West Seattle Crime Watch: Decoration thefts; stolen mail found

‘Tis the season for holiday crime as well as holiday joy, holiday giving, holiday celebrations … We have two reports of decoration theft in this West Seattle Crime Watch roundup. Linda e-mailed to say that “outside Christmas lights and lighted candy canes (were) stolen from the 4800 block on 49th Ave SW.” Molly (35th/Trenton/Henderson) reported a similar theft in this WSB Forums post, with another member adding a mention of a Fauntlee Hills theft later in the thread.

On a non-holiday note, from Carolyn:

I just wanted to let people in the Highland Park area know that this morning we found mail that belonged to a house about 2 block away in the road. There was an envelope with pictures that had been opened and an offer from a credit card company also opened, but the mail containing bills were left unopened. The mail was found at the corner of 8th Ave SW and SW Elmgrove St. We took the mail to the house it belonged to, but nobody answered, so we left the mail on the door step. Just a reminder for people to be extra vigilant during the holiday season. We will continue to keep a close eye out for any other suspicious activity.

Seasonal crime-prevention advice is in the latest SPD crime-prevention newsletter, by the way.

TM December 13, 2011 (4:27 pm)

I submitted a post last week regarding a neighbor’s wreath getting lifted (41st/42nd and Cloverdale, https://westseattleblog.com/2011/12/west-seattle-crime-watch-2-or-3-burglary-teams-other-reports ).

As a follow-up, since that event there have been at least 3 more incidents in the same block- stolen flower pots, stolen lights and decorations, and someone went through things I had stored outside and took some things (defunct circular saw among other things). They also left out spray paint cans, some solvents- maybe a huffer.

All of the events included people coming onto our properties (including through gates), often in the middle of the day, once on a Sunday. Pretty odd, pretty lame. So far only low-grade thefts but I’m not a fan of folks going through my property. I’m working from home and taking pics of suspicious cars and people until we get this sorted. If anyone in this neighborhood sees anything, please post to the blog so we can compare notes.

Bettytheyeti December 13, 2011 (5:36 pm)

If I remember correctly, the holiday lights working or none have copper wire in them, and were redeemable last year for salvage. Would be curious how many were showing up as metal salvage. A special thank you to the neighbor metal scavengers. (sarcasm here!)

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