Second Chance Antiques in Everett
Five different Snohomish and Skagit County antique stores have been hit or thwarted shoplifting attempts by a group of scammers. Other small businesses in the area have also chimed in.
On Friday, Q13 FOX featured a segment with the owner of Second Chance Antiques in Everett. For those of you who don’t know Bryan McClimans, he was featured in our “Meet the Owners” series.
Security footage of the suspected thieves
McClimans told FOX that the suspects came into his store on two separate occasions. Warnings on social media with security footage had already spread between owners, so Brian McClimans decided to confront them on their second visit.
After showing them around the store, he showed them a picture of the thieves and said, “This is you. That’s your family. You steal for a living. I can’t affort it. I need you to leave my store right now.”
They left and haven’t returned to the store.
A group that attempts to track street scammers recognized them from the surveillance videos, and had this to share:
“An organized crime ring, known as the Badanac crime family, mostly reside in Everett, WA. This week they have stolen THOUSANDS of dollars of jewelry and other valuables from antique and boutique stores along the I-5 corridor.
They are Romani criminals – mainly from Romania and other European countries. They are proud chameleons and often pretend they’re tourists from the Middle East, India, or Spanish-speaking countries.
The Facebook group, Street Scammer Watch, has been able to identify many of the people in the attached photos from victimized stores. Three of the women in the photos shown have been arrested in Utah, one of them is currently up for deportation. Their names are Cristina Serban, Dabrah (Deborah) Badanac, and Elvira Badanac.
This group of thieves often uses distraction techniques to overwhelm stores by having several group members enter a business at the same time. They ask questions, request to look at jewelry and other valuables, and keep store staff preoccupied while they are busy “working over” a store. They are known to use children to help distract and/or also steal.
Here’s the interview:
February 24, 2025
Police Blotter, Downtown Everett