Robbery suspects take photos with stolen phone

SEATTLE -- Police are asking for the public's help identifying two robbery suspects who took photos of themselves on a victim’s phone.

It began after the victim was found unconscious on Minor Avenue in Capitol Hill in the early morning hours of Jan 13. The victim, who we are not identifying for his safety, was in Seattle visiting from New York.  He says he thinks he was drugged because he doesn’t know what happened after he stopped at the Baltic Room.

“I remember having three red bull vodkas," he said. "In the middle of the third one, I went to the bathroom after the second one and came back and sat down to have the drink and that's the last thing I remember before I woke up in my hotel bed."

Bystanders called 911 when they saw him on the street with people going through his pockets. Officers responded and found him unconscious with his wallet, phone, Cartier watch and hotel room key gone.

"They hit me on the side of the head, took all of my stuff," he said. "(They) left me unconscious half in the street, half on the road and had the nerve to go to my hotel room and take the rest of my things."

Surveillance video from the hotel shows a suspect walking through the lobby and taking an elevator to his room.

Ret. Det. Myrle Carner with Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound says, “The suspect goes in and proceeds to burglarize the room, takes an iPad and the computer belonging to the victim."

When the victim replaced his phone, he quickly discovered the suspects still had his old one. In fact, they had taken pictures of themselves playing pool in a garage. One photo clearly shows a suspect with a distinctive tattoo on his neck.

“Obviously the suspects think 'I got away with this, obviously I have his phone, his computer and everything, iPad. How can they possibly find me?'" Carner said. "Well, the good news is, through technology it gets uploaded through the iCloud which gets downloaded to the victim's new phone."

Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to a $1,000 for information on the suspect’s identities. If you know who they are, call the hotline anonymously at 1-800-222-tips.

The victim has been checking Craigslist for his stolen watch and says he’s learned two lessons.

“Never leave your drink at the bar when you go to the bathroom and two, always take the hotel sleeve off of your hotel room key," he said. " If they had just stolen my watch, and my wallet and my phone, I'd be unhappy but they stole my whole computer bag which had lots of other things in it."