West Seattle Crime Watch: Wheel-stealers; burglar scared off

Two Crime Watch reports this time. First one has to do with that car – second with a burglary victim who fought back – read on for both:

James sent the photo of his car as it looked before someone stole its wheels and left the car on jack stands and a jack in the span of 15 minutes or so last Friday afternoon. He says it happened at SW Holden/Highland Park Way (map) around 1 pm Friday, and he’s been distributing a flyer in hopes someone may have seen the wheels – see the flyer here.

Second: An Admiral resident reports a burglary he says happened to a friend early Saturday near 48th/Admiral (map) – with a surprise for the burglar:

(The victim) had a male kick in her apartment door and try to enter her residence. The homeowner was armed and scared the guy off when she pointed her gun at him. Search dogs tracked the man to 51st and Admiral but lost the scent there.

We followed up to ask if there was any description; all he has is, “white male, 18-25 yrs of age, white T-shirt.”

27 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: Wheel-stealers; burglar scared off"

  • CB April 11, 2010 (8:35 am)

    Wheel locks are you friend.

  • ghar72 April 11, 2010 (9:33 am)

    Scary!!! And to the guy who had his wheels stolen, so sorry. Insane; middle of the day, busy intersection. Ours were stolen about 6 weeks ago and reported here on the blog. We purchased locking lug nuts for the new tires…$20 purchase. Hindsight, of course is 20/20. BTW, the link to the flyer is a pic of someone’s stolen bike.

  • Aye Jay April 11, 2010 (9:49 am)

    wheel locks only keep honest people honest.

  • JayDee April 11, 2010 (10:14 am)

    Wheel locks may just make the thief think twice about stealing your wheels. Similar to the idea that keeping hedges around your home trimmed, lights on timers, and deadbolts may make a burglar choose a different target.

  • PSPS April 11, 2010 (10:32 am)

    Note to editor: Your “see the flyer here” link is wrong. It shows a bicycle.

    • WSB April 11, 2010 (10:41 am)

      Fixed! Thank you.

  • Steve April 11, 2010 (12:48 pm)

    Its fortunate that the woman was able to scare off the burglar.
    For those of you that wish this person dead, you sicken me.
    One, the woman could still face criminal charges and imagine the psychological damage she would face by living the rest of her life dealing with the experience of taking someone’s life. Far worse than having your tv and laptop stolen.
    The reality of the situation is just that, reality. Not your sad fantasy.
    She would not feel like a hero, I can guarantee it.
    And regarding the other theft. Who spends hundreds of dollars on fancy rims then leaves them alone with nothing but a few bolts holding them on? Protect your investment.

    • WSB April 11, 2010 (2:10 pm)

      The comments to which Steve referred have been deleted. It’s against our rules to wish anyone dead. Not to mention, as he alludes to, it’s not automatically legal to injure or kill someone who breaks into your home.
      http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattle911/archives/186114.asp

  • tm April 11, 2010 (3:54 pm)

    Wheel locks will only slow the theif down for a minute. Most people keep the key in the glove box or center console, which can be found very quickly.

  • jim April 11, 2010 (4:36 pm)

    Ask the young woman how she would of felt being raped and murdered. Thank the 2nd she was armed.

  • John April 11, 2010 (5:42 pm)

    I am just curious… what is the difference in this female carrying a gun in her own home and carrying it in public? Are not people violently robbed, raped and murder outside their home as well? Why is it more acceptable for her to have a gun at home and be able to protect herself than to have a gun in public to protect herself?

  • Steve April 11, 2010 (6:34 pm)

    Why does this have to become a debate about gun control? No one has debated her right to have a gun.
    The only difference between her having her gun at home and in public is her choice.
    The comments that were removed were not for or against guns, they were telling her she should have killed the intruder, which is against WSB’s policy.
    She’s safe, didn’t get robbed, and no one got hurt. End of story.

