A 42-year-old male suspect was arrested on Monday after Bellevue Police’s Special Operations Group, working closely with the King County Prosecutor’s Special Operations Unit and analysts with King County Sheriff’s Office, determined he burglarized multiple homes while victims were asleep inside.
At approximately 7:30 a.m. on September 3, Bellevue officers were dispatched to a residential burglary on the 12200 block of SE 65th Street in the city’s Newport Hills neighborhood. The victims – a 68-year-old male and a 63-year-old female – told police they woke up in the morning to discover numerous items in their home had been stolen, their hand truck in their garage had been moved, and the door connecting to the garage was left open. Stolen items included a floor safe containing five firearms – including four semi-automatic pistols and a revolver.
Additionally, the victims discovered their minivan left in the driveway was also broken into. The suspects allegedly stole the female victim’s pocketbook containing her Washington driver’s license and debit and credit cards. The victims also informed detectives they received a fraudulent purchase notification at a Safeway store in Federal Way at about 5:30 a.m. that morning.
Thanks to the help of the victims’ neighbors, Bellevue Police obtained security footage and identified a gray-colored coupe entering and leaving SE 65th Street at approximately 1:30 a.m. that morning. Law enforcement also retrieved the Safeway’s surveillance footage, which showed a male suspect attempting to use victim’s stolen debit card. Additionally, the security footage showed the suspect used a different vehicle (a red-colored Dodge Caravan with a temporary license plate) than during the earlier incident.
Detectives were able to confirm the minivan at the Safeway incident was registered to a female person-of-interest, Sanders’s girlfriend. A search of this individual helped detectives discover she was involved in a vehicle prowl case in Kirkland from May 7, 2024. Security footage from that case identified both the female person-of-interest and an additional male suspect fleeing the area in a GMC SUV. The SUV was registered to the male suspect, Kelly Sanders. Bellevue detectives confirmed Sanders as the male suspect in the May case and placed Sanders at the Safeway incident on September 3.
A criminal history search of Kelly Sanders found he had eleven prior felony convictions – including for burglary. According to state law, Sanders’s felony convictions make it illegal for him to lawfully possess firearms.
Police were also able to discover the suspect’s cell phone number, and through a phone call search, were able to find Kelly Sanders completed two calls with the female suspect from the May 7 case at the King County Jail. Those phone conversations revealed the male suspect was in possession of the Dodge minivan and a silver Mercedes coupe.
Detectives then matched the silver Mercedes in Kelly’s possession to the burglary incident on September 3. Law enforcement also placed the suspect’s location at residence and the Federal Way Safeway during the times of both incidents.
Bellevue Police developed probable cause to arrest Kelly Sanders for Residential burglary, Theft of a Firearm, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, and Identity theft. In coordination with the Kent Police Department, officers arrested Sanders in Kent at approximately 11:55 a.m. on September 9. A search of Sanders’s possessions led to Bellevue Police recovering numerous credit and debit cards connected to many individuals – including the victims from the September 3 case – and a firearm.
An additional investigation by Bellevue Police also connected Sanders to two additional nighttime residential burglaries in Mercer Island and Renton. For both incidents, Sanders allegedly committed these burglaries by accessing unlocked vehicles and using garage door openers to open the garage doors. Sanders used the Dodge minivan to commit the Mercer Island burglary and the Mercedes coupe to commit the Renton burglary.
Kelly Sanders was arrested for the following crimes:
One Count: Residential burglary
One Count: Identity theft – Second degree
Five Counts: Unlawful possession of a firearm – First degree
Five Counts: Theft of a firearm
The Bellevue Police Department urges residents to practice proactive measures that could potentially lower the risk of theft and burglary crimes. Locking the door between a garage door and a residence, locking a vehicle both inside a garage and in a driveway, storing a garage door remote outside of a vehicle after use, and removing belongings from a vehicle can be the preventative measures to reduce the risk of residents experiencing these crimes. Should a crime occur, residents should always contact Bellevue Police as soon as possible.
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