Women arrested for allegedly filling purses with $18,000 worth of stolen merchandise
BELLEVUE, Wash. December 8 2019 – Bellevue Police arrested two women for allegedly stealing more than $18,000 worth of merchandise from Bellevue stores.
Detectives say the women carried large purses and grabbed small items inside several stores on Nov. 20 at Bellevue Square.
According to police, the pair hit the Apple Store, Microsoft Store, North Face, Macy’s and Amazon Books. While employees didn’t notice, store security cameras did.
According to charging documents, Kirsten Hawthorne and Aleisha Talley drove a rental care from Portland, Oregon, to steal. The small items they targeted were quickly placed in their purses and then dumped in their car.
KIRO-7 Eastside Reporter Alison Grande has the surveillance video and talked to police. She’s working on the story for KIRO-7 News at 5:30 pm.
The women allegedly stole several Amazon Echos at the Amazon Books store at Bellevue Square and were recognized by an employee. The employee told police he recognized the women from a previous shoplift.
Mall security got a description of their car and gave it to Belleuve Police. Officers spotted the car and stopped it blocks away. When they did a search warrant on the car they found the women had already stolen more than $9,000 of merchandise from the Bellevue Best Buy and REI.
The women are charged with organized retail theft and possession of stolen property.
Officers were able to return the stolen property to the stores.
KIRO7
