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Major theft ring busted in Seattle

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SEATTLE - Following a nine-month investigation, a major theft ring in Seattle has been busted. Now seven suspects are now facing charges.

Dozens of victims are all over the city, but many of the crimes were centered around Seattle University, targeting the school computers and personal property of students.

These charges are the culmination of a major investigation in which anywhere from 50 to 100 people had property stolen. What we do know is that once police arrested the people named in the court documents, the amount of crime here on Seattle University's campus plummeted.

Mike Slettin, director of public safety at Seattle University, says last year his department was busier than it's ever been. The school was hit with a rash of thefts. School electronics werestolen and so were numerous laptops and ipods belonging to students.

"That opportunistic moment that something had been set down. They'd been studying, and they may go grab a cup of coffee or they were going to the restroom, they go to make a phone call. They're gone for 3-5 minutes roughly, come back, and these items are missing," said Slettin.

The theft reports poured in to detectives with the Seattle Police Department, but the Seattle University campus wasn't the only spot being hit.

"These people were good for over 50 to 100 crimes," said Det. Mel Britt, Seattle Police.

At the University of Washington a $16,000 statue was stolen off its pedestal from inside an old fraternity house, and dozens of other people were being hit as well.

"We recovered property from the University of Washington. We recovered property from an apartment building where there were six victims in that building alone in one day," said Britt.

The break came with a tip last summer that lead to the search of motel rooms, apartments and storage units around the city. One of the main storage areas forstolen goods were two apartments in a building just blocks from the Seattle University campus.

Following a nine month investigation, prosecutors have now filed charges against seven suspects they believe are responsible either for stealing, buying or selling the hot items.

"They had a place to take the property," said Britt. "Those people would take it and would sell it through whatever means they had: Craigslist, eBay, on the street. Criminals have many ways to get rid of property."

Seattle University officials say the campus thefts came to a virtual halt as soon as the suspects were arrested.

"The drop off was dramatic," said Slettin.

Even though most of the thefts happened around Seattle University, police say none of the victims were students there. Detectives say the group may havestolen as much as $100,000 worth of goods in a matter of months. All seven suspects are scheduled to be arraigned on Monday.