Renton Police Find 'Butt-dialing' Theft Suspect

A 40-year-old man is back in jail after repeatedly "butt-dialing" 9-1-1 while casing cars in downtown Renton, Highlands neighborhood and in a residential area just north of town.

The thief—40-year-old Wesley Strom of Seattle—inadvertently dialed not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times within a span of two weeks.

Strom has 10 felony convictions, most of which are for vehicular theft, said Detective Robert Onishi. He was relatively unknown to the Renton Police Department because of the “considerable” time he’s spent in prison.

The first call occurred on March 14 when a call receiver took a 9-1-1 call at Valley Communications, the emergency dispatch center for multiple South King County Police and Fire agencies. In an effort to decipher the reason for the call, the receiver stayed on the line to listen to voices in the background.

The conversation she heard was surprising: Car prowlers in the process of casing cars.

The 9-1-1 system tracked Strom’s cell phone call to downtown Renton, where she dispatched Renton Police. Although the officers were unable to locate the suspected thieves during the 44-minute call, the victim of a car theft contacted the police a few hours later to report a stolen gray Toyota 4-Runner from downtown Renton.

On March 18 the 9-1-1 center received another call from Strom, who called back again — for a third time — later that night.

“In that third call, the same male voice who appeared to be directing others throughout the calls was heard arguing with another male as the sound of a racing car engine was audible in the background,” said Department officials.

Strom, the "ringleader," ordered two other men to “just park the car near the gray 4-Runner which he had left in the apartments behind Fred Meyer, pull off the car’s rims, throw them in the back of the 4-Runner, and “drive off with stolen rims."

It was no coincidence that the car stolen in the audio recording from the March 14 hang-up “butt-dial” had been a gray 4-Runner. 

The 9-1-1 receiver immediately dispatched Renton Officers to the location of the cell phone, which had been tracked to a residential area just north of Renton. 

Responding Officer Eric Stevens found a recently abandoned Honda with custom rims. The car was reportedly stolen from Burien earlier in the day.

The fourth and final call rang in on April 1 late in the evening.

This April Fool’s Day pocket-dial was no joke.

Officers arrived at an apartment complex in the Renton Highlands following a fourth 9-1-1 "butt-dial" from the same cell phone.  

Again, a man was heard talking with someone else about which types of cars to target. Officer Stevens approached an occupied car in the apartment complex parking lot and found Strom.

Officer Stevens confirmed that Strom’s cell number matched all four of the 911 calls, that Strom lived next to the spot where the stolen Honda on March 18 had been found, and that Strom had a warrant for his arrest, according to a statement from the Department.

Strom was arrested and admitted to a number of car thefts.

During an interview with police Strom appeared unflappable, until officials confronted him with the 9-1-1 recordings.

“He was pretty darn nonchalant until we played him the audio,” Detective Onishi said.

King County Prosecutors have charged Strom with possession of the stolen 4-Runner and the stolen Honda, and he remains in custody on $70,000 bail. Additional charges are likely.