Suspects in SeaTac $500,000 jewelry heist arrested

Olympia-based troopers helped catch several suspects involved in a major jewelry heist on Monday evening, according to Washington State Patrol Trooper Todd Bartolac.

A jewelry courier was assaulted and robbed of nearly $500,000 in jewelry earlier in the evening at a hotel in SeaTac, according to King County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Sgt. Cindi West. The victim told deputies he was approached and physically assaulted by three men wearing masks when he was walking to his room in the Sleep Inn Motel, in the 20400 block of International Blvd.

“The suspects took the victim’s bag containing nearly $500,000 in jewelry,” West said. “The suspects slashed a tire on the victim’s vehicle then fled the scene in a vehicle.”

King County Sheriff’s Office put out a description of the vehicle. A trooper spotted the vehicle on Interstate 5 near milepost 107 in Lacey, Bartolac said. Troopers followed the vehicle to Lewis County, near Chehalis, where it was eventually was stopped and surrounded by seven to 10 troopers, he said.

Three suspects were arrested and booked into King County Jail on investigation of robbery, West said. Investigators plan to obtain a search warrant Tuesday (Jan. 31) to search and recover the jewelry that is believed to be in the vehicle, she said.

No other information was released.

This story was originally published January 31, 2017 at 1:52 PM with the headline "Suspects in SeaTac $500,000 jewelry heist arrested."