Thieves leave giant hole in business after 'well-organized' burglary of rare coins

Burglars $50k worth of rare coins from Tacoma store

The thieves were only able to access the shop through a vacant business next door.

TACOMA, Wash. - A well-organized group of thieves managed to cut a giant hole in a wall of a business, sneak in undetected and make off with bags of rare coins.

CEO of Bellevue Rare Coins in Tacoma, Eric Hoolahan, said it took the group of six thieves hours to get into the business, making sure not to trip camera sensors. 

He says it started around 2 a.m. Christmas Day-- the thieves were only able to access the shop through a vacant business next door. 

"They started in one place and it seemed that wall was a little too thick," Hoolahan said. 

They were forced to move as part of the wall was lined with concrete. Once they found a softer spot, they cut through the cinder blocks too, leaving their handsaws behind. No power tools were used, but it did trigger the alarm around 6:30 a.m.

Hoolahan says he checked them remotely but didn't see or hear anything so he "disregarded it".

He says Tacoma Police also came out after one of their sirens went off but they, too didn’t see anyone. The thieves allegedly returned several hours later after no one noticed what they were up to. 

"They did trigger the alarm again," Hoolahan said. "It was the same motion, so again I thought we had a malfunctioning sensor."

However, it wasn’t faulty. The thieves covered the motion sensor preventing cameras and lights from activating. Business leaders believe whoever targeted them has been here before. 

"You can tell from the way that they hit the center of the wall they knew exactly where the motion was; where to cover it," Hoolahan said.

The thieves made off with $50,000 worth of coins.  

They also knew to avoid the cameras if and when they were checked. The burglary didn’t happen right away. Hoolahan says the hooded people returned an hour later breaking the lock off the cage and stealing the silver coins. 

"We can clearly tell this is organized, very organized," Hoolahan said. "The day of the crime, all license plates had been removed."

Because the sensors were tampered with all they have is video and images from outside the business showing masked and hooded people leaving with bags. One of them shows what appears to be a man dressed in a yellow suit walking with dog. 

"We’ve been through this numerous times now," Hoolahan said. 

The family-owned business also closed its West Seattle location following a series of crimes. 

In this case, he's fearful crooks will take the coin collection and sell it online or an unreputable business for five to $10,000. 

"The problem is they’re glad to take the few grand because they know there is no consequence," Hoolahan said.