(Originally published Feb. 26)
A long-established Bellevue camera store was burglarized Thursday night during what appears to be an elaborately planned break-in
Omega Photo owner Larry Meece says he arrived at his shop, located at 1100 Bellevue Way NE, roughly five minutes after an alarm went off around 10:20 p.m.
Whoever burglarized the store appeared to be gone, he said.
Meece found two glass display cases smashed, with the contents missing.
Around $42,000 in merchandise, mostly digital SLR cameras and lenses, was stolen from the store.
Meece also discovered a rectangular hole approximately 4 feet by 2 feet cut out of a wall in his office, indicating that access was gained through an adjoining vacant commercial space to the west.
“There’s not a lot of spots you can come through in here, and yet they knew where to come through,” he said. “I find that interesting.”
A reciprocating saw was also discovered at the burglary entry point, where drywall, electrical wires and pipes were cut away.
“We think it was well-planned,” said Barbara Klempnow, an administrative assistant for the shop.
Meece called police after discovering the break-in.
“They responded very quickly, but, unfortunately, people can get in and out very quickly,” Meece said.
Police found a rolling door open at the vacant commercial space, although there were no signs of forced entry.
Detectives are working with the property owner to identify people who may taken tours of the vacant space to scope out the camera store.
Bellevue Police spokeswoman Carla Iafrate said investigators also found multiple footprints, as well as items that may contain latent fingerprints.
“I’m sure they’ll be working this case for awhile because there’s a lot of evidence left behind,” Iafrate said.
Omega Photo has been doing business in Bellevue for 40 years.
Business was bustling the following day at the shop, with the wall in Meece’s office patched over with new drywall.
Meece said he’ll try to replace the stolen merchandise as quickly as possible, but some of the items are in short supply, such as a Canon Mark IV valued at over $6,000.
“That’ll take a little while,” Meece said.
