REDMOND, Wash. — A Redmond auto shop is cleaning up the mess after someone broke in two days in a row, causing more than $2,000 in damage.
It happened at Luke’s Automotive—the front windows smashed, spraying glass shards everywhere.
It started last Thursday, when Luke Shaff, who happens to be the suspect’s uncle, got a call from the man’s parents, warning them he was coming to the shop.
And, after an intense but non-violent encounter, police took him away to get some mental help.
They left his car at the shop for safekeeping – only to see him show back up the following day.
“He was supposed to be in for several days,” Shaff told KIRO 7. “He signed himself out in less than 24 hours. That’s when he came down here, had another fit, threw a big brick and rocks through the front window, totally destroying that door.”
Surveillance video caught the entire encounter on camera. In it, you can see two large chunks of concrete fly through the glass before a man with a beard wanders in, setting off the alarm that alerted authorities.
Shaff says the man has a history of mental health issues.
“I couldn’t even believe he would do something like that. We’ve never had any kind of issue whatsoever by anybody, let alone throwing rocks through the window.”
The incident happened on August 8, around 1:25 in the afternoon.
But, since the shop closes early on Fridays, no one was inside at the time. Officers arrived on-scene fairly quickly. They say he left behind a handwritten note.
“I can’t even read it. And, that’s not his handwriting, but that’s him.”
He was arrested for Malicious Mischief in the 3rd-Degree and 1st Degree Criminal Trespass, but is only being held on $250 bail.
Shaff says they did get a restraining order, but he is more frustrated by the response. He’s upset with the court system— not family or law enforcement – and hopes sharing this story will help someone else in a similar situation who has a friend or family member also going through mental health issues.
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