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Bellevue police investigate suspicious car outside mall

Dec 10, 2024, 1:19 PM | Updated: Dec 11, 2024, 12:14 pm

Photo: Bellevue Police Department's bomb squad is investigating a suspicious vehicle parked in a pa...

Bellevue Police Department's bomb squad is investigating a suspicious vehicle parked in a parking lot at Crossroads Mall. (Photo courtesy of Bellevue Police)

(Photo courtesy of Bellevue Police)

(BPD) bomb squad inspected a suspicious vehicle parked in a parking lot at Crossroads Mall for more than three hours. The investigation started Tuesday morning and was eventually called off around 4:15 p.m.

At 3:45 p.m., the bomb squad was doing its final checks on the car — a Honda Civic with switched plates, according to police. No explosives were found but officers told ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio a couple of nondescript items were taken to X-ray.

Bellevue Police: Person of interest found

The department reported a person of interest, suspected of being associated with the car, was found and interviewed Wednesday morning and is no longer being sought by police.

MyNW crime: Chinese citizen pleads guilty to abduction, assault of Bellevue man as part of human smuggling ring

Reporters were asked to move back as the car was assessed.

Robots were also deployed to analyze the vehicle.

Mall security reports suspicious car

Police said a security guard at a nearby store told them the car was left running all night.

“He thought what he had was a stolen vehicle that had been left running all night,” BPD Officer Seth Tyler told ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio.

When officers arrived at the scene Tuesday morning the car had run out of gas, but officers spotted recording devices mounted inside and outside the vehicle. They said they also found some concerning notes that caused them to call in the bomb squad.

“There were several cell phones left inside and some couple of notes in the front dash that were concerning enough to the officers that they cordoned off the area and contacted the bomb squad,” Tyler shared.

Other news: Puyallup woman arrested for attempting to kidnap a 3-year-old in a waiting room

Note found in car reads ‘Goodbye world!!’

³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio got a picture of the hand-written notes.

They read, in part: “For Bill Gates. This is everything I had and still wasn’t enough. Goodbye world!!”

Most of the stores east of the mall were closed.

“To include the Dick’s Drive-In, the Planet Fitness and the Edgeworks climbing gym,” Tyler said.

However, the Crossroads Mall remained open, along with the food court.

“It’s just directly in this immediate vicinity that is closed,” explained Tyler.

Contributing: Sam Campbell and Aaron Granillo, ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio

Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X  and email her here.

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