A repeat-offender broke into Valve Corporation's Bellevue headquarters, located just east of Seattle, and reportedly stole over $40,000 worth of electronics. The burglar, 32-year-old Shawn Shaputis, currently has six warrants – and if he misses his scheduled arraignment hearing – he'll receive yet another.
This isn't Shaputis' only crime either, as he lead police on a high-speed chase from Bellevue to Seattle in a stolen FedEx truck in July of last year. The carjacker noticed the truck was unattended and had keys in the ignition, so he hopped in an barreled away with it. The truck had its back door open, so the chase caused various packages to slide out onto the highway during the action. It ended with the truck surrounded and Shaputis cooperating with police, though his motive was unclear.
The FedEx stunt in July wasn't Shaputis' first major crime either, as only a month prior to the carjacking, he admitted to burglarizing Valve's headquarters. He pulled off the heist by filling large recycling bins up with computers and rolling them out the door – gaining entry over four or five times total. But how did he get in?
Supposedly, he gained access to the Lincoln Square South building through a restaurant, where Valve is headquartered (floors 11-19), and entered through a "non-functional" door from a stairway. From there he loaded up the bin with whatever he could find that looked valuable – video games, Asus laptops, various consoles – and wheeled away with the goods unnoticed. The video evidence of Shaputis pawning some of Valve's stolen games to GameStop was pivotal in his eventual arrest.
Unfortunately for Valve's CEO Gabe Newell, some electronic equipment and games weren't the only thing Shaputis took; He also stole a replica mini-gun that Newell famously posed with on the roof the very building that was burglarized.
Although the burglary is unfortunate, the culprit was caught a week after the crimes back in 2018 and is now finally being held accountable for his actions. As to whether or not Shaputis was also searching for confirmation of Portal 3, Team Fortress 3, or Half-Life 3 at the time of the break-in – it remains undetermined.