Fremont small businesses have been hit by a string of break-ins in recent months, and the neighborhood has been identified as one of the North Precinct’s current burglary hot spots by Seattle Police.
Seattle Biscuit Company, Frelard Tamales, Dreamland, Dordlofva, U Wine Bar, and Mini Bar Seattle have all reported break-ins this year. The incidents have ranged from smashed storefronts to targeted theft of equipment, and several owners have spoken publicly about the financial damage.
Frelard Tamales, which moved to Fremont about 18 months ago, has been hit five times since. In a January Instagram post, the owners said thieves smashed the restaurant’s sliding glass storefront windows and took a safe with close to $1,000 in cash, an event speaker and employees’ tip money held for weekly payroll. “That is the rude part,” they said, noting that the business covered the missing tip funds out of pocket so staff would not lose income.
Seattle Biscuit Company was hit in late January, when thieves destroyed the restaurant’s walk-in cooler compressor. “Probably for just a few bucks of copper,” the owners wrote on Instagram. “This will cost many thousands of dollars to replace, which is crippling for a small business.” The business reported two additional attempted break-ins the following night. Neighboring Outsider BBQ stepped in with emergency refrigeration while a replacement was sourced. A GoFundMe to cover costs remains active, and copper thefts at nearby Ballard restaurants were recently reported by King 5 and Fox 13 as well.
Pete Hanning, executive director of the Fremont Chamber of Commerce, said the copper theft at Seattle Biscuit illustrates how lopsided the damage can be. “They probably got less than $20 in scrap,” he said, and it costs the business thousands of dollars. He added that the pattern of break-ins extends well beyond the businesses named here. “I’d be shocked if most retail businesses in Fremont didn’t say they’d been broken into at least three times in the last four or five years.”
The incidents are reflected in SPD data. Fremont recorded 106 property crimes in January 2026, compared to 65 in January 2025, a 63 percent increase. February saw 65 incidents, down from January’s spike but still 27 percent above February 2025. Combined, the first two months of 2026 saw 47 percent more property crimes than the same period last year. Citywide, property crime over the same period is down slightly, making Fremont’s increase stand out.
At the North Precinct Advisory Council meeting on March 4, North Precinct Operations Lieutenant Garth Haynes reported burglaries are up 11 percent year to date across the precinct, naming Fremont alongside Roosevelt, Ravenna, Ballard South, Wallingford and the U District as current hot spots.
Hanning said the break-ins tend to follow a geographic circuit, with thieves moving through an area before cycling back.
The financial hit often lands entirely on owners. Seattle Biscuit Company said outright in their post that insurance would not help cover the damage to their walk-in cooler. According to King5’s reporting on similar break-ins in Ballard, that experience is common: standard business insurance policies frequently don’t cover partial damage, only total loss, meaning repair costs typically come out of pocket regardless of coverage. Hanning noted that even filing a claim carries risk, with insurance rates rising, deductibles climbing and insurers increasingly willing to drop customers.
Haynes told the NPAC that the North Precinct covers a large geographic area, and that violent crimes are prioritized over property crimes when resources are stretched. On days when staffing allows, the precinct assembles a squad for proactive work in identified hot spots.
For business owners navigating the aftermath, how damage is documented can make or break a case. King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office communications director Casey McNerthney briefed the North Precinct Advisory Council on March 4 that the evidence burden is real but critical. “It’s a real burden, honestly, for the business owners, especially when they’re exhausted after the third or fourth break-in,” McNerthney said, “but every time if you can do that, that absolutely helps us because we’ve got to bring it to the court.”
That means providing police with a specific written damage estimate, such as a repair invoice, rather than a general description of the loss. Courts require precise figures, and a written quote for a specific dollar amount carries far more weight than a ballpark. Photos and video footage should go directly to the investigating officer, since evidence must be submitted by police under penalty of perjury to be accepted in court.
The KCPAO published a detailed explainer on how property crime cases move through the system and what residents and business owners can do, prepared for a Lake City community meeting in late February and shared at the March 4 North Precinct Advisory Council meeting.
Frelard Tamales put it plainly in their post, “It’s rough out there. We will take all the love and support you can give us, and so will all the small businesses you love and would hate to see closed.”
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