In today’s West Seattle Crime Watch roundup:
RETURN OF THE ‘CITY LIGHT’ SCAM: Overnight, we published Barb‘s report of “the grandparent scam” targeting a relative. Now, we have word the “City Light scam” is out there again. Dave Montoure at West 5 in The Junction e-mailed to say, “They’re at it again. Just called West 5 and said they were sending out a truck to cut power because of unpaid bills. … If your readers would like to call and say hello, they left the number 866-978-6981.” We’ve reported on this scam before – and City Light even has its own scam-alert page now.
WESTWOOD ARREST EXPLAINED: SPD Blotter has published the saga of an arrest that got some attention early Wednesday evening. At the time, a few people texted us about police activity at Roxhill Park; we went over, circled the park, saw nothing, figured it was one of those short-lived calls. Turns out it had started over at the Westwood Village McDonald’s; officers spotted a stolen car, boxed it in, then wound up chasing – on foot – the occupant, who shed his shirt and shoes along the way. As SPD’s Jonah Spangenthal-Lee tells the story, they caught him and recovered not only the car but also the gun which, as a convicted felon, the suspect shouldn’t have had.
CAR PROWLS: Today’s reports start with this from Misha:
We live near Ercolini Park. We had a club on our car, but they jimmied the passenger door and rifled through the glove compartment. Nothing appears to have been taken — we still have our CDs and car seats–and we did file a police report online.
From Susan, in the same area:
Someone went through our car last night. Stole some prescription sunglasses and went through all the junk in the glove box.
And in Sunrise Heights, a car-prowl attempt is part of what an apartment resident near 35th/Holden warned neighbors about in this note subsequently shared with us too:
I witnessed an older model Red Chevy Blazer with two occupants (male driver and female passenger) circling around the Chevron and also witnessed the male driver trying to break into a car parked on the north side of the Chevron.
After a failed attempt by the male driver to gain access to the car, the Blazer backed up and drove very slowly NB through the alley ( headlights off ) I suspect casing the area, this alley has many garages and fences that face the alley along with access to homes’ backyards.
They proceeded through the alley, stopping approx. 100 feet from Webster at which time … it appeared that the driver got out and was looking around. I called 911 and gave the best possible description of said vehicle and was told an area check would be conducted and then came back inside my apt.
Keep an eye out for this vehicle if you see