Police: 46 arrested or charged in Bellevue looting after death of George Floyd

WANTED: Business looting suspects

Washington's Most Wanted's David Rose has more

BELLEVUE, Wash. - Police have arrested or charged nearly 50 people accused of looting in downtown Bellevue on May 31 during riots following the death of George Floyd.

In June, Bellevue Police said 23 suspects had been arrested. On Aug. 27, detectives said 46 people had been arrested or charged in connection with the looting around Bellevue Square Mall.

Most of the suspects will face charges including Burglary 2, Possession of Stolen Property, and or Malicious Mischief. More arrests were expected, investigators said.

“Our detectives are combing through more than ten-thousand pieces of video evidence from store security cameras or the public,” said Major Travess Forbush. “It’s a tedious and time-consuming process, but an important one. We will continue to investigate, identify, and hold those responsible for the destruction in downtown Bellevue.”

“We want to give prosecutors everything they need to try a successful case,” Forbush said. “We are sending a clear message; we will not tolerate looting, and we will come after anyone responsible.”

Last week, Bellevue Police said they were still searching two looting suspects who took advantage of businesses amidst the chaos and vandalism on May 31.

Detectives are trying to identify two men seen on surveillance video entering the downtown Rite Aid on 106th Ave. NE, Just south of Bellevue Square Mall.

"The night of May 31st, when we had all the looting in downtown Bellevue, for about a three hour period, you can see a group of people smashing the front windows, the front door of the Rite Aid in downtown Bellevue. Now, what happened over the next three hours is that you had all of these people coming and going as they please, taking what they wanted, completely uncaring about what they were doing and who they might be harming. Now, we've already made a couple of arrests, but you can see these two specific individuals. They're not wearing face coverings. The suspect with the brown hair has an obvious tattoo on his forearm. Can't really make it out, but it's distinct and the other suspect has this wild, curly red hair. Somebody has got to know these guys. They walked in at separate times, we don't think that they're connected, but these two individuals went into the Rite Aid, took what they pleased and walked out the door,” said Bellevue Police Public Information Officer, Meeghan Black.