Westside Man Given 17 Months In Jail For Ellensburg Computer Thefts

A Westside man has been sentenced to 17 months in jail for stealing three tablet computers from an Ellensburg box store two years ago.

The Ellensburg Daily Record says the sentence was handed down to 33-year-old Abdi Wasuge of Seattle in Kittitas County Superior Court following his guilty pleas to two counts of second-degree theft and organized retail theft - both of which are felonies.

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Prosecutors say Wasuge asked a clerk in the store's electronics department to show him three different models of tablet computer, which he quickly snatched from a demonstration counter before running out of the store.

Authorities say the total retail value of the stolen computers was about $2,900.

As part of his plea bargain, Wasuge also agreed to admit to similar thefts at several other box stores in King County on three separate occasions in July, 2024, as well as the theft of a duffle bag containing debit and credit cards from a gym in Redmond during the same month.

Wasuge also has a fugitive warrant out of Pennsylvania that required the expediting of his cases in Washington State, which prosecutors in King and Kittitas Counties worked to combine as part of his plea agreement.