A mother and daughter were arrested at their Kent residence, and later charged along with a third woman, in a Bellevue organized retail theft case as part of a three-state crime ring totaling $537,000 worth of merchandise.
The trio is alleged to have targeted primarily Lululemon stores located in Western Washington, Northern Oregon and Southern California, according to Bellevue Police. At least 42 thefts occurred between August 2023 and April 2024, mainly of women’s clothing from Lululemon stores, a high-end yoga-focused chain featuring stylish athletic wear and accessories.
Bellevue Police, with the assistance of Valley SWAT and Tukwila Police, raided a Kent home April 9 in the 9300 block of South 223rd Street, according to King County Superior Court documents.
Janeice Downs, 24, and her mother, Janeice Wiley, 49, were arrested at the home. Downs, Wiley and Reality Leavens, 19, each were charged April 11.
King County prosecutors charged Downs with three counts of first-degree organized retail theft and two counts of second-degree organized retail theft. Prosecutors requested bail of $750,000, but a judge set bail at $250,000. As of April 12, Downs, also known as Janeice Smith, remained in custody at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, according to jail records. Downs has an extensive criminal history of at least nine convictions for theft, assault, robbery and other crimes between 2013 and 2018.
Wiley faces one count of first-degree organized retail theft. Leavens faces one count of first-degree organized retail theft and one count of second-degree organized retail theft. Wiley and Leavens are not in custody, according to jail records, but each received a summons to appear in court. All three women are set to be arraigned April 24 at the King County Courthouse in Seattle.
The three women allegedly committed several thefts of women’s clothing over approximately eight months from Lululemon, according to charging papers. Down was reportedly involved in five thefts while Wiley and Leavens were involved in one or more.
They are charged with thefts that started on Aug. 8, 2023 at Lululemon at Bellevue Square and continued at the same location four more times, including the most recent on April 3, 2024. The value of the merchandise taken during each of the thefts ranged from $4,600 to $13,535, according to court documents.
The women reportedly would sell the stolen clothing to make thousands of dollars.
Detectives tracked down phone conversations between Downs and an inmate at the King County jail when the inmate complained about not making any money in two weeks after Downs said she hadn’t made money in two days, according to charging papers.
“In two weeks we would have made at least 30K,” Downs said.
On March 20, 2024 Lululemon’s Regional Organized Retail Crime investigator for Washington and Oregon contacted a Bellevue Police detective, accusing Downs and her accomplices of stealing thousands of dollars of merchandise. The investigator had documented cases since August 2023, most of it caught on video that reportedly showed the women stuffing clothing into bags and exiting the stores without paying.
They typically used vehicles that did not have license plates or that were purchased using fraudulent documents, according to police.
Bellevue Police used video and cellphone records to help connect Downs to the thefts. Cellphone records indicated she was in the vicinity of all the thefts, according to charging papers.
Detectives also used cellphone records to track Downs to Kent, based on where her cellphone showed her location in the late evenings and early mornings. The detective went to that block number and saw a purple Dodge Challenger and black Cadillac coupe parked, two of the vehicles used in retail thefts, according to court documents. Cars were parked in the driveway of a single family residence in the 9300 block of South 223rd Place. Downs and Wiley had rented the home since at least February 2024. The detective observed Downs leaving the house.
When police executed a search warrant on the house, three rifles were found as well as clothing reportedly worn during the thefts. Downs and Wiley were not allowed to possess guns because of previous felony convictions.
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Bellevue Police recovered these rifles from Janeice Downs’ residence in Kent. Downs and her mother are both convicted felons and prohibited from possessing firearms. COURTESY PHOTO, Bellevue Police
