West Seattle Crime Watch: Package-pushing; parking-garage theft

That surveillance camera image, says Pete, shows a thief rolling his package away – after an earlier image showed her heading toward his house with nothing in the stroller/cart. He says the theft happened Friday of last week: “I reported it to the police but I was seeing other people in the Highland Park area also reporting missing packages. … I live in the area of 14th and Thistle … be on the lookout for people using this tactic.”

From Admiral, Brian reports his vehicle was broken into – in the underground garage of his building in the 2600 block of 42nd SW:

Sometime during the night of 2/20 or early morning of 2/21 my Suburban was burgled while parked in the underground parking garage. They smashed two windows and stole several thousand dollars of professional video and audio equipment. The officer who took my report said there had been several other parking garage incidents in the WS area, going along with the general rise in crime in our neighborhood.

Be careful … parking in a “secure” garage isn’t a guarantee of safety!

And a reminder: Your next chance to learn more about crime prevention/crimefighting is this Tuesday night when the West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network meets at 6:30, Southwest Precinct (Delridge/Webster) – mail theft and mail fraud are the focus. All welcome, even if you’re not part of a Block Watch (yet).

9 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: Package-pushing; parking-garage theft"

  • JanS February 23, 2013 (11:19 pm)

    sorry to hear about the garage break-in…that’s across the street from me…too close to home. You can’t leave things in a car even when in a secure garage, it seems…wow :(

  • J February 23, 2013 (11:27 pm)

    As a rule, you should never leave anything valuable in your car in a major urban area. If you need to, put it in your trunk. It is just common sense.

  • eric1 February 24, 2013 (12:40 am)

    Using a baby stroller is pretty low. Of course some “moms” use babies and strollers to steal stuff from stores. Just goes to show you that thieves are the scum.
    .
    Is there a reason why the package thief has her head cut off in the image since the green square makes it look like there should be more to the picture? (other than wishful thinking:)

  • Nitro February 24, 2013 (9:31 am)

    Any update on the Estate Sale robbery? Last I saw was a description/photo of the possible vehicle. Anything further? (Sorry if I missed an update after that)

    • WSB February 24, 2013 (11:32 am)

      No, that’s the newest information we have.

  • G February 24, 2013 (9:33 am)

    Car garages are like a candy store for thieves. Think about it: they are hidden from view, many cars to choose from. This has been a problem in Seattle for many, many years, and until recently I thought it safer to leave a car on the street.

  • QQman February 25, 2013 (10:25 am)

    How can we help identify this perp if we can’t see her face? Does Pete have any better pics? I think it would be better than just assuming everyone that has a stroller might be a burglar.

  • Ash February 25, 2013 (11:38 am)

    I too would really like to see the lady’s face. I’m in that exact area, as well as few other HP residents I’ve seen who posted about a stolen package. I had one stolen on January 31st, and have filed with USPS and everything, but there’s nothing can really be done. My boyfriend is usually home all day, and he just happened to be gone on that one particular day for it to get swiped. So frustrating! It would be nice to have a better idea of what to watch for in future.

    • WSB February 25, 2013 (12:03 pm)

      This is not a “can you identify this person?” story. The person who sent the image just wanted people to be aware of the tactic. The person is mostly unrecognizable (large white hoodie or hat covering head) but our policy is to not show people unless they have been arrested, charged, caught in the act, etc. I couldn’t zoom in on the stroller/cart enough to see for sure if it was a package so I cropped the photo.

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