Felony charges for suspect in WA burglary, $100K stolen using garage opener

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Image provided by police of the box truck used by suspects during Wednesday’s incident. (Bellevue Police Department)

BELLEVUE, Wash. - A man suspected in a string of burglaries that resulted in over $100,000 of stolen goods across King County now faces felony charges.

King County prosecutors charged 43-year-old Joseph Groshong with residential burglary, theft of a motor vehicle and obstructing an officer. Groshong was tracked down in a box truck entering I-90, after fleeing from police at the scene of a burglary in Bellevue on July 10.

Officers were called to a condominium on Lake Washington Blvd, just south of I-90 in Bellevue. The caller said two suspects were inside his condo unit.

According to charging docs obtained by FOX 13 News, two suspects had broken into the unit the night prior, and they had come back.

The caller was on a trip to Indonesia at the time, and was calling on behalf of his father.

A Bellevue Police officer arrived at the condo and spotted a black BMW drive past him — a car that was later confirmed to be stolen. Shortly after, a black Chevrolet Avalanche tried to speed past, as well, before getting stuck between the patrol car and a tree.

According to charging docs, Groshong got out of the car and ran down the hill, heading south along Lake Washington Blvd.

Another officer was called in to assist, and they were flagged down by a witness who reported seeing a man "wearing tan pants and no shirt" get into a tan-colored box truck with no license plates. A third Bellevue Police officer located that box truck on southbound I-405, and turned on his lights and sirens. The truck pulled over, and the officer took Groshong into custody, court docs say.

The third officer then searched the box truck and found a Yeti cooler and a safe with firearms and $100,000 in cash, which was confirmed stolen from the victim.

According to charging docs, Groshong and his co-conspirator had stolen the victim's BMW, which had been left parked at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport while he was on a trip to Indonesia. They then gained access to the victim's home using the garage clicker kept in the car, and then disabled what surveillance cameras they could using a device in the condo's living room, court docs say.

Police have not specified if other suspects were arrested.

Groshong has several felony convictions dating back to 1999, and prosecutors have requested he be held on $15,000 bail.