Employees terrified after they say a man hid in Seattle store overnight
Man hides in store overnight to steal from Fremont business
Employees at a local Seattle small business are terrified after their surveillance system captured a man rummaging through the store overnight, and spent the whole night alone in the shop.
SEATTLE - Employees of a Seattle small business say they are terrified after an intruder hid inside the store until closing and spent about 14 hours roaming through the property overnight.
Surveillance cameras inside the Fremont Vintage Mall captured video of the man rummaging through the shop.
Seattle police are currently investigating the incident, but no arrests have been made.
Man sneaks into Seattle vintage shop, stays overnight
What we know:
Fremont Vintage Mall Manager Gladys Luna tells FOX 13 Seattle she was notified that someone was inside her store around 9:20 a.m. Tuesday morning when the business's alarm went off.
Luna says after looking through surveillance footage, it appeared the suspect never broke in, and instead hid within the store until employees locked up the previous night.
The Fremont Vintage Mall is a massive space with multiple rooms and dozens of vendors, which provides a lot of areas to hide.
"I saw in the video there's someone there," Luna said.
Dig deeper:
She says surveillance video shows the man ransacking the shop. Luna says he moved their safes, and packed various items into a bag.
Despite the extensive search of the property, Luna said the intruder ultimately stole only some clothing and a few ice cream sandwiches.
However, the experience left lasting impacts on her and her employees, Luna told FOX 13 Seattle.
Why you should care:
"I called the police a bunch of times, and then the police showed up three hours later," said Luna.
She tells FOX 13 Seattle she and the other employees had no idea if the man was still inside, or if he might be dangerous.
The incident has left the store's all-female staff shaken and feeling as though they are not a priority for local law enforcement, Luna said.
"During closing time, I started carrying some kind of baseball bat just to check room by room," she said.
The business surveillance cameras captured a clear image of the man they believe ransacked their store when he entered the business Monday night.
However, Seattle Police tell us they are working to determine if the man captured on the surveillance footage is the suspect, so we are not showing his face.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call the Seattle Police Department.
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The Source: Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle reporter AJ Janavel.