Bellevue Police seek public's help to ID looting suspects and arsonist who torched truck
BELLEVUE, Wash. - Police are asking for the public's help to identify an arson suspect and a couple seen on multiple surveillance cameras looting Bellevue stores on May 31st.
Detectives say the arsonist threw an incendiary device into the truck of a maintenance company owner trying to convince rioters not to break into businesses.
Police say he was wearing a respirator of some kind. Detectives say he never entered any of the stores and just appears to have only been there to cause destruction.
As the group of about 30 to 40 people approached J. Lewis Jewelry, Rick Froton tried to explain that the store was empty after being closed for the pandemic. He was in the area boarding up windows at the request of property owners who had called concerned about looting.
“I got out of my truck, I yelled at them, ‘Please don't do that, there's nothing in there for you to take.' I was about two feet away from the cab, something was thrown into cab. Within seconds, it had ignited everthing inside. It was pretty much gone. Everything had melted on the inside,” said Rick Froton with All American Maintenance.
Fortunately, neither he nor his son who was with him were hurt. Detectives say the suspect who set his truck on fire is white, 25 to 35 years old and did not come or leave with any of the other looters.
“If this person is that brazen and crass and willing to do this, he is dangerous and we just need your help to identify him so we can get him off the streets. All he wants to do is cause destruction. This individual is seen with the incendiary device, walks by and tosses it in, total and utter disregard for anyone around him and obviously the truck,” said Meeghan Black with Bellevue Police.
Police are also asking for the public’s help to identify a man and a woman seen together during the looting. The short, black male suspect wearing a red jacket and a blue baseball cap threw a rock at the front door to J. Lewis Jewelry, shattering the glass. The female suspect with pigtails was then seen climbing through the opening and stealing from the store. She has a tattoo on her right wrist.
Detectives say the two were also seen on camera with a large group of thieves burglarizing a nearby Xfinity store.
“The people that did the damage had no clue to what they were doing. They were just there as an opportunity,” said Froton, who has a unique perspective about what happened that day.
He has an eclectic and multi-racial family. He emigrated to the U.S. from Cuba 40 years ago and has worked hard to build the maintenance company he started in 1985. He knows the looting had nothing to do with the peaceful protests.
“They weren’t there for a cause. They were there for whatever they could find,” he said.
After word spread about what happened to his truck, Michael’s Toyota called and sold him a new truck.
"Within a day, we were pretty much whole. So many blessings came out of that,” said Froton.
He would like to see the suspect who torched his truck caught but not for the reason you might think.
“If he asks for forgiveness, I'll be glad to forgive him and I'll be glad to visit him when he spends time in jail and let him know there's a different course to take.”
Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound is offering a cash reward of up to $1,000 for information on any of their names or addresses. You will remain anonymous. Submit tips at www.p3tips.com or through the P3 Tips App on your cell phone. You can also call 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). You will never be asked to give your name.