West Seattle Crime Watch: 1 car stolen, 1 car found

First, the latest stolen-car report we’ve received – from Andy:

Last night between 10 pm and 1 am some hoodlums stole my black 1997 Nissan Maxima from the street in front of our house, which is located on the 5200 block of 45th Avenue SW. Most importantly, my golf clubs are in the trunk. Police report was filed… just sharin’ the love. License number 192 ZGB, if anyone spots the vehicle please report to police. Black Maxima, my kids like to write letters in the dirt on the doors, so that’s another identifying characteristic, golf clubs are Nike Procombos :(

Here’s the SPD tweet on that. Second, an update from Tina, whose family car was stolen for the second time in a year in the Genesee area, just as she and her cancer-patient husband were about to head out of state with it – she says it was found in South Park: “For the second time, they stole the car, stripped the brake light modulator, then dumped the car. We’re still waiting to hear about the trailer and our belongings. The crooks also stole a family heirloom that was very important to my recently deceased mother.”

10 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: 1 car stolen, 1 car found"

  • Michael February 19, 2011 (3:30 pm)

    Seems to be that the thief(ves) in the second case knew the car had a brake light modulator. Might even be the same guy(s). It might be worth researching whether others who install BLMs often have them stolen.

    (Brake light modulators flash the brake lights when you apply the brakes. Motorcycles use them a lot, but not so many cars do. They’re usually an aftermarket install.)

  • Sonoma February 19, 2011 (4:48 pm)

    I’m glad Tina’s car was found, and so sorry that so much is still missing. Those thieves are the worst kind of garbage. Maybe one of our local auto-supply businesses could donate a Club (not to beat the thieves) or some other antitheft device.

  • shorewood slim February 19, 2011 (5:05 pm)

    How do you know they were hoodlums? Maybe they were upstanding citizens who like good clubs?

  • MsEvelyn February 19, 2011 (6:44 pm)

    I am also glad that the car was found, but how sad that the heirloom is still missing! Such lowlifes walk this earth. I hope that someday “it” happens to them and they can feel what it feels like to lose something precious through no fault of their own! Karma!

  • Argiles February 19, 2011 (6:58 pm)

    Sonoma- That sounds like a good idea, but if you don’t have correct placement of the club or something like it, it will not prevent the car from getting stolen. Living on a fairly busy street and walking by a ton of cars, Yes they have them but they are not on properly.

  • Sue February 19, 2011 (8:16 pm)

    Argiles, could you elaborate? I am a Club user and can’t even imagine how to put it on “improperly” – I’m curious what are you referring to?
    Also, I don’t believe that a Club (correctly placed or not) is 100% certain to protect against theft – if somebody wants my car bad enough, they’ll find a way. However, if my car (with Club) is next to a car without one, I figure most people would go for the “easy” car.

  • S February 19, 2011 (8:58 pm)

    For Club users… turn your wheel all the way to one side or the other. Put the club on so that the LOCK is on the BACK SIDE of the steering wheel with the Top of it against your windshield.. The club on with the lock backwards makes it harder for a theif to pick the lock and with the top part against your windshield, they won’t be able to turn your wheel even if they break the wheel lock, unless they break the windshield. I always turn mine completely to the right..and I park super close to a wall so if they tried to drive WITH the club on.. they would 1) hit the wall and not go any further and 2) drive around in a circle if they could get it out of its spot.

    A club ISN’T 100% theft proof, but it is a detertant. I learned all this when my car was stolen last new years day.

  • blackwatch February 24, 2011 (5:57 pm)

    I hate to mention this, but I saw this show on TV a while back where they disabled a club in less than a minute by hacksawing through the steering wheel.

    It was less than effective….

    I prefer the little red blinking light that makes it look like you have an expensive alarm system. $5.99

  • John February 25, 2011 (11:51 am)

    Andy,

    I recently purchased a used set of Nike Pro Combo Forged irons from the West Seattle Senior Center Thrift Store for a “Very good” price and am willing to sell them to you for cost if you want to replace your stolen clubs. I purchased them almost two months ago so I am confident they are not yours, they have stiff graphite shafts and I would rate them a 7 out of 10.

    You can email me at slpsht332000@yahoo.com if you are interested.

    Regards,

    John

  • Dale February 27, 2011 (6:26 pm)

    I’m cancer survivor guy and if you’re still reading, I finally back with access to the Web. It seems likely the same crook ripped off our car both times and stole the brake modulator both times. Both time they dumped the a short distance away loaded with their smelly Camel cigarettes. The last time they took my trailer and most of my tools.

    On a blog post main page for Feb 27, 2011, I left a suggestion for community action to nip it in the bud.

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