 | 5 |
| 1889 | 7 |
| 1890 | 4 |
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| 1917 | 2 |
151 stories matching stole
- The King of the Timber Land Jumpers
A self-confessed fraudster who stole 70,000 acres of Washington timber land turns on his former syndicate partners.
- The Strange Disappearance of the Wharf Thief
A witness recounts the mysterious final moments of a man who stole a boat and seemingly vanished into thin air, leaving behind only a trail of questions.
- The Boy Who Stole a Coat: Seattle’s Teenage Burglars and Their 'Ingenious' Defense
Two teenagers, aged 16 and 17, were caught red-handed stealing overcoats on King Street. Their attempt to blame a mysterious third party failed, but their defiant attitude offers a rare glimpse into the juvenile justice system of early Seattle.
- The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Stealing
A young Seattle serial runaway and horse thief, described as having the face of an 'innocent Sunday School' student, leaves a trail of abandoned farms and confused sheriffs across the White and Duwamish rivers.
- The Barber Who Stole His Own Shop
Facing a rent hike, a Tacoma barber dismantled his entire business and vanished into the night.
- The Boy Who Stole Gold Nuggets and Slept with Dogs
Eight-year-old Harold Hubbard burglarized a Seattle home, hid his loot under the sidewalk, and spent the night in a dog show—only to confess the next day.
- The Editor Who Stole the Public Warrants
The editor of Port Townsend's 'Morning Leader' was arrested for forging and cashing county warrants after a grand jury investigation.
- The Hungry Teenager Who Could Not Resist
After a kind Kennewick woman fed a hungry 17-year-old drifter, he stole her silver mesh bag and watch, later telling police he felt a strange compulsion to commit the crime.
- The Great Cat Heist: How 'Old Tom' Became Seattle's Most Wanted Feline
A market cat’s affection for stolen kittens turns a quiet afternoon into a scandal of the highest order.
- The Vagrant and the 'Iron Jewelry'
A petty theft on the Duwamish River lands a drifter in a Seattle jail, where he must trade his freedom for hard labor.
- The Unchecked 'Firewater' Trail
A rash of bootlegging and theft at the Lakeside saloon forces a local reckoning with the lack of law enforcement near Chelan.
- The Wild West of Lake Washington
A local man reports being ambushed and knocked from his horse by two men on a remote trail near Lake Washington.
- A Street Fight Over a Package of Meat
A man attempted to steal a package of meat off the steps of the Golden Gate building, only to face a vigorous drubbing from his victim.
- The Thief Who Stole a Watch and Then Returned It
A clumsy pickpocket at a Congregational picnic discovers that stealing from his neighbors isn't as rewarding as he expected.
- The Prosecutor Who Prosecuted Himself: How Aberdeen’s DA Ignored a White Mob’s Attack on Chinese Residents
When a mob drove Aberdeen’s Chinese community out of town and stole $550, the county’s prosecuting attorney charged the victims with libel instead of the perpetrators—sparking a furious editorial defense of civil rights in 1890.
- A Judge Called Unpaid Hotel Work 'Mild Larceny'—and Freed the Bellboy Who Stole $1.15
Nathan Sanguinetti, a West Indian bellboy at Seattle's Rainier Hotel, was convicted of stealing a planted purse. When Judge Humes learned the hotel had made him work 18 months without pay, he called that the real crime—and a pardon followed.
- The Mob That Stole Justice in Seattle
A federal judge delivers a blistering rebuke to the Seattle vigilantes who lynched three men in January 1882, declaring that the lawless 'Committee of Safety' is a threat greater than the criminals they executed.
- The Thief in Blue: Police Chief Exposes Captain’s Theft of Prisoners’ Belongings
A dramatic hearing reveals Officer Fayban’s accusation that Captain Henry Sheahan stole handkerchiefs, neckties, and cash from arrested men, sparking a bitter war of words between Seattle’s top law enforcement officials.
- The Unsolved Murder of John Smith
A Scottish laborer is found beaten to death on the roadside, his pockets empty and his identity a mystery to the local coroner’s jury.
- The Warden Stole His Son’s Fiancée—Then Got Fired Over Eggs
A federal prison appointment at McNeil’s Island unearths a family romance gone wrong and an expense account full of phantom eggs.
- The Land Grab That Built Tacoma: How the Northern Pacific Railroad Stole Millions of Acres
A furious editorial in the Seattle Star exposes the Northern Pacific Railroad’s scheme to misappropriate public lands for a private coal line, arguing that the company is using legal loopholes to steal from settlers in King and Snohomish counties.
- The Great Land Grab: How Speculators Stole Washington's Public Lands
A new federal ruling threatens to invalidate thousands of land claims in the Pacific Northwest, exposing innocent buyers to ruin and revealing a system rigged by attorneys and speculators.
- The Railroad That Stole Our Land: How Seattle’s Interests Blocked Snohomish’s Future
A furious letter to the editor exposes how political maneuvering in Washington D.C. and Seattle kept vital federal lands locked up, denying homesteaders their rightful homes while railroad tycoons played games with territory.
- Who Stole the Northern Pacific Express Gold?
A three-thousand-dollar payroll shipment vanishes from a Seattle express office, triggering threats, a dramatic interrogation, and accusations of internal negligence.
- Ballard’s Political Feud
A bitter public dispute erupts between a former treasurer and a local editor, trading accusations of criminal fraud and libel.