  • John April 11, 2010 (6:41 pm)

    Why does this have to become about gun control? Because just about any situation where a person is carrying a gun in public, the gun control folks cry out…”Why have a gun in a restaurant?”, “Why have a gun in a park?”, “What about the kids, what will they think?”

    So my question is, what’s the difference? Don’t the same crimes that happen in people’s houses happen in public as well?

  • Steve April 11, 2010 (7:23 pm)

    Sounds like a subject for the forums, not for a story that has nothing to do with your question.

  • Becky Bixby April 11, 2010 (11:16 pm)

    Wow! Under the really bad circumstances this is an outstanding outcome for all involved – what are guns used for? To stop a threat to ones life! (Or rape, or kidnapping or ???) The last option is to use the firearm to kill a person.

    May you never know what it feels like to take a life, but its better to have a gun and never have to use it than to need it and not have it!

    I have 2 friends raped in a similar situation, both rapes could have been prevented by the use of deadly force (or the threat of such) Yes they now live with what happened to them but wished they had a firearm to stop the threat. BTW Yes they are now gun owners!

  • gary April 11, 2010 (11:45 pm)

    It’s not automatically legal to injure or kill someone who breaks into your home – but it should be. It’s not “End of story” until the scumbag is caught & charged for his crimes.

  • The Victim April 12, 2010 (12:12 am)

    I’m a bit concerned that folks seem to be missing the point here. Let me sum it up for you:

    Some random guy aggressively and violently kicked my door in during the middle of the night. Our safe and wonderful little community was attacked, and people in the community need to know and be alert.

    The guy kicking my door in clearly did not mean well. During the incident, the thought of any items that could have possibly been stolen did not come to mind. However, what would happen to me, a single young lady who happened to be all alone, did.

    The guy is referred to as a burglar here. Really though, as he was unsuccessful, we will never know what his true intentions were. I can’t help but wonder if folks would have responded to this differently if he had been referred to as “the rapist.”

    Steve – The psychological impact of having shot someone who was attacking me could never possibly be worse than being raped. Period. With that said, I never would fire at anyone unless it was absolutely necessary. Period.

    Please, everyone, save your opinions on gun control for another place, and look out for yourselves and each other.

    Thank you!

    • WSB April 12, 2010 (12:28 am)

      “Victim,” thanks for sharing your side of the story. I am checking with police tomorrow re: the case status and whether anything else like this has happened in West Seattle recently (our contacts are usually not reachable on the weekend unless it is a massive breaking-news type situation) because as you note, this is more than the usual “burglary” – most of those happen during the day when the burglars are fairly sure nobody’s home – at night, you would have to think the criminal should be assuming someone IS home – TR

  • The Victim April 12, 2010 (12:21 am)

    Becky – Thank you for your comment. I did not see that until after I posted mine. You said that beautifully.

  • Paddy April 12, 2010 (12:28 am)

    Thank God that woman was able to defend herself, and more-so that she didn’t have to fire. I’d most certainly hope she have a good defense lawyer if she did. If the situation was as it’s reported, she’ll face no charges. If someone kicked the door of my apartment in (if I lived on my own), I’d be scared for my life too! The laws are pretty clear about justification of the use of deadly force when in fear for one’s life or of great bodily harm. Of any self defense situation involving a firearm, the ones in which no shots are fired are the best.

  • Steve April 12, 2010 (1:05 am)

    I did not intend to seem like I was taking your situation lightly. The comments, that were removed did not even refer to your incident other than to say the intruder should have been shot dead. They made no attempt at a thoughtful response. At least one of the commentors often makes similarly offensive comments on other subjects. I cant even imagine the psychological impact this situation could have resulted in and I’m glad you were able to come out of if, for the most part, unharmed. It seems to me that the purpose of the crime blog is to provide information to keep us aware, not to start political arguments about gun control or make offensive comments that do nothing to help keep us aware of what is happening in our community. There is a political forum and a rants section provided for such things.
    Last summer a friend stopped a rape in progress near California and Admiral. Another friend of mine was not so lucky at her apartment in Eastlake. Thankfully that man was caught and is now in jail. She is not comfortable owning a gun so she has taken other precautions to protect herself.
    I do not take these things lightly and hope all people do what they feel is necessary, within the bounds of the law to protect themselves.

