Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force recovers stolen Mitsubishi but car prowl suspects still unidentified



UPDATE -- May 30, 2018

Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force Detectives located and recovered the stolen 2017 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport that had previously been featured on Washington's Most Wanted.  Detectives were able to follow the vehicle from Renton into Seattle where a traffic stop was made and the occupants were taken into custody. The vehicle had switched plates on it and had been spray painted gray to conceal its identity.  



Renton Police say the occupants who were arrested were not the primary suspects detectives have been trying to identify.  They continue to ask for help from the public.  If you recognize the suspects who used the couple's stolen credit card, call the hot line at 1-800-222-TIPS, or use the P3 Tips App to submit the information to Crime Stoppers. There's a cash reward of up to $1,000 waiting for anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest in the case.

WANTED IN RENTON --

Take a good look at the three suspects above.

They're linked to a car prowl that Renton Police say took the crooks mere minutes to spark days of torment for an innocent couple.

"On the 27th of April, they went to a restaurant, a local park here,” said Renton Police Det. Robert Onishi. “Stopped for just a few minutes there to grab and order and went back to their car and realized the window had been smashed-out and some of their belongings taken. They'd taken a second to hide some things under the seat, but a car is not something designed to safely store items and so the thieves quickly found that. They called 911. Officer of ours went out to the park there, took their report, while they were in the midst of that, they received some alerts that showed one of their credit cards taken in the theft being used at a nearby Fry's Electronics store and that purchase was within a half an hour of the time that the crime occurred and so it shows three Asian males, they look to be fairly young. They come in, they use one of the credit cards there to make a purchase of about $164 worth of electronics here. A couple of complications to this. A lot of personal paperwork, including some immigration-related paperwork, right-to-work paperwork for the wife were in the car. The other ramification of this was that amongst the losses with her purse were car keys and keys to their apartment both and before they could make arrangements to get their car re-keyed, the car itself was stolen from their apartment parking lot and it was a new 2017 Mitsubishi, so the assumption is that's a tough car to steal without a key, that was probably the same folks coming back with the key and taking it. These folks also had some tax documents in the car and one of the other things that happened past that is that someone tried to establish consumer credit accounts at a couple of different stores online, using that information, so those are all headaches you then have to chase down for a considerable amount of time, potentially for weeks to months. Those are not the kind of things you want to have happen to you just because you dropped in to get some fast food for dinner."



Again, detectives think all three suspects are Asian and fairly young.

The car prowl they got the credit card from happened outside a restaurant at Gene Coulon Park.

It's another case proving what i can't stress enough: Please never leave valuables in your vehicle -- take them with you, or leave them at home.

And, as Det. Onishi can attest to first-hand, no one -- even law enforcement officers themselves -- are clear from car prowl crooks. "I've had it happen to me before and so, even though I'm relatively paranoid in this job, as-is, I still got victimized once. Work car in my own driveway there. Fortunately, nothing of any value was taken, but I can tell you that's not the kind of a feeling you want in the morning when you get up to go to work,” said Det. Onishi.

Let's help get some justice for that couple whose lives were turned upside down from a car prowl.

If you recognize these suspects who used the couple's stolen credit card, or spot their stolen black 2017 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, call the hot line at 1-800-222-TIPS, or use the P3 Tips App to submit your information to Crime Stoppers. There's a cash reward waiting for anyone who helps get them identified.