Vandal or thief? Help ID suspect who stole hose bib, caused devastating flooding inside business offices
WANTED IN SEATTLE - Is he a vandalism suspect or a just a thief? That's the question Seattle Police are hoping to be able to answer if you can help identify him.
Take a look at the man in the flip flops on surveillance video taken on Tuesday, June 17th, around 9:30pm. It shows the suspect reach down to a water pipe sticking out of the wall of an office building in the 1300 block of Stewart St. and then unscrew a hose bib, which he then stole.
That caused water to start pouring into the whole first floor and basement.
At his offices for Bradley Johnson Attorneys and 1-800-DUI-AWAY, Johnson gave us a tour of the work that crews have been doing to repair the water damage caused by the suspect when he stole a hose bib off the pipe outside. "The entire inside of this building was flooded. We had about two inches of standing water. It destroyed all of the carpet, it seeped-up the drywall, so a portion of the drywall had to be replaced,” said Johnson.
Ruined floorboards were ripped-up and replaced, walls re-painted, new carpet installed, at a cost approaching $50,0000. Johnson has insurance, but he's out the deductible, plus all this time and effort -- and for what?
“I don't know whether it's because they just wanted to take that pipe and sell it, because it was copper, or whether or not they deliberately wanted to flood the inside of the building, but that was the consequence,” said Johnson.
He thinks it's possible the building was vandalized, because of its high visibility. “We're very prominent on this corner. We're right off of the Stewart St. exit, off of I5 and we've got huge signs, you know, announcing 1-800-DUI-AWAY and our law firm name, so it's possible that people decided we were a target,” said Johnson.
Retired Seattle Police Det. Myrle Carner with Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound says finding out the suspect's motive will come later, for now, officers just need to know his name. "We don't like it. Most certainly the victim didn't like it and we hope you don't like it,” said Ret. Det. Carner.
A surveillance camera first showed the suspect walk up, lean down and partially unscrew the hose bib on the east side of the building and then stroll away. A short time later, he returned, lit a cigarette and then went over and leaned against the building and started looking at his phone. He stayed there for about two minutes, before leaning back over and unscrewing the hose bib, pulling it out and then walking away.
“We're offering up to a $1,000 on this case. All you have to do is give us the identify and if it leads to the arrest and charge, you’re going to get up to $1,000,” said Carner.
“It`s basically back to normal now, this part of it, except for the cleaning,” said Johnson.
The odd upside to all of this, if there is one, is that most of the staff here were working from home because of COVID-19, that's given crews the time they need to get the law offices ready for their eventual return. After all, suspects like this guy are going to need a good criminal defense attorney.
Seattle Police describe him as white, about 30 years old, with short brown hair, a stocky build, wearing black jacket, black shorts and flip flops.
If you know his name, submit a tip through the P3 Tips app on your cell phone or call 1-800-222-TIPS(8477). It's anonymous and you will receive a cash reward of up to $1,000 for information that leads to his arrest