West Seattle Crime Watch: Purse thefts at church; cars targeted

Two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports received so far today – one involving purses stolen at a local church, and a request to be on the lookout for them; the other, one household whose cars have been targeted twice in two weeks. Details ahead:

First, Pam reports she and two other women who were on coffee duty after services at Fauntleroy Church this morning discovered their purses had been stolen. One was brown, two were black, and since purse thieves often dump them after looking for valuables, she hopes you will be on the lookout for any cast-aside purses in the Fauntleroy area. When they reported the theft to police, Pam says, several people reported having seen a possible suspect in the church kitchen, someone no one could identify – described as “a light-skinned black man with a bald head (and) a round face wearing a checked shirt, black jacket and pants, clean-shaven, well-dressed.”

The car-crimes report comes from Juan:

I live on 45th St SW between Dakota and Genesee [map] and wanted to report two small but annoying car break ins.

The first happened 2 weeks ago Sunday night when someone slashed through my Saab soft top roof and got into the car that way, nothing apparent was stolen but of course having to fix the hole is very costly. The second happened last night (likely early 10/30) on our driveway; our other car (I think we left the door unlocked) was opened and rummaged through. Things were strewn about and the glove box contents left tossed about the ground.

Both incidents happened between 12 am and 6 am. These appear to be opportunists trying to get whatever careless homeowner (us) left cars unmonitored … wanted to alert neighbors about these repeat occurrences.

5 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: Purse thefts at church; cars targeted"

  • bridge to somewhere October 31, 2011 (8:59 am)

    i hope that guy who stole purses at the church doesn’t believe in hell . . .

  • onceachef October 31, 2011 (1:19 pm)

    Lock your dang car!

  • doug October 31, 2011 (4:26 pm)

    I had a BBQ stollen off my front porch last night 10/30from the thrid floor . SW Dawson and Califorina. A few weeks ago the saddle bags on my motorcycle were rummaged through and thing were stollen. All happend between 11:00 pm and 5:00 am.

  • Melodie Rogers October 31, 2011 (4:44 pm)

    I, too, accidently left my car unlocked last week.I live on 47th between Genesee and Dakota. Nothing was stolen, but they went through everything including dumping my first aid kit out. Doors locked/alarm set now!

  • Patrick November 1, 2011 (10:42 am)

    My elderly Mom was one of the three women who had their purses stolen at Fauntleroy Church last Sunday. The guy had definitely spent some time scoping out the church kitchen, as the purses were hidden away in a back cupboard. Then the creep had the guts to call in to the Church 15 minutes later claiming to be from a credit card assistance company, asking for PIN numbers and such. He only got $6 in cash from my Mom, but having to re-key her house and car and cancel credit cards has been expensive and a lot of work. Hopefully justice will prevail, in this life or the next one!

Sorry, comment time is over.