Chilling burglary video sparks fear in Bellevue community

The Spotlight: Video captures suspect watching family while they sleep

A terrifying series of home burglaries has left the Lakemont neighborhood on edge after a frightening incident was captured on surveillance footage.

BELLEVUE, Wash. - A terrifying series of home burglaries has left the Lakemont neighborhood on edge after a frightening incident was captured on surveillance footage.

In the August break-in, footage shows a suspect slowly opening the door to a main bedroom, then peering at sleeping occupants before walking out. Fortunately, no one was harmed, but a handgun was stolen. Six people, including children, were home at the time.

"It is a big concern for us, and that's why this is so out of the ordinary. It's actually really scary," said Drew Anderson with the Bellevue Police Department.

Laurent, a homeowner in the area, described the panic that ensued in the weeks after his wife discovered their surveillance footage of a burglary at the home next door. Detectives say it was the first of many, as the suspect returned to the neighborhood multiple times.

"I woke up and realized she wasn't there, so I went downstairs and I see her glued to her screen looking at camera footage," he recalled.

She soon spotted the suspect's gray SUV. "She's like, 'Laurent, he's here, he's here, he's here'. We saw him go around the cul-de-sac, slowly park and then come out and look at houses that were behind us."

She called 911.

(File / FOX 13)

Officers responded and pursued the suspect's vehicle. He abandoned it and escaped on foot. The next day, police say 37-year-old Kevin Sampson showed up at the police department to pick up his impounded vehicle.

He claimed he let a friend borrow it. He even showed officers Instagram messages that he said were from his friend.

Detectives say it was all a lie and that he had started a fake Instagram account and was messaging himself. Detectives say officers had already identified him from surveillance video as he ran from the SUV.

As detailed in court documents, Bellevue Police Det. Jeff Christiansen then pieced together a troubling pattern of escalation. Sampson had been arrested and charged twice in the last year for indecent exposure in parking lots.

The blue Jeep he was driving when police say he lured a 16-year-old over to watch him expose himself was the same vehicle used in an attempted kidnapping in Kent. However, police were never able to positively identify Sampson as the suspect.

Det. Christiansen did locate video of Sampson pawning a stolen Louis Vuitton purse, using stolen cards and cashing stolen checks for thousands of dollars.

During his arraignment, prosecutors detailed the 14 felony charges against him, including four counts of residential burglary, identity theft and attempted to elude police. However, despite evidence placing his phone 50 feet from the home where the suspect was caught on camera watching people sleep, prosecutors have not charged him in that case.

They say the video is not clear enough to identify Sampson as the suspect.

"It's not at all a reluctance of prosecutors, it's the legal standard and the evidence we have so far. Even if we tried to get this before a jury, which we couldn't do ethically, but even if we tried to do that, it wouldn't be approved by the court because we don't have the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt," said Casey McNerthney, a spokesperson for the King County Prosecutor's Office. "We don't have clear evidence that shows him in that bedroom. If we did, it would be a different story."

As the community grapples with the fallout from these crimes, many residents, including Laurent, are taking proactive measures. He is planning to put a camera closer to his street. "The silver lining is that all the neighbors are upgrading their camera systems and are talking to each other on how we can have better coverage of the street," he said.

Sampson was arrested on Sept. 19 and remains in custody with a bail set at $160,000.