Felon causes $2K in damage during Columbia City restaurant burglary
Mar 31, 2026, 3:50 PM
Seattle police recovered multiple bottles of stolen liquor during a burglary arrest. (Photo courtesy of the Seattle Police Department)
(Photo courtesy of the Seattle Police Department)
A convicted felon is back behind bars after Seattle Police caught him burglarizing a Columbia City Restaurant early this morning.
The burglary happened just after 4 a.m. at the Taco City Taqueria on Rainier Avenue S., the Seattle Police Department (SPD) announced.
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Seattle Police recover all stolen bottles from Taco City Taqueria burglary
Police said the 37-year-old man used a crowbar to break in the door and smash windows, doing more than $2,000 in damage, then he fled with $400 in stolen liquor.
When SPD arrived, the man was already gone, but officers searching the area spotted a man carrying a huge duffel bag. After investigators reviewed the video surveillance footage provided by the business owner, they placed the man under arrest.
“He did, in fact, deny breaking into the business; however, the investigators conducted a search incident to an arrest, and they found all of those stolen bottles of liquor inside the duffle bag he was carrying,” Seattle Police Detective Eric Muñoz said.
Officers recovered the stolen liquor bottles and returned them to the owner.
The man was booked into the King County Jail on suspicion of commercial burglary.
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