In news from local Fox affiliate Q13 out of Greater Seattle, a recent brazen burglary has the victim a little hot under the collar. 

A nighttime burglary at a Seattle car dealership, Wild West Cars and Trucks owned by the Lindquist family of Seattle, saw the perpetrator get away with items totaling over $100,000.

“The burglar broke into the office building, then pried open all the doors to the offices, including where the safe is located,” the story relates. “the burglar got away with the family ring and $100,000 worth of valuables.” The Hot Sauce burglar is so-called because the penetrated safe was found covered in hot sauce, possibly an attempt to cover or remove fingerprints.

What has the Lindquist family so burned up is that the burglar made off with an expensive 90-year-old family heirloom ring, along with other expensive items and did so apparently while police were there responding to the alarm the burglar tripped.

“Seattle police officers responded while the burglary was in progress, and the officers never seemed to notice the incident unfolding several hundred feet away from them. Surveillance video shows two officers on the property for nearly 50 minutes after the burglar triggered the security alarm. Lindquist points out the officers checked the showroom building and upper parking lot but never made it to the office building,” the story notes. “At one point, the burglar even turned the lights on inside the office building, but the police didn’t seem to notice. Eventually, they drove away, and the burglar got away.”

Norris has written previously about the importance of false alarm reduction, which can lead to complacency when first responders assume the alarm to which they’re responding is false. Such may have been the case here. For their part, Seattle PD says they are investigating the initial response to see what could have been done differently and are continuing to look for the hot sauce burglar.

“‘We will review the earlier response,’ SPD said in a statement.”

The Lindquists are offering an award for information on the whereabouts of the stolen ring.

Questions remain. Is there video footage of the break-in occurring that could have/should have been reviewed onsite? What are your thoughts? Should more have been done? 

What is Norris all about?

Norris, Inc.—a South Portland, Maine-based life-safety and security systems integrator with satellite offices in Bangor, Maine; Lee, New Hampshire; and Burlington, Vermont—was founded nearly 40 years ago by two brothers, Brad and Harty Norris. The brothers remain on the board of directors today and continue to help steer the enterprise toward its goal of advancing life-safety, security, and communications while striving to grow in its status as Northern New England’s leading systems integrator. Norris provides fully integrated life-safety and security solutions, comprising disparate systems including fire alarm, intrusion detection, access control, video surveillance, communications, and emergency notification and total systems integration via the Vigilance Systems Integration Engine and ENS. Want to become part of the Norris family? We’re hiring!