West Seattle Crime Watch: $100,000 bail for SUV-theft suspect; store-robbery followup; mail theft

February 3, 2014 8:19 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle Crime Watch: $100,000 bail for SUV-theft suspect; store-robbery followup; mail theft
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

Two followups and a reader report in West Seattle Crime Watch tonight:

SUV-THEFT/BREAK-IN FOLLOWUP: Bail was set at $100,000 today for the 32-year-old man arrested at a house on 47th SW southwest of The Junction late Friday night, suspected of crashing this stolen SUV nearby:

(Friday night WSB photo)
According to probable-cause documents, the red 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe was reported as stolen Friday in Pierce County, less than an hour before it was found in West Seattle. As noted in our as-it-happened coverage, it had LoJack anti-theft technology, which is activated upon report of a theft, and that sounded an alert in a Seattle Police car south of The Junction. With the help of the Guardian One helicopter (as shown in the aerial/infrared video shared here Saturday), the Tahoe was tracked to the 4800 block of 47th SW, behind a home where the suspect used to live. As law enforcement converged, the vehicle started to pull away; police blocked the alley, so the SUV went into reverse and crashed through a fence. The driver then got out and ran, and though police say they confronted him twice and ordered him, at gunpoint, to stop, he kept running, and eventually broke glass to get into the house, whose residents, including a sibling of the suspect, told officers he hadn’t lived there “in months.” The documents say the residents did give police permission to go into the residence, but first, they used a loudspeaker to tell the suspect to come out, and just before midnight, he did. His next court appearance – by which time prosecutors must decide on charges – is set for Wednesday.

ROBBERY FOLLOWUP: We’ve obtained the report on the 16th/Henderson store-robbery reported here Saturday morning. The police report says the store owner identifies the ~18-year-old robber as a regular customer. He and the ~17-year-old girl who was with him had come into the store Saturday afternoon, the report says, bought some chicken and then went back outside, apparently to dine. Then the robber came back in, got ice cream and candy, took it up to the counter, said he didn’t have enough money but offered the store owner a dollar; the owner opened the register and then the robber pulled a gun and pointed it in the owner’s face, took all the cash from the register – about $250 – and the owner’s wallet, and ran out of the store. He wasn’t found but police did get prints. (Descriptions are in our original report.)

Now, the reader report – a neighborhood hit by mail theft, says a reader who doesn’t want to be identified:

Reporting a mailbox break in here in the 5000 block of California Ave. SW near The Junction.

I live in a condo and on Friday morning, we found our bank of locked mailboxes all pried open and all mail stolen. We are wondering if others had similar incidents late Thurs or Early Fri Morning ( Jan 30-31) especially other condos in the neighborhood? We did call the police, but they do not respond unless the value of mail stolen is $500+.

If you spot it as it happens, do call, police say – here, otherwise, is how to report mail theft (and prevention advice too).

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