CRIME WATCH FOLLOWUP: Charge filed against burglary suspect who ‘returned’ stolen car

The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has charged the man arrested earlier this week after a West Seattle burglary/car-theft victim woke up to see her car, taken a day earlier, back outside her house. We reported on the burglary/theft Tuesday, and the arrest Wednesday. The suspect is 35-year-old Samuel M. Robinson, who remains in jail today, bail set at $25,000. It’s his sixth jail booking in a little over two months, first time a judge has set bail.

First, the new charge: Robinson is charged with residential burglary for this week’s West Seattle incident. This is the third felony charge filed against him this month; on July 8th, he was charged with auto theft for stealing a pickup truck from the 7900 block of 1st Avenue South in southeast West Seattle. On July 28th, he was charged with second-degree burglary for a break-in at a Kent business a few days earlier. In the new charge, documents reveal a few more details about the case: Robinson was identified in part because of a black-and-pink BB gun left in the victims’ house; an officer recalled stopping Robinson, who had a similar gun, a few days earlier. Security video helped make the match too.

Robinson, who has a Westwood address, has convictions for assault and robbery more than a decade ago. The $25,000 bail set for him today by King County Superior Court Judge Melinda Young is half the $50,000 that prosecutors requested, but it was the first time a judge set bail this year, according to background information we obtained from the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. After his July 4th arrest in West Seattle, they asked for $10,000 bail, but a judge released him on personal recognizance. On July 8th, the KCPAO filed the auto-theft charge. He was arrested again that day by King County Sheriff’s Deputies, again for vehicle theft. After two weeks in jail, he was released again on personal recognizance; that case has yet to be forwarded to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office by KCSO for a charging decision.

Three days after he got out of jail that time, he was arrested for the Kent burglary. Prosecutors asked for $5,000 bail, but a judge again released Robinson on personal recognizance, two days after he was booked. The charge in that case was filed the following day. Then two days after his release in that case, Tukwila Police arrested him on July 29th, for investigation of possessing stolen property, Yet again, he was released on personal recognizance, this time after one day in jail – and four days later, the West Seattle burglary happened. (Tukwila Police have not yet referred that case to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for a charging decision.) We don’t have the judges’ names in any but today’s hearing, but will be reading through more case documentation to see if we can find any. Meantime, Robinson will be arraigned later this month on the charge filed today.

15 Replies to "CRIME WATCH FOLLOWUP: Charge filed against burglary suspect who 'returned' stolen car"

  • mem August 6, 2021 (5:36 pm)

    For Pete’s sake- lock him up! How many times does a serial criminal need to commit a crime before he is held accountable for his actions? To think he audaciously returned to continue harass and steal from these two women is beyond comprehension. Kudos to these two smart women; don’t let their valiant efforts be for naught!!!

  • flimflam August 6, 2021 (5:38 pm)

    Jeez, enough with the second, third, fourth, fifth chances…at some point someone needs to use their brains and realize this person is a walking crime spree.

  • Tim August 6, 2021 (5:52 pm)

    Nice time to be a criminal.

  • Trish August 6, 2021 (6:15 pm)

    Once again you amaze me with all the girls information you gather.  Thank you for all of this!  Can’t believe how much he has gotten away with with no repercussions from the Law! 

  • Auntie August 6, 2021 (6:23 pm)

    Finally! A judge set bail on a repeat (and repeat and repeat) offender! Woohoo! Let’s hope the charges stick, and that they keep this guy locked up. 

  • Outsider August 6, 2021 (6:27 pm)

    Release on personal recognition? Can anyone educate me on that?🤷‍♀️

  • Angela August 6, 2021 (6:35 pm)

    Thanks for the excellent reporting. We wondered about the status of the case. Can’t believe the extent of his “activities.”

  • Billy August 6, 2021 (9:39 pm)

    There seems to be a compulsive element to the described behavior — perhaps also influencing the previous lenient judgements and return of the vehicle.  What specifically did he steal in the non-vehicle cases?

    • WSB August 6, 2021 (10:24 pm)

      They weren’t previous lenient judgments – they were bail decisions. Robinson now has three cases pending judgments – whether trials or pleas. The only non-vehicle case for which I have charging documents, the Kent burglary, mentions a mailbox, a wi-fi hotspot, and other unspecified “items” taken. – TR

      • Bill August 7, 2021 (11:43 am)

        Did the judge make a judgment call on the bail decision or is that dictated by specific law based on what was stolen? Perhaps not the wording you would’ve used – but hopefully you get the gist. Still a lot of unknowns that could help clarify core issues around this repetitive behavior. 

  • 22blades August 7, 2021 (6:54 am)

     but a judge released him on personal recognizance.” Isn’t release based on one’s threat to public safety? What is there not to understand? This is a broken system that I don’t have an answer to, but it is broken.

  • bill August 7, 2021 (8:42 am)

    I wonder if the judges who kept releasing this guy on bail were aware he was on bail from other charges? Surely committing a crime is grounds for revoking bail? Are the prosecutors dropping the ball?

  • Dan August 7, 2021 (9:41 am)

    Well…that took long enough!  System is totally broken.

  • jortish August 7, 2021 (3:31 pm)

    iirc bail is determined by, as you say, a judgement call but should be influenced by numerous factors

  • The Admiral August 7, 2021 (9:30 pm)

    For our fellow West Seattle neighbors who were absent during the civics course that discussed the Constitution:  arrests are not convictions and we are all granted the benefit of innocent until proven guilty.  This is a feature not a bug.  Justice takes longer under the American system but it does come.  Frustrating as it may be, I prefer this to the tin-pot “justice” found in some other parts of the world.

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