‘After the fact is where we’re falling down’: Seattle production company director who found stash of stolen items hits roadblock with SPD

A Seattle production company director and a Seattle studio owner were among those hit by thieves who they believe targeted several local businesses.

Chris Hunter, a director and engineer at production company Tenacious Ventures, went so far as to set up a sting operation. He found a stash of stolen items, but said, unfortunately, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) hasn’t been able to offer much help.

“We’re not interested in throwing the police under the bus. Definitely, what happens after the fact is where we’re falling down in the city. How do we go … like, we’ve done a ton of investigation,” Hunter told “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio.

Hunter explained he and his colleagues have followed the thieves, bought items back after finding them for sale online, saved video interactions, and have even found the public storage the thieves are using for the stolen goods. But, he said, busting the criminals isn’t so easy, as he believes the group is a multi-level ring working up and down the coast.

“We know places in Portland, and it’s a large group of people, and they probably don’t even all know each other,” he said.

However, Hunter said his team has no interest in confronting the suspects, despite SPD leaving the door open for them to do so.

“We’re not interested in doing any kind of citizen’s arrest or anything. But we asked the police to participate. We gave them precise times and locations for it, but they just say we don’t have the availability,” he said.

Seattle studio owner predicted break-in down to the minute

Meanwhile, Derek Klein, the owner of Olympic Studios, was less impressed with SPD’s handling of his situation after discovering his studio had been hit by thieves.

“There’s one, there’s one officer that writes these very vague emails like, ‘Oh, I could see that these could possibly be connected,'” Klein said, referring to what he claimed is a link between the vehicle used to burglarize his studio and a murder at a Belltown apartment building.

Klein nearly had a run-in with the suspects after he predicted the next break-in down to the minute.

“I was about to go to bed, and something just told me I need to go in there,” he said. “Show up at the shop, settle in. I set up my security cameras right next to where I’m gonna sleep, and I pull those cameras up at 11:45 p.m., and I’m not kidding you when I say they pulled in at 11:46 p.m. They backed right up to my door. I saw a bunch of flashlights going off in the car, and then two guys got out in their masks. And I’m like, ‘OK, yep, for sure. Here we go.'”

Klein said he called the police right away, and they told him they would get there as soon as possible. But in the meantime, Klein, rifle ready, was watching the suspects work their way into his studio.

“The one guy gets out, he grabs a big metal thing, and I thought it’s got to be a pry bar, because that’s what these guys do. But the way he was holding it, it actually looked like a shotgun to me. And he leaned up against the building, and I saw the other guy starting to climb up,” he said. “So I rested my rifle on the ledge right there, and then my friend was right next to me. And as soon as the guy popped up, I just racked one, racked around, and pulled up on him. And instantly, you can see, he just popped down and jumped right back in the car. But then they kind of arrogantly drove away, super slow, I feel like they were telling me, like, ‘Yeah, we have guns too.'”

Studio owner calls on SPD for answers

Klein said he’s spoken with other local studios that were hit similarly.

“You can tell they just went straight down Google. They’re Googling studios and camera rental houses, and they’re just working their way down the list,” he said.

Klein called on SPD to provide more information about the investigation.

“We need some clarity here, because it’s just crazy. I give them all kinds of info,” he said.

Watch the full discussions in the video above with Derek Klein first and Chris Hunter second.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.