A would-be lawmaker involved in crime-fighting and small business support platforms has been accused of shoplifting by a hardware store owner who has footage of the alleged theft.
Denise Yun, a candidate for Seattle’s Federal Way City Council, is seen pulling hammers from a shelf at Trinity Ace Hardware on Pacific Highway South in footage shot July 18.
In the clip, Yun – a relatively unsubstantiated political newcomer who has twice pleaded guilty to theft in the past – can be seen knocking over shop signs while she hammers her purse.
Moments later, as she pushes her cart away, the camera appears to catch the 58-year-old Democrat putting the hammers in her purse – before leaving after being confronted by the outraged owner.
The footage is now in the hands of a city prosecutor and has sparked a police investigation and a statement by Yun denying the video’s legitimacy.
The Democrat, who works as a nurse, claims the image was intentionally edited ahead of the city’s upcoming election to hurt her chances and shows her storming out not because she was confronted, but because she was confronted with one racist comment from the store was confronted owner. Since then, she has vowed to continue her campaign.
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A would-be lawmaker involved in crime-fighting and small business support platforms has been accused of shoplifting by a hardware store owner who has footage of the alleged theft
A Seattle City Council candidate, Democrat Denise Yun, 58, has denied any wrongdoing, claiming she stormed out of the store not after a confrontation but after an inappropriate remark from the store owner
However, the owner of the shop, who pulls out a hammer next to Yun’s purse in the somewhat grainy shots, insists on the opposite.
“I reached into her purse and pulled out a hammer,” Nick Rose, one of the local business owners who has been a constant advocate of protecting Yun from vandalism and theft, told KTTH’s Jason Rantz, author of the forthcoming book What’s Killing America “. the week.
“It was one of my hammers with a little ACE tag on it,” he recalled, adding that he confronted the aspiring politician after another employee allegedly saw her grab one of the tools .
“It was a ball-peen hammer, so I just grabbed it,” he said, narrating the footage Yun now claims he put together.
He said the encounter seen in the clip — which has yet to result in any specific charges being leveled at the would-be congresswoman — took place when he approached the woman and asked if she had anything in her purse that she said she had shouldn’t have.
Back then, he recalled, her shopping cart was full of wooden stakes for campaign signs — something he only pieced together after the fact, after looking backwards at the phone number of the woman she’d given another employee.
The purse, which he claims hid the three pens, was placed in the upper basket.
“She ended up getting to the cashier and I wanted to see if I could check her purse to see if there was anything — if I could see anything,” the owner continued, adding that the other employee on the floor radioed him informed him of his suspicions.
“And I saw a little splinter,” he recalled — before claiming that Yun, a registered nurse from South Korea, seemed to balk at this point.
“She sort of had her hand on her purse,” he said two weeks after members of the Federal Way Police Department said they had completed analyzing the footage Rose had sent them and their findings were being forwarded to the city’s attorney general’s office been.
“It was a very large purse,” he remarked. “And there was a small splinter so I can make out a shiny mallet or handle.”
After producing one of the hammers — an act not clearly evident in the footage — Rose said Yun got angry and stormed out.
He then gave a full copy of the recording to several news outlets and the city’s police, claiming it was proof that Yun was not only a thief but also a hypocrite.
In the clip, Yun – a relatively unsubstantiated political newcomer who has twice pleaded guilty to theft in the past – can be seen knocking over shop signs while she hammers her purse.
Moments later, as she pushes her cart away, the camera appears to catch the 58-year-old Democrat putting the hammers in her purse – before leaving after being confronted by the outraged owner
“She said she wanted to protect the small business from vandalism and theft, and she turns around and does the same?” Rose said, referencing a specific passage on Yun’s campaign website:
The site’s homepage states, “In this post-Covid economy, small businesses need to be able to focus on surviving and thriving without worrying about vandalism and theft.”
Another passage reads, “Denise will ensure our families are safe from crime and champion quality education and police officers.”
The site also features language praising Yun’s journey from eight-year-old Korean immigrant to registered nurse in the ’70s and ’80s, and her current work as a nurse at a local company called Harstene Consulting.
Recently, as the scrutiny of the latest allegations deepened, a statement was also added to the website, in which Yun addressed Rose’s allegations with her own account of events.
Rose, meanwhile, said that after his story broke, Yun returned to his store days later and tried to give him $200 in cash as a “donation.”
