If ticket-bots and the overall decline in quality music since 1996 hadn’t already made it nearly impossible to go out and enjoy a show, police are now investigating a man believed to have scammed dozens of people with a roll of stock paper stolen from a ticketing company.
Detectives began investigating the man back in June 2017 after surveillance cameras caught him breaking into a Wedgwood restaurant. Detectives learned later the same man had reportedly stolen ticket stock paper during another break-in at a University District music venue.
Police discovered the suspect was trying to sell tickets to, among other things, a well-known rapsical about a guy who wasn’t president, and arrested him in a grocery store parking lot shortly after he tried to pawn a few tickets off on an unsuspecting victim.
Detectives served a warrant on the man’s house and recovered the remaining ticket paper and a laptop used to print the forged tickets. Police believe the man may have sold bogus tickets to dozens of people and are now seeking potential victims.
The suspect, a bald white male in his late 40s, reportedly posted ads for his tickets on sites like Craigslist and Offer-up and always met his victims in-person in the King County area.
If you believe you may have been targeted by a suspect matching this description in a ticket scam, please email detectives at SPD5029@Seattle.gov.