The guy running through the retail parking lot looked like a ghost fading into the night. He wasn’t a jogger on a mid-evening run. I immediately knew something wasn’t right.

I went into the business (in Fremont) to see if everything was OK. It wasn’t. A robber had just stolen several bottles of wine, some beer, and a bunch of candy. Like a bull charging through a gate, he had shoved a clerk out of the way. She was, to say the least, upset.

Retail crime has been a concern here for years. Now, new data confirms — once again — that retail theft in Washington state is the highest in the United States.

Using data from the FBI and Crime Data Explorer, self-storage software company Storeganise found that the state has 3,510 cases of commercial theft for every 100,000 businesses. Only New Mexico and Nevada were anywhere close to that.

Late last week, Goodwill (known officially as Evergreen Goodwill of Washington) announced that it was closing its Lake Union and University District stores because of escalating theft and safety concerns. Several retailers, including Target and Bartell Drugs, have in the past year shuttered stores because of theft. Earlier this year, a Forbes Advisor report (using different metrics) also found that retail crime here was the worst in the country.

A report from the Seattle City’s Auditors Office last year said the city could do more to reduce retail crime, and even offered several practical solutions.

This isn’t the first time I’ve witnessed a theft, nor is it even close to the most brazen. Shortly before the pandemic I watched as a masked thief casually strolled into the former Macy’s department store in downtown Seattle and, using a pair of bolt cutters, snipped the wires securing several high-end handbags.

A Goodwill spokesperson said continuing to operate the stores was “unsustainable.” “The decision to close these stores was not made lightly,” he said. “Both locations have experienced a troubling rise in property damage, break-ins, and safety concerns for our employees.”

It’s way past time to get this under control.