Police investigate Bothell burglaries

Bothell police still are investigating a string of commercial burglaries that hit the city in November, according to police Capt. Denise Langford.

Langford added there were at least 11 break-ins at local businesses last month. She didn’t have statistics on how many burglaries might occur in a normal month, but said November’s figures were highly unusual.

“This was definitely out of the ordinary,” she said.

According to Langford, the burglaries were spread throughout Bothell, from one end of town to the other. Still, she added there were enough similarities between the incidents to make police believe they were related.

In most cases, the thieves would break out glass in a door or window or smash a door lock to gain entry. Langford said they seemed to generally be looking for cash, and in some cases, businesses clearly had been entered and searched, but nothing was taken.

“They were after the quick reward,” Langford said.

When police realized they had a problem, Langford added they sent out a notice to businesses in the city and stepped up patrols in certain areas.

“It looks like to a certain extent, we’ve been successful,” she said.

The last incident took place almost a month ago, on Nov. 30. There have been no arrests and Langford said there are no suspects.

According to police, during one Nov. 22 burglary, thieves made off with a safe containing $1,000 in cash.

Police and the Greater Bothell Chamber of Commerce have offered several tips to business owners that might help them from being victimized:

• Before leaving your business for the day, lock all doors and windows.

• Remove cash.

• Leave lighting on both indoors and out.

• Consider installing motion sensitive lighting and set your alarm, if you have one.

Police are asking that anyone with any information about last month’s burglaries contact them at (425) 486-1254.

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