However, Yun’s online statement insisted otherwise – suggesting Rose’s claims were politically motivated and not based on reality.
“I reached into her purse and pulled out a hammer,” Nick Rose, one of the local business owners who Yun has repeatedly promised to protect from vandalism and theft, told KTTH’s Jason Rantz earlier this week after handing the footage to police now had city prosecutors
The incident happened at Rose’s Trinity Ace Hardware on Pacific Highway South on July 18 and has since sparked a city investigation
“At the Ace Hardware Store on Pacific Hwy, I was stopped there to determine the price of wooden stakes because my campaign signs had arrived,” the statement said.
“A young gentleman helped me with the different sized stakes and put them all in my shopping cart.”
“The branch manager, Nick, was behind us the whole time and knew I was running for office and suggested I buy hammers to put the signs on the floor.”
“He released a video edited to show people a one-page story. This incident of him saying he tried to ruin my campaign by claiming I stole merchandise from his store is untrue.”
“Additionally, his goal of branding me a thief by contacting local media with the edited video and not showing the full version of me in the store, which would have exonerated me, accomplished exactly what he wanted,” it said further.
“So people don’t vote for me, they vote for my opponent.” “That’s what campaigning is like in the eyes of a Trump Republican.”
Yun’s statement went on to say that she only stormed out after Rose made an inappropriate remark to her while she was checking out.
Yun, meanwhile, maintains her innocence – suggesting Rose’s claims are politically motivated and not based on reality
Running for city council, Yun supports crime-fighting and small business support platforms. She is accused of shoplifting, according to a statement on her website
“When I arrived to pay for all the goods in the shopping cart, he said to me, ‘How many Koreans gave you $100 in cash to run for office in Korea Town?’
“I was angry and hurt by his comment and left the store leaving all the goods in the cart.”
“I hope people understand that there are two sides to a story and that I wasn’t stupid enough to steal anything in my candidacy and gave my phone number to the clerk when he had more wooden stakes.”
The statement, which emerged sometime after local police investigations were completed late last month, came after multiple media outlets reported that Yun was planning to drop out of the race as a result of the incident.
Her announcement, meanwhile, said otherwise — she made it clear that she wants to remain on the Democratic ballot in November and still has intentions to win.
Though she’s backed by several figures, including Washington AG’s Bob Ferguson, despite her inexperience, previous shoplifting that has since come to light could hurt her chances — although no charges have yet been brought in this current case.
According to a 2001 police report, she was first charged with theft in Bellevue after snatching about $1,451 worth of merchandise from a local Nordstrom.
However, it’s not the first time her shoplifting allegations have been made – she pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $1,500 worth of merchandise from a Bellevue Nordstrom in 2001, police reports show, and again two years later to another incident at the Bon Marche mall in Tacoma in 2003
In that case — in which Yun pleaded guilty — loss-prevention workers saw the then-nurse enter the dressing room with a Nordstrom bag and merchandise, but when she exited the dressing room, the items were nowhere to be seen.
After being arrested and admitting to the theft, Yun agreed to a search of her bag, which found the missing goods.
After confessing, she was convicted of second-degree attempted theft, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $5,000 fine.
But just three years later, Yun found herself on the wrong side of the law again when, in 2003, she was caught stealing again from the Bon Marche Mall in Tacoma, leading to her 15-year nursing license being revoked by the state nursing commission pleads guilty again to second-degree theft
However, her license was reinstated in 2018 – a maneuver carried out without further restrictions – and the conviction was vacated in 2020, meaning Yun never legally committed a crime in this case.
As for the current case, the city confirmed it was received last week, but no charges had been filed as of Sunday.
City Administrator Brian Davis said in an email that the City of Federal Way referred the case to the City of Kent to avoid any allegations of bias — particularly ahead of her duel with Republican incumbent and former Deputy Mayor Linda Kochmar.
At this time, prosecutors are still reviewing the footage Rose provided to see if there was any truth to his claims.
In a warning sent to KIRO 7, the shopkeeper said that even if Yun wasn’t, he wasn’t welcome.
“I need to send a message, it’s not easy stealing from my shop.” Don’t come back.
“I will follow you.”
Yun, meanwhile, reiterated on her website the fact that she has not yet been charged with any crime.
She said: “I look forward to the day when all the facts of this incident are clear and I am confirmed and exonerated.”
The public prosecutor’s investigation into the allegations is still ongoing.