  • wolfman101 April 12, 2010 (7:17 am)

    For door security or to stop the kicked in doors, check out http://www.doordevil.com, http://www.doorsecuritypro.com, or lowes carries a product for about $140 that reinforces your door frame to make it nearly impossible to kick in.

  • John April 12, 2010 (9:54 am)

    “Victim”. Thank you for sharing your story. My wife was a victim to a very similar incident. I went to work one morning at 5:00am. They must have been watching because about 5:05 am they kicked the front door in and came in the house. Our three dogs ran them out, with my wife screaming in the living room. Our front door was only about 10 feet into an entry straight into our living room.

    We put up a high security storm door from Home Depot. It is made of shatter proof car windshield glass. We put it on with 3″ screws that went all the way into the frame of the house, not just the siding. It pulls open vice push inward so that removes all the leverage of forcing the door open. It is a beautiful storm door that you would never guess would be high security. When locked, it has 1 center deadbolt and 2 upper and lower latches that swing and lock into place so the door is very “jimmy” proof.

    My personal prayers are with you, I know what a terrifying experience a home invasion is.

    Very Respectfully,
    John

    P.S. It’s Larson Secure Elegence doors….

  • HolyKow April 12, 2010 (4:05 pm)

    WSB Moderator –

    The post you are referring to in the Seattle PI was not a person in the home, but someone who was running away post criminal activity. At that point, your reasonable fear for you life has been diminished to the point where deadly force is no longer considered to be appropriate under the WA Supreme Court support of the No Duty To Retreat stance, in light of the lack of an actual Castle Doctrine supporting the right of individuals to protect themselves and others in danger who are not able to assist themselves.

    If someone breaks into your home and has engaged you in an aggressive manner (IE kicking in your door to assault you) then yes, it is in fact legal to injure or kill someone who breaks into your home.

    But as the Joker says in the first Batman Movie:

    Better be sure…

    Because forensics will tell the tail

    If the victim was under direct assault, they were within their rights to send the assailant back to their maker. If the person breaking in has given up their ill conceived attempt to assault this person’s rights in their home and ‘turned tail and run’, then their is no threat to retreat from, ergo no support for any No Duty To Retreat would be given and the person that was under attack by the assailant would then be in the wrong and prosecuted according to applicable statutes.

    As a member of the human race, we should not revel in the taking of life in any way. But in certain cases, where your safety is set upon by those who would harm you, it is justified.

    Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. declared in Brown v. United States when upholding the no duty to retreat maxim that detached reflection cannot be demanded in the presence of an uplifted knife.

    HK

  • K April 12, 2010 (4:05 pm)

    We live in your neighborhood too and am thankful you were not hurt. Although terribly sad how our community is changing, it is stories like this that bring reality to the forefront. We diligently keep our eyes out for all suspicious activity and try to band together as neighbors to keep our community safer. Thank you for speaking up so we know what the real dangers are. You were very brave to pick up a weapon to defend yourself and I am glad you did not need to use it. Not an easy decision but better that you are okay.

  • Michie April 13, 2010 (11:12 am)

    I live a few blocks down from this, and about 6 or 7 months ago my wheels were stolen off my GTI as well, however mine were in the middle of the night. Called the police and they were no help, just told me stories about my old neighbors and how bad they were. I hope you get these back.

  • Bryan Buckner April 14, 2010 (5:52 pm)

    Unfortunately, these types of crimes are becoming more and more prevalent. Home invasion robberies typically end much differently. Thank God the victim was not physically harmed.

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