West Seattle Crime Watch: Burglaries rise – where and when

In addition to the burglaries and break-in attempt featured in our West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports earlier today, we had an inquiry out to police about two other possible incidents heard on the scanner. In response to it all, Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen confirms there’s a “notable increase” in home burglaries tracing back to last week – a surprise during a holiday week, he says – and shares these details on trends:

The neighborhoods that are being affected the most are:

· East of Delridge from Spokane St to about SW Holden St, West of the Duwamish.
· South of SW Morgan to the City boundary Line, West of 35th SW.

Days and Time:
· Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
· 7 am to 6 pm

Current trends include 2-3 subjects in a large car (old-retired taxis have been used) in order to put large objects in the trunk or back seat area. The suspects are knocking on the front door, waiting for an answer. If no answer, they are forcing entry via a non-visible door/window.

Our West Seattle folks are doing a great job by calling 911 when they see suspicious circumstances in their neighborhoods. I would also like to remind our citizens to closely work with their neighbors, watching out for each other particularly during times when their homes are vacant during the day.

I don’t want to take the fun/joy out of the Holidays, but criminals will target homes for the gifts lying under the tree. Also, while shopping, please be aware of your personal surroundings as you walk to your car with gifts…It is not unusual for subjects to approach shoppers and forcibly take their packages as well as break into parked vehicles at shopping centers.

There’s more holiday crime-deterrence advice in the latest newsletter from SW Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Mark Solomon, published here a week ago.

26 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: Burglaries rise - where and when"

  • k November 29, 2011 (5:42 am)

    just a reminder to neighbors of West Seattle, call the police if you see anything suspicious. we are the best defense in our own neighborhoods. help keep an eye out and be aware at all times. many people go out of town this time of year so be sure to have someone watch your home while you are away. stop your mail, newspapers etc. those are welcome signs of an empty home. neighborhood watch makes a difference!

  • AH November 29, 2011 (6:13 am)

    Another tactic burglars may be using is for one or two youths to engage the neighbor at the front door of one house while others are breaking in next door.

  • tommy November 29, 2011 (8:12 am)

    There were also a string of five breaking/enterings on 26th ave sw near juneau the day after halloween. All daytime with no suspects. We think they were after pills since they only went through medicine cabinets and took nothing else. Had to have been a very small person — they fit through a back porch window that was only 16″ square!

  • CindyLouWho November 29, 2011 (9:09 am)

    Real Grinches. Not funny.

    Maybe the OG (grinch) stole Christmas because of hard economic times. :-/

  • CB November 29, 2011 (10:10 am)

    There doesn’t seem to be a shortage of speed traps in West Seattle. Makes you wonder about SPDs priorities?

  • Bob November 29, 2011 (12:11 pm)

    SPD kmows who is doing this (had a conversation with them). It is a male who just turned 18. As soon as they get enough on him, they are hoping he does time as an adult, since his 6 plus arrests as a juevenille have done nothing to deter him. By the way, he lives in Highpoint.

  • NotMe November 29, 2011 (2:17 pm)

    Yeah, CB… that’s the problem. It’s those pesky speed traps that are causing the burglaries to go up.

  • Rose November 29, 2011 (2:17 pm)

    I had a man, white middle aged with clipboard, selling home security systems. Monday around dinner-time come to my door.
    Was not sure this was normal. Called it into the SW police station.

  • Ryan c November 29, 2011 (5:08 pm)

    I had my kitchen window broken today. I live around 40th and edmunds. We all need to keep an eye out for one another.

  • pigeon hill jim November 29, 2011 (5:24 pm)

    We got hit today about 10:30 AM on 22nd on Pigeon Hill, right around the corner from where they broke in to two houses last week. They kicked in our front door. They took a Nintendo Wii and an iPod. It happened just minutes after I left the house. I saw two men on the street I didn’t recognize from the neighborhood, a thin African American man in a black hoodie and a heavy set possibly Pacific Islander in shorts and a sweat shirt with a backpack. He wore a black and red yankees hat. They made enough of an impression that I thought about turning around, but I didn’t. My neighbor heard something right after.

    If some one were going to break in my house, it figures it would be a yankees fan.

  • Jason November 29, 2011 (6:34 pm)

    I spotted one trying to steal a package from my porch, as I was coming home from work. When I noticed someone on my porch, I drove by, not stopping, but driving slowly to get a glance (maybe my wife was having a christmas gift delivered!) to see who it was, as I drove by slow they dropped the box and headed back to the car. They appeared African of some sort, Nigerian? I followed them into the High Point neighborhood, but lost track trying to stay back to not be noticed.

  • AH November 29, 2011 (7:57 pm)

    Many of us have cameras on our cell phones — we need to remember to use them!!!

