VIDEO: Seattle Judge Frees Prolific Shoplifter Accused of Taking Flat-Screen TV

A homeless man was released after being charged with burglary for attempting to walk away with a flat-screen television he saw in a downtown Seattle Target store.

Staff members told KTTH the incident was the 22nd time the man reportedly stole from the business over the previous three months, the outlet reported Wednesday.

The alleged incident was recorded in a surveillance clip obtained by the Jason Rantz Show, “And thanks to a lenient judge, the man was released on his own personal recognizance.”

John Ray Lomack was described as a prolific offender who, the King County Prosecutor’s Office said, possessed a long criminal history.

The report continued:

During the holiday season, Lomack was banned from the department store in downtown Seattle, a location that has been under siege by organized theft and homeless shoplifters throughout much of the COVID pandemic. Staff told police that he’s cost them $6,000 in stolen property since October. But the trespass order didn’t keep Lomack from returning.

Court documents noted that Target security guards recognized the “prolific shoplifter” from previous incidents.

While employees called law enforcement, Lomack apparently spotted three 70-inch televisions tied up with plastic straps.

The man appeared to use a tool to sever the straps, and eventually laid it on a cart, and got into an elevator. When he came out, security was there but he eventually exited the store and dragged the item away.

An officer alerted by Target security saw him, but when the officer spoke to the suspect and told him to hand over the property, he refused to comply and police said “he was unable to produce a receipt.”

Lomack was informed he was under arrest, but again did not comply. Following a struggle, he was placed in handcuffs.

He was arrested for burglary in October after being held regarding shoplifting at the same store, the KTTH article said:

Since 1985, Lomack has been convicted of at least 18 felonies and misdemeanors, including second-degree burglary, second-degree possession of stolen property, and fourth-degree assault. This represents only a fraction of the cases that came through to the prosecutor’s office, according to a spokesperson. Judge Kuljinder Dhillon was unmoved by the argument. He released Lomack on his own personal recognizance.

Lomack returned to court Wednesday to appear before Judge Melinda Young and again the man was released.

“Like Judge Dhillon, Young also has a record of going easy on homeless suspects,” the KTTH report said.

Meanwhile, a long-time Seattle business owner recently said his store had been affected by crime seven times over the previous three months, King 5 reported January 19.

“This city is unrecognizable to what it was even five years ago, between the homeless and the lack of police, the whole defund the police, decriminalize, it doesn’t work,” Jay Ashberg explained.

In November 2020, the Seattle City Council voted to reduce the city’s police department budget while officers left in droves, Breitbart News reported at the time.