Big roundup today for West Seattle Crime Watch and other police activity – with three notes related to bike theft (actual or suspected).

First one starts with an incident that several people asked about this morning on the WSB Facebook page – early-morning yelling in Morgan Junction, and eventually an ambulance. Nothing on the 911 log, so we checked with Det. Mark Jamieson of Seattle Police. He says one man thought he saw another steal a bicycle around 2 am – the second man was reported to be on one bicycle and pushing another, after having allegedly gone into the first man’s neighbor’s yard. The first man, police say, followed/chased the second man, who dropped the extra bike, and then, when the first man caught up with him near California/Graham, dropped the one he was riding. The first man “detained” him and the second one started yelling something like “Don’t hurt me.” That’s when multiple people called 911 – a passing ambulance even stopped, thinking they had witnessed an assault. Police could not prove that the bicycle was stolen, says Det. Jamieson, so there was no arrest, and nobody required hospitalization, so the final categorization of the call was simply “suspicious circumstances.” P.S. The bicycle was placed into evidence.

Whether related or not, we’ve heard more stories of bicycle thefts in Crime Watch reader reports lately. One is after the jump – along with the saga of a Crime Watch case closed when a bicycle-theft victim DID get her bikes back – via someone who saw the story here – and a few other WSCW notes:

First, a bicycle-theft report from Petsi on Tuesday afternoon:

I live over on Fauntleroy and Edmunds in West Seattle. Someone left our laundry room open and our bikes were stolen. …

Please be on the lookout for male approximately 5’8″ 150 lbs, 30-45 yrs of age, really tan, balding or shaved head, red shirt, tan/khaki colored shorts. Last seen heading north past the Les Schwab on Alaska.

There are 2 bikes, that we know of, that were stolen.
*1998 Red GT Backwoods; handlebars have been switched out climbing bars added.
*Early 90’s Red Schwinn Sierra – Customized Shimano Deore shifters, derailers, and brakes. Shimano Biopace sprockets and crank. Araya RM 20 rims. ‘crusier’ style handlebars with a 2 inch lift. Shimano Deore headset ( scalloped shaped headset nut – very rare nut only produced for 3 years)

Stolen bicycles reported here last week are back home! Imelda sent this note last night:

Thank you for posting about our stolen bicycles. A woman read it, and her brother who had bought them at a yard sale last Saturday called us today. Now we have our bicycles back home. Just the locks and the basket are missing, but the bicycles are good, nothing broken or damaged. We are very happy, thank you West Seattle blog, the women who read it, and her brother who called us.

Car-prowl reports – first, from LM:

On August 26th (Sunday night), 1:40AM, in the alley between 30th and 31st in the 8100 block, my neighbor’s, across the alley, car alarm went off. I immediately looked out into the alley and did not see anyone. I talked to my neighbor today who confirmed someone tried to break into the car.

And this one from Lisa (who didn’t mention her neighborhood):

Someone broke into my car this morning. Not much was stolen. It looks like they were looking for information. They went through all the paperwork in my car.

(added when this came in shortly after we published this roundup) From Nicole:

Passenger window smashed early morning August 29 during car prowl. Car was in carport, armed and locked (alarm did not go off because door was not opened) and surrounded by motion lights. Owner was home. 43rd Pl SW, 98136.

BB also wanted to share word of “suspicious activity” early today:

We live on 47th between Hanford and Hinds. At 1:45 this morning, our dogs began barking. When I looked out the window, there was a black Acura with tinted windows stopped at our driveway on. Lights were off and a person was standing outside the drivers side door. A few minutes later, another person walked up to the car from the north- he was walking in the street and appears to have known the car driver. The talked, then parked the car legally and got out and walked south down the middle of the street. They returned about 30 minutes later, got in the car and left with the lights off until they were pulled out. This was all rather odd and we just wanted to let folks know to pay attention.

BB *did* call police. Which reminds us of one important note – PLEASE report any crime that happens to you, even if “nothing was taken” – even if only for stats and staffing reasons, police need to know. And if something WAS taken, there is no way they can match it to you if they do find it, without you having reported it. If it’s something happening RIGHT NOW, call 911. If it happened hours or days ago – you can even file a report online (start here).

Last but not least, a bit of information about an incident Tuesday afternoon – Michael shared the photo from 41st and Dakota:

The photo might not look that dramatic, but Michael wrote that he saw “4 SUV’s full of police with semi-automatic weapons surrounding the vehicle.” Someone also texted us (206-293-6302, text or voice, any time) when it happened, but the scene was clear when we arrived. After a couple of calls/notes, we did find out from police that, per Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen, it was “followup to a felony assault case from another part of the city.”