Four charged in area-wide liquor theft ring

One day after Washington state got out of the liquor business, a group of thieves got into it. And four men now face charges of stealing nearly $16,000 in alcohol from area retailers.

The four men, all in their early 20s, are accused of ripping off grocery stores throughout King, Pierce and Snohomish County, repeatedly walking out with multiple bottles of booze, according to Ian Goodhew with the King County Prosecutors office.

“These four men would travel to different stores and they would conspire together to steal various amounts of alcohol, usually ranging somewhere between $100 to $400 worth of alcohol,” Goodhew said.

The biggest heist is believed to be $3,700 worth of stolen alcohol.

The men are identified as Charles Aaron Askew, Devonte James Jack, Darren Xavier Lorenzo Dean and Blake Loren Kirvin. All four face two counts each of felony retail theft.

The four are linked to at least 16 different robberies from grocery stores from Tacoma to Mill Creek. Their spree lasted from June 1 until October 19, 2012.

A number of the thefts were witnessed or observed on surveillance video, with witnesses repeatedly identifying the suspects.

“Eventually a particular detailed loss prevention officer from one of the stores noticed this string that was going on and eventually with the help of police was able to find enough evidence to show that they had committed this crime over and over again,” Goodhew said.

After getting stopped following one robbery, officers found two stolen, loaded handguns in the suspects car. All four have prior theft convictions.

Investigators believe there were far more additional thefts and continue their probe.