Global Courant 2023-05-31 13:30:22
A Seattle business owner blamed the city government for bringing in criminals as his family’s two stores struggled to stay afloat after 11 burglaries last year.
“I think we would give up at some point,” Kevin Rinderle, owner of the Yukon Trading Company, told Fox News. “It is tiring.”
Washington Retail businesses lost more than $2.7 billion to theft in 2021, the second highest in the country per capita, according to the Retail Industry Leaders Association. Meanwhile, from 2020 to this year, the Seattle City Council has cut millions annually from the police budget, while crime reached an all-time high in 2022 according to law enforcement data.
“That’s been the problem,” Rinderle said. “Our city government is anchored to the extreme left.”
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“There is no shortage of things that need to be done on a daily basis,” he added. “So when things come at you from left field or things you can’t prepare for, like crime, theft and burglary and property damage, it really sets you back.”
A Seattle entrepreneur says his and his wife’s businesses will have been broken into 11 times by 2022. (Courtesy of Kevin Rinderle)
Rinderle bought his outdoor store and moved it to Seattle about 15 years ago. His wife became part owner of her family’s store, Queen Anne Dispatch, in 2006.
Between their two stores, the Rinderles withstood 11 burglaries in 2022. From merchandise, inventory, proper destruction and time to handle the damage, Rinderle said they spent hundreds of dollars as a result.
Rinderle says he lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs to the two stores and lost merchandise. (Courtesy of Kevin Rinderle)
“I purposely didn’t add it all up because I don’t want to know,” Rinderle said. “It’s just a fact of life in Seattle now.”
The Seattle entrepreneur increased his costs by spending more money on protect his property against theft. He installed bulletproof glass, changed locks and upgraded their security systems. His wife boarded up two windows in her shop.
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“We definitely sleep better at night if we only have wood for the windows,” said Rinderle. “But that doesn’t instill much desire to come visit us if it looks like a crime scene.”
Retailers across the country have seen an increase in outside theft, including organized retail crime, cost $94.5 billion by 2021, a nearly $4 billion jump from the year before, according to the National Retail Federation. That increased again in 2022 nearly $100 billion.
Another Seattle business owner, Dunn Lumber CEO Mike Dunn, previously told Fox News that the city’s police department said organized robbery gangs had begun recruiting homeless people to break into stores and steal merchandise. Rinderle said he followed criminals from his shop to nearby homeless camps and watched them try to sell his stolen property.
Organized criminals hire homeless people to break into stores and steal merchandise, says a Seattle entrepreneur. (John Moore/Getty Images)
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see more organized criminal masterminds setting up organizations and hiring some of the more distraught people in homeless camps to make things easy for them,” he said.
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Rinderle blamed Seattle’s “far-left” city council for enabling organized crime. He said calls to cut 50% of police funding by 2020 and that anti-police rhetoric has fostered a relaxed mindset about crime.
The small business owner said he hoped November’s election would bring more moderate city council candidates to the forefront.
A city council’s normal priorities, namely the health, safety and well-being of citizens and businesses, “are not high on the list of priorities” for Seattle, Rinderle said. “So moving that even just to the centre-left would be a dramatic improvement to how the city is run.”
Seattle City Councilwoman Lisa Herbold told Fox News in a statement that “complex problems like crime shouldn’t be oversimplified.”
Claims that the rise in violent crimes has occurred as a result of the reform of the criminal justice system being pursued by policymakers ignores data showing that homicides have increased in both cities led by Democrats and Republicans against a almost right rate with some red states with the highest murder rate,” she continued. “‘Views’ don’t increase crime; and the idea that Seattle city councilors have ‘acted’ to change the laws in force is baseless.”
Rinderle’s security camera catches thieves trying to break into his business. (Courtesy of Kevin Rinderle)
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The Rinderles have considered moving because of the crime, but would rather stay in the Emerald City, where they established their business more than a decade ago. But some small business owners in Seattle have already been forced to close.
“They put their hearts and souls and their lives into these small businesses,” said Rinderle. “Even if they wanted to, they might not be able to continue, so it’s a big disappointment. Those are the stores that make your community a place you want to live.”
Click here to hear more about crime from a Seattle business owner.
Megan Myers is an associate producer/writer at Fox News Digital Originals.
