The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is charging organized retail theft cases daily, but said it needs significantly more staff and funding to keep pace with the volume of crimes driving some stores out of vulnerable neighborhoods.
Casey McNerthney of the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said prosecutors handle cases that escalate beyond simple misdemeanor shoplifting — commercial burglaries, felony thefts, and organized retail crime rings that repeatedly target the same businesses.
“The key is once you’ve been trespassed, even if you steal a Snickers bar, that is a different guideline,” McNerthney said. “Or if you have a weapon, which we see far too often, that’s when the cases come to us.”…