West Seattle Crime Watch: Burglars take keepsakes including video; 2 more reader reports

Three West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports: First, Toddy‘s home in Upper Morgan was burglarized, and she’s hoping to get one particular thing back:

We were burglarized on Friday sometime between 10 am and 12 noon. We were out and they jumped up on the back roof of our house, climbed up the roof to the second floor, and slit the screen and jumped in the window that was open. They took our iPad, iPhone, Dell laptop computer, my diamond engagement ring, other jewelry including both of our gold school rings, a sentimental gold lion charm from my mother, my husband’s wallet with credit cards and such, and many other things that they will realize do not mean anything to them but mean a lot to us. All of our photos and videos were on the laptop and are so very special to us.

The police came and basically spent 5 minutes and provided us paperwork and sort of made it seem like “join the club.” We just feel so violated and I hate that someone was in my family home rifling through our things. … (The stolen Dell laptop) has the only (un-backed up) short video of my 97-year-old grandmother saying how she met my grandfather – that is really the
only thing I want back. They can keep the rest.

Two other reports ahead:

A South Delridge resident reports a car-prowl attempt:

Light complected male between 5’11”-6’2″, possibly Asian, bald, gray hoodie, blue jeans, attempted to break into one of my neighbor’s cars; looks like he was dropped off in our alley by a beige/tan late 1990-early 2000 model of Toyota sedan. A car alarm on a car in the alley next to our building went off & that prompted the attempted thief to scurry away but looks to have been picked up by the beige/tan Toyota, did not see the cause of the car alarm in the alleyway. Nothing appears to have been stolen from the car.

And Seth spotted a suspected stolen car

(Saturday) about 8 am … walking thru garage under Jefferson Square Safeway, I saw a red and black Chevy truck running with windows down and no one inside. An hour later, still running ,and then about 1030 I went by it on the way to QFC and since it was there still running, keys in it and a GPS on dash, I called the police. Not sure what happened but I am guessing it was stolen. There was a pile of clothes and a few bicycle items (seat, basket) on bench next to Subway there. Guessing it was things from the truck.

One more note – the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council is back from summer break and meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) night, 7 pm, at the Southwest Precinct, as previewed here.

17 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: Burglars take keepsakes including video; 2 more reader reports"

  • Visualjeff September 16, 2013 (11:34 pm)

    Did you turn on free software from Apple to track your device? This software will show where you iPad or iPhone currently located on iCloud.com (on a map). Its not perfect but it has worked for some victims…

    Anyway, my advice is to go down to Costco and purchase a heavy safe. Then have it bolted down to the floor or toss a few weights in. Making a real challenge to move.

    VJ

  • TanDL September 17, 2013 (6:49 am)

    Sad state of affairs when you have to go to your locked safe to get your computer, tablet etc for use in your own home.

  • Ex-Westwood Resident September 17, 2013 (6:55 am)

    The police came and basically spent 5 minutes and provided us paperwork and sort of made it seem like “join the club.”

    I wouldn’t be too hard on SPD in this case. They have been directed that “property” crimes are among the lowest priorities for them to investigate and pursue by the city clowncil and the mayor. Unless the perp is in the house.
    This was told to me by SPD officers when a house was broken into by the old Denny MS.
    The owner came home, saw the door open and heard noises in the home. She called SPD and they got there fairly quickly. Caught one teen right away and then found the other one in about 20-30 minutes hiding a few blocks away.
    The officers recognized the first one caught as they had arrested him 2 weeks before for the SAME crime.
    When I asked why he was out, the officer explained to me that unless the perp is in the home with you, or in it when you get home, they are directed to treat it as a low priority.
    That is why you see repeat offenders over and over again commiting burglaries.
    Oh the one they recognized had JUST turned 18 the day before and he went to jail instead of “juvi.” As I was talking to the officer, I think he realized just what was coming as he threw up all over the back of the cruiser.

  • rico September 17, 2013 (7:54 am)

    Sad state of affairs that we have such a lenient justice system that is entirly ineffective in dealing with the many people who live a lifestyle of thievery.

  • Johnny Jupiter September 17, 2013 (8:18 am)

    Sad state of affairs when people don’t backup their priceless videos and data remotely. Sorry for your losses.

  • Home_owner September 17, 2013 (8:41 am)

    Toddy: so sorry this happened to you. I can totally empathize.

    @Visualjeff: what do you do when you locate your stuff via the app on apple products? Do the police take the time to track it down? When I got burglarized in 2011, I found the person that was using my email account (since my email was not password protected) and got an IP address. Comcast told me they couldn’t give me the physical location of where it was coming from but I could sign a waiver from them and take it to the police-they could get subpoena. So I did all that and took it to the SW precinct where they could barely afford me the time of day. The officer behind the window was so rude and dismissive I thought he threw my documents away. I never heard back though have always been curious as to what could have happened. The officer treated me as if I was stupid. Maybe I was for expecting help from SPD. I even followed up on the Seattle times article that detailed a local prosecutor getting robbed and their iPhone getting stolen. They had at least 3 officers on the case right away and tracked down the suspect immediately. I got no answer from the reporter. Maybe they only help their type. If you hear the antipathy in my tone, it is true. I don’t think there is hope for the regular citizen with crime -property or otherwise.

