(This story was updated March 13.)Seattle Police have arrested the man they suspect is responsible for numerous thefts of businesses throughout North Seattle, Queen Anne, Magnolia and Madison Park. The suspect would present the money order to cashiers, saying it was for $200 when it was actually written for $2, and exit with the change. Using the victims' description of the suspect - in his 30s, weighing 190 pounds at 5 feet, 11 inches, with brown hair, blue eyes and a scarred right ear - police identified the suspect, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was arrested on Feb. 25 after police found him at a motel near North 122nd Street and Aurora Avenue North.The suspect, Randall Scott Bingham, was charged with two counts of theft in the third degree and one count of forgery on Feb. 28, according to the King County Prosecutor's Office, and two counts of ID theft in the second degree were added on March 6. Additional charges are pending.Bingham has a history of criminal activity in Oregon, California and Florida, with convictions for attempting to elude police, false reporting, burglary, failure to register as a sex offender, forgery, identity theft and drugs, according to charging documents. Sixteen different police agencies in King County are investigating Bingham, as are jurisdictions in Snohomish County, Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, Wash.He is a suspect in more than 55 cases in Seattle, alone.Bingham is in custody, with bail set at $75,000. A case-scheduling hearing is scheduled for March 24, but it may be continued.ANOTHER INCIDENTAccording to the police report, a man fitting the Bingham's description had just defrauded a Ballard pizza shop using a travelers check. He also had an accomplice. Police weren't able to locate the two, though an employee provided the officers with descriptions of the suspects and their vehicle.About a half-hour later, patrol officers found the suspects' vehicle at North 125th and Aurora, with the accomplice walking into a store. Police approached him and asked where the suspect was. The accomplice said he had just dropped him off at a nearby motel.After determining that he wasn't involved in the pizza theft, the police released this man.The police then saw the suspect's girlfriend exit their motel room. She told them the suspect was still inside, so they knocked on the door.Minutes later, other officers saw the suspect exit through a back window that was 6 feet above the ground. He was immediately taken into custody.Police searched the motel room and found drug paraphernalia, cash and various pieces of identification with the suspect's alias. They also found a lanyard that had been taken during a Feb. 7 incident in the University District.The suspect, who had also been identified out of a photo montage by a witness from an earlier incident, was booked into King County Jail.MOUNTING EVIDENCEOn Feb. 28, officers returned to a store in the 2700 block of Northeast 45th Street to retrieve a surveillance video of the suspect's Feb. 11 theft. The video was labeled with the suspect's name, according to the police report, but the police couldn't talk to the security officers to determine how they identified the suspect.[[In-content Ad]]
