Man Accused In Bellevue Burglary Spree Faces Felony Charges

BELLEVUE, WA — A man accused in a rash of late-night residential burglaries on the Eastside was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday for arraignment on several felony charges. Alexander Mischenko, 21, of Bellevue, faces more than a dozen potential felonies, including several counts referred by the Bellevue Police Department in late December.

Other cases include charges from incidents in Kirkland and Redmond. Police said he was wanted on at least two warrants when he was arrested on Dec. 23.

According to prosecutors, the Bellevue Police Department investigated 14 reports of residential burglaries or attempted burglaries between Oct. 15 and Dec. 18 that detectives linked to Mischenko.

Victims were home during most of the incidents and were awakened in at least five cases, police said. According to investigators, none of the cases involved physical confrontations or forced entry, but the suspect entered victims' rooms as they slept on at least five occasions.

A Bellevue detective outlined the highlights of his investigation in court filings shared this week:

Prosecutors said victims in the Bellevue cases offered similar suspect descriptions of a white man wearing a dark jacket and a face mask while carrying a backpack. According to police, all of the burglaries took place in the overnight hours, and most occurred between 3 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.

Following his December arrest, Bellevue detectives said Mischenko led them to most of the burglary locations without direction and remembered the items he stole from each location, matching information that was reported to the police. When asked why he operated at night, detectives said he told them there were fewer potential witnesses and that he was "quiet and good at it."

The prosecutor's office said it filed seven charges out of the 14 referred in Bellevue, which prosecutors believed they could prove in court. Including earlier offenses, Mischenko faces 15 felony charges across four separate cases, prosecutors said. A King County judge on Wednesday continued an arraignment hearing until next week, and Mischenko remains jailed on $200,000 bail.