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Burien bridal shop latest target of serial thieves after $6,000 loss
A Burien bridal boutique owner is the latest victim in a string of thefts targeting Hispanic businesses, reporting a $6,000 loss in gowns, suits, and accessories to a group of women using "distraction" tactics.
BURIEN, Wash. - A Hispanic boutique owner in Burien says she’s out more than $6,000 after a group of women allegedly targeted her store several times over the past two years.
It’s part of what appears to be a growing trend; similar thefts have been reported at local Hispanic-owned boutiques across the region, including one in Everett, which FOX 13 Seattle reported on last month.
Angelica’s Bridal Boutique's racks sparkle with Quinceañera gowns and baptism suits which represent more than just special occasions — they’re the life’s work of owner Rosario Angelica Romero, who’s been in business for more than two decades.
Thieves steal thousands in gowns, makeup, jewelry
What they're saying:
"I’ve had my business for 25 years," Romero said.
But what used to be a joyful place now carries fear and frustration.
"This is too much now, this is the limit, it’s over. Now we need to stop this," Romero said.
Romero claims the same group of women who stole more than $2,500 in custom gowns from Las Tres Beautifuls Boutique in Everett last month have also targeted her boutique several times since 2023.
"So in this time, take the dress out. Take the tiara out. They take all the makeups I have it, in the showcase, and I don't visualize that that happened, because I believe in these people, is good customer," Romero said.
The business owner said their method is always the same: distraction, deception, and a quick exit.
"I turn around and say, Where's the dress? Where is the tiara? Where is my plugin for my phone?" Romero recalled. "Oh my God, everything is gone."
She said the group first took a custom maroon and gold dress worth over $2,200, along with tiaras, makeup, and even her phone charger.
Local perspective:
The emotional toll was devastating. Romero said she was out sick due to the stress, but when she returned, the group came back — this time with their sights set on baptism suits and dresses.
"When I go back, the rack is empty. Not one. Everything is taken. I don't know where they put in," Romero said.
Romero said she called police but claims they never showed up. So she went out searching for an officer herself. She tells FOX 13 Seattle she found an officer at the farmers market who told her, "These people are experts to do frauds."
Why you should care:
Romero said she never received a case number or a follow-up. As she tries to hold her business together, she’s also fighting a personal battle.
"The doctor told me you have cancer in the ‘three level,’" Romero said.
Her ovarian cancer has spread to her stomach and colon. Chemotherapy has forced her to close the shop on and off, but she says quitting isn’t an option.
"I can receive all my people, and I've been working for all these years, and this made me alive either, you know, the doctor say, ‘You need to close the business." No, because, yeah, I close the business and be dying because I have a support and I care for my family. But when you have something to love, it be your life, its hard to, like, let it go. This is the business that helped me fight for my life," Romero said.
She told FOX 13 Seattle the same women came back again — this time with children — just one day before hitting the Everett boutique last month.
Romero said she’s since spoken with other boutique owners in the region who say they’ve experienced similar thefts from what appears to be the same group.
When asked why she thinks some owners aren’t reporting these crimes, she said: "You know, the problem is, unfortunately, people care to call in the police, because that happened right now with the government."
Romero says the women, who she's now very aware of, called her over the weekend asking for gowns. She made it clear she'd closed the store and was not open for the evening and hung up.
FOX 13 Seattle has reached out to the King County Sheriff’s Office regarding the incidents, and is waiting to hear back.
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The Source: Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle reporter Alejandra Guzman.