Taking out the trash
A man has been charged with multiple counts of burglary after a spree in which he repeatedly broke into the offices of video game developer Valve, reportedly stealing over $40,000 worth of video games and equipment.
According to KIRO 7 News, 32-year-old Shawn Shaputis burgularised the developer’s Bellevue, Washington office “four or five times” over the course of June 2018. Shaputis achieved this by simply rolling a wheelie bin into the stairwell of the Lincoln Square tower, filling it with whatever he could get his hands on, and then wheeling it out to his car, which was parked across the street.
Police levied the charges at Shaputis after discovering some of the stolen items in his vehicle, a Geo Prizm, which was recognised due to its relative uncommonness within the city. In addition to this, police acquired a GameStop security video, that shows Shaputis selling video games in-store. Although these burglaries took place over a year ago, the charges for this string of robberies were not officially filed until last month.
Shaputis is no stranger to the law, having been previously charged for burglary and also – just one week after being arrested for the Valve robberies – having led the police on a high-speed chase in a stolen FedEx truck. Shaputis is scheduled to appear in court this week.
Police: Man who stole FedEx truck wanted for Bellevue burglary spree [KIRO 7 via Gamesindustry.biz]
