West Seattle Crime Watch: Gone in a flash; car/garage break-in

Two Three reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch this afternoon. The first one was a theft that happened in a flash; the second, a car break-in that led to a garage break-in. (And we added a third at 4:04 pm – all are ahead:)

Rachel wants to be sure you’re warned this can happen:

My husband walked out to his car at 11AM today, put his business case in it, walked back to the garage to pick up something else, heard a car door slam and a car take off, went back out and his case was gone. The thief will find nothing of value to him/her – simply lots of receipts and notes on a house remodeling plan that we will have to recreate. I imagine this person was driving through the neighborhood looking for a quick opportunity. This happened on 37th SW between Lander and Stevens [map].

And from an Arbor Heights neighbor:

Latest Arbor Heights neighborhood crime: Very bold nighttime car prowlers broke into the car parked outside the house on 9700 block of 44th SW, then used the garage door opener inside the car to get into and burglarize the garage while the family slept. This just a few months after front door was kicked in mid-day to steal computers and other valuables.

Neighbors banding together can help deter crime – all set for your Tuesday Night Out block party? If not, go here. And let us know where your party is – we’ll have photographers out and about and would love to grab a photo. (Or, send us one!)

ADDED 4:04 PM: From Phil, via Facebook:

Our house on Fauntleroy Way down by the Ferry just got robbed….the jerk left his notebook, Hopefully Seattle Police will figure this one out. Got away (with) too many valuables…..That Sucked! Driving an older dark maroon sedan.

12 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: Gone in a flash; car/garage break-in"

  • Coffee July 29, 2011 (4:11 pm)

    A long time ago I was attending a meeting about how to make things safer and one of the things told to the group from the PD was to never leave your garage door opener in your car.

  • Silly Goose July 29, 2011 (4:22 pm)

    This makes me so angry to read this happening in West Seattle by a bunch of low life’s. Isn’t this the second or third time a dark maroon sedan has been mentioned in a crime in the last couple weeks? Check Craig’s list and pawn shops now, sorry for your loss.

  • valvashon July 29, 2011 (4:25 pm)

    Wasn’t an older dark maroon sedan mentioned in another Crime Watch report recently? I’m looking at one parked across the alley right now…

  • sleepy July 29, 2011 (5:50 pm)

    yes, that older dark maroon car has been mentioned in previous crimes.

  • RoxburyRider206 July 29, 2011 (5:55 pm)

    Arbor Heights needs to get something goin I feel like theres always been crime here and its cuzz we don’t stick together as a neighborhood enough

  • AHNeighbor July 29, 2011 (9:31 pm)

    I think we do stick together, we are always engaging each other, like right now online with our wonderful West Seattle Blog, and out in front of our homes together making sure everyone is doing ok, keeping each other in the know. The trouble is that the crooks take advantage of when we are asleep or away at work!

  • wsguy July 29, 2011 (9:34 pm)

    So many stories of ws homes/cars robbed, So Sad.
    So few Stories of scum being locked up, Sadder.
    The FACT i have to lockdown my house to work in the yard, Saddest.

  • seattle dad July 30, 2011 (11:59 am)

    Our police are not incentivised to catch burglers…they are more concerned with letting us know they stopped a bike doing 42 mph in a 35…catching crooks costs money, pulling over speeders generates revenue. We need better leadership in law enforcement to set community focused priorities!

  • bebecat July 30, 2011 (12:20 pm)

    I would love to see regular police patrolling going on. Burglars run away when they see the police. Just keep them on the run. They can’t pick a lock or kick in a door with a police cruiser going by.

  • Pokey July 30, 2011 (3:52 pm)

    SPD generally does a good job in tracking the bad guys down, but could certainly use some help from the courts/laws. The present point system could definitely use some improvement. It takes numerous times for the perps to be run in to receive proper punishment. By that time, a criminal pattern has already been well established as we’ve all seen recently with a few local thugs.

    .Since budgets have been cut, SPD’s job is that much harder. I encourage everyone to attend the ‘National Night Out’ this coming Tuesday night in your neighborhood. Getting to know your neighbors and hood is the best defense of all. i.e. If even one person on your block leaves valuables in their car overnight, your entire street becomes ‘desirable’ to thieves. I’m certainly not blaming any victims here (as I’ve been one as well), and not every crime can be prevented in this manner, but we can all go a long way in making our neighbors more aware and less vulnerable to the bad guys.

    .No, I’m not with SPD, but know from personal experience that my neighborhood has benefitted greatly from knowing when something doesn’t ‘seem right’ and not hesitating to call 911 when necessary. My experiences with SPD in this regard have always been positive with timely responses.

    • WSB July 30, 2011 (4:08 pm)

      …and if you follow our Crime Watch coverage, including the followups on plea bargains, sentencings, etc., you’ll know Pokey speaks gospel there. Ultimately sentencing ranges are decided by state legislators – so though their names may not appear in the crime stories, they are a background presence looming over all. Also worth paying attention to judges, as they have some leeway in bail/sentencing matters, and most if not all of them are elected – TR

  • Swiss miss July 30, 2011 (9:45 pm)

    Am sick of having our cars broken into we’ve had a motorcycle stolen (got it back) due to stupid robbers, cops couldn’t do anything. Only to have them try again!! Finally sold it we were sick of worrying about it. There have been break-in’s on our street. Were thinking about moving out of Seattle all together

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