    • WSB September 17, 2013 (8:56 am)

      Couple of things I just have to say here – we’ve said it before but I know there’s no way to read and heed every word in a deluge of things:
      .
      *First – tonight happens to be the first West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting in a couple of months. Best time ever to talk one-on-one with police leadership or Community Police Team officers, who are there for the duration. 7 pm, precinct, Delridge/Webster.
      .
      *As for just dropping by the precinct – do NOT go there to report crimes, or to add to a report of a case, we have heard time and time again. If you report a crime and deal with officer(s) in person, you should get at least a card with a case #; we have been told time and again, since the front desk cannot be consistently staffed due to budget issues, telephone is the way to go. Or online. And if the crime is happening now, of course, call 911.
      .
      *If you get poor service, report it. Here’s the complaint form: http://www.seattle.gov/police/opa/complaintform.htm
      .
      I can’t speak to individual cases, but we listen to the scanner much of the day/night, get unsolicited reader reports daily, review case reports when they’re available, etc. And yes, police DO respond and DO investigate and DO make arrests. We’ve seen and heard it firsthand. But what happens in an individual case can be the luck or non-luck of the draw – what else is happening at that time (assault case or felony stop or other life-safety issue), etc. But when concerns are brought up, police leadership says they want to know. At the precinct level, Capt. Joe Kessler is the commander, Lt. Pierre Davis is operations lt. and second in command. Lt. Davis is usually at WSCPC meetings (again, see above, happening tonight). The buck stops with them, as the old saying goes.
      .
      TR

  • Johnny Jupiter September 17, 2013 (8:47 am)

    .

  • mollymoe September 17, 2013 (8:55 am)

    The beige late model car and suspect sounds like the group that was casing our neighborhood 2 weeks ago. They were coming around early am. I’ve called police when I hear/see them but no luck so far.

  • Home_owner September 17, 2013 (12:24 pm)

    To be clear, I went to the precinct because I wanted to give SPD my signed waiver from Comcast allowing them to look into my request/my email account. I did not want my paperwork to be lost or delayed. I did have a case number but do not know how their “system” works. From what I heard from the officer behind the desk though, it was not something that was going to be followed up. He couldn’t bother with answering my questions.

  • AE September 17, 2013 (12:51 pm)

    Wow, I feel for you Toddy. That’s just awful beyond words. I hope you collect enough insurance to at least cover the material things, but the loss of the video of your grandmother is tragic.
    .
    Being a victim of thugs sucks (I’ve been robbed too, and it’s bad enough when they DON’T take precious items). I share everyone’s frustration with the police at times – I also got a bit of the “welcome to the club” feeling. I’m not ready to blame them because I don’t understand the system like Tracy (WSB) does, but I feel the temptation.
    .
    Criminals are such soulless creeps that they don’t even turn off the engine when they abandon a stolen vehicle. Makes you want to believe in karma (pun intended).

  • Em September 17, 2013 (3:45 pm)

    @Home_owner if you had the Find My iPad/Iphone app installed on your devices, there’s a good chance you might be able to track down your devices and notify the police of the location. You would first need to log into your apple account to use the tracking feature. Hopefully the thieves were dumb enough to connect to Wifi because that will make finding them much easier.

  • Home_owner September 17, 2013 (5:40 pm)

    @Em: I wasn’t referring to the technical aspects of the app, I was asking what happens when you know where your device is. Do you have the right to take it back? Will the police intervene for a relatively low cost property crime? If there is no reasonable outcome you can fulfill with that knowledge, having the app means very little. Ok, I won’t speak about it anymore because I am straying from the topic. Thanks.

  • DHE3 September 17, 2013 (5:49 pm)

    I want to say thank you for all of the tips and thoughts and also say that earlier today Sgt. Bauer from the SW Precinct called me and my husband and we had a lengthy discussion about things we can do to assist them in trying to find the thugs that broke in and took our things. I have to go on record saying that Sgt. Bauer went “above and beyond” to provide his time and insights and was so pleasant and helpful – and spent way more than 5 minutes with both of us. I really hope that eventually there is a happy ending to this tale. I would love to recover at least the video of my grandmother and perhaps a few other things – and if not – they cannot steal our spirit or our incredible neighborhood, West Seattle community and friends. – Toddy

  • Em September 17, 2013 (7:20 pm)

    @Home_owner If you can figure out where your device is located using the app, you should contact the police immediately. There have been many cases where police recovered stolen property after being notified of the item’s location using the app. Most recently near me a woman’s phone was stolen and she was able to track where the device was being kept. The SPD came out and were able to catch the thief who was hiding in an apartment building nearby.

  • Egigik September 18, 2013 (6:25 am)

    What has become of West Seattle? Thousands of apartments mean thousands of people, means thousand more crimes. Sorry to hear about any crime committed in my once beloved West Seattle. Glad I finally moved out.

  • drahcir61 September 18, 2013 (8:22 am)

    It’s tedious & time consuming but you should take detailed pictures of anything you care about & anything a robber might steal.

    In the event your stolen goods are recovered, pictures are your best chance for recovery. If you leave jewelry in drawers or on a “jewelry tree” which my wife loves … very convenient while you’re getting dressed but too easy for the crooks. Take detailed pictures of each item, it could help you get your items back.

    It’s also recommended that you take pictures of your computers/stereos/electronics, in particular, the backside which shows model #, serial #, etc. Again, if the item is ever recovered having detailed pictures increases your chances of getting your item(s) back.

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