  • kathy November 29, 2011 (8:44 pm)

    Happy Holiday Hunting… hope they catch whom evers doing this and ” i can not say it on here …..
    I’am so happy that we moved away from that town..I had to get mace..had a camera put in my appartment .. had to call the ”SPD LOT’S” was fearful of where I was living..”and MOVED”I know its every where ..but that area is big time bad !
    Have A Safe Holiday Season

  • churchlady November 29, 2011 (8:54 pm)

    Had my back door kicked in a while ago. I live off of Roxbury. Our video camera recorded 3 african teens,Somalia in fact and yes, they lived in High Point and now Green Bridge in White Center. King County PD knows who they are…

  • Patrick November 29, 2011 (10:05 pm)

    If anyone who is involved in these burglaries reads this blog BE WARNED NOW!!!!

    I am always in my front yard and the hours are staggered to catch you punks as you try to make your move and KNOW THIS, I have plenty of spots in my yard to go ” Ninja ” on you should you try anything on my property.

    I watch my neighborhood and neighbors like a hawk and more-so during the Holiday’s so this a friendly warning to you right now… DON’T EVEN think about hitting up the 4400 to 4900 block of 26th SW or it will pale in comparison to ANY bad day you may have had before meeting me.

    You MAY NOT see me but I will DEFINITELY SEE YOU!!!

  • Blessed Doggy Mama November 29, 2011 (10:24 pm)

    Patrick, I am grateful for neighbors like you. I live in your little “red zone” and wanted to extend my thanks for keeping our neighborhood safe. It was a reassuring aspect of this feed and I would love to meet you in person sometime should the opportunity present itself. I grew up feeling safe in my own home because my dad was “that” guy on the block….we need more people out there who are willing to watch out for their neighbors. I have nothing to hide, you watch away and I’ll rest easy. Cheers and Happy Holidays!

  • Patrick November 29, 2011 (10:34 pm)

    @ Doggy Mama, Just look for me standing in front of the fence around the yard on the east side of 26th SW south of Alaska.

  • Cclarue November 30, 2011 (6:45 am)

    My dog probably outweighs these kids… I hope they don’t come to my house … He’s a guard dog by nature.

  • Zack November 30, 2011 (8:21 am)

    I think it’s incredibly disappointing that the SPD might know who is doing this and is just sitting by letting it happen. Our house was broken into last Monday, along with our neighbor, and we live right up the hill from Jim… it’s pretty obvious that this area is being targeted. It’s also pretty obvious that the police are clustered at the bottom of the hill, at the coffee shop, and not at the top of the hill, where the freshly burgled houses are. I’m willing to offer a free pot of coffee to the cop that actually makes it up the hill..!!!

  • Margy November 30, 2011 (10:28 am)

    I live on 45th right next to James Madison. Yesterday 11/29 around 2PM a man rang the doorbell, opened the door, and yelled “Back up, Back Up” because my contractor was there. Leave your doors locked even if your home.

  • pdog November 30, 2011 (12:21 pm)

    Thing to remember is speed traps are money makers, catching a burgular is not. So an officer sitting on the side of the road writing tickets can easily pay for their time and more, but sitting in a neighborhood targetted by burgulars cannot.

  • DSchmutz November 30, 2011 (8:53 pm)

    EH, I really don’t think the sworn officers care about earning income for the city via traffic tickets. They don’t get paid more if they do, and I think they’re more than happy to chase down a burgular when we let them know, but it’s awefully hard to arrest someone if we don’t keep an eye out in our neighborhood.

  • Chloe December 1, 2011 (4:22 pm)

    I am just frustrated at the response we’ve gotten to our burglary, “a detective will probably never even get assigned to your incident.” Some information can give up the people and looking into how many have been going on lately you’d think they’d put a little more effort into rounding up who’s doing this.

  • Philip December 7, 2011 (8:53 pm)

    My parents’ place in Delridge just got hit up yesterday. I live in Philadelphia, so I haven’t seen the extent of the damage myself (honestly, I don’t know if I could bear to), but from what I’ve gathered, the criminals *ransacked* the place, taking a laptop, jewelry, money, a *large* safe, leather jackets and other clothing. Unfortunately, our neighborhood simply isn’t a safe place anymore. Saddening…

  • Santy December 10, 2011 (9:32 am)

    Attempted robbery at my parents house on 12th ave sw in the highland park area on Thurs 8th at 2:30pm.
    My mom came home to find a large white unmarked construction van backed in front of our garage with a white male driver sitting inside. When she walked up to the van it peeled off, and she couldn’t get a clear look at the plates..
    No damage done, but this is really nerve racking.

  • Santy December 10, 2011 (9:32 am)

    Attempted robbery at my parents house on 12th ave sw in the highland park area on Thurs 8th at 2:30pm.
    My mom came home to find a large white unmarked construction van backed in front of our garage with a white male driver sitting inside. When she walked up to the van it peeled off, and she couldn’t get a clear look at the plates..
    No damage done, but this is really nerve racking.

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