At 3:30 a.m. last Friday, a Starbucks barista showed up for the early shift at a Kingston, Washington, location and found the place in ruins. Cash drawers yanked open. Cabinets torn apart. A safe was damaged and nearly cracked. But the weirdest part wasn’t the mess—it was the hole in the wall.
According to the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, someone had tunneled into the café through a vacant business next door. Not pried open a back door. Not smashed a window. Dug. Through. A. Freaking. Wall.
“They found a hole burrowed through the wall of an adjacent building,” the sheriff’s department said in a Facebook video, which also included bodycam footage from the scene. The hole led from the bathroom of the next-door unit straight into the Starbucks, which sits inside a small strip mall off Northeast Highway 104.
Small-Town Starbucks Gets Raided Through the Floor
Once inside, the suspects cut wires, trashed equipment, and tried to get into the safe. It’s unclear whether they actually took anything—employees were still tallying losses days later—but they definitely left a trail. Damage to the building was extensive enough that deputies quickly ruled out an improvised job.
As of August 13, no one has been arrested or publicly identified. The investigation is ongoing, and law enforcement is reviewing surveillance footage and asking the public to report tips to Kitsap County Crime Stoppers. You can call 1-800-222-TIPS or message the sheriff’s office through Facebook.
Officials say break-ins aren’t unusual in the area, but tunneling operations are rare and point to a higher level of preparation. Whoever did this likely scoped out the layout in advance and brought tools—not to mention the time and confidence to chip through solid infrastructure without getting caught.
The strangest part might be how familiar it feels. “We’re seeing more of these Mission: Impossible-style crimes,” one commenter said under the sheriff’s post. But this wasn’t a high-tech jewel heist or a multi-million dollar job. It was a suburban Starbucks, on the edge of a Washington highway.
They had the tunnel. They had the timing. What they didn’t have was a way into the safe. Which leaves…what? Packaged sandwiches, some branded bedazzled to-go cups, and a cake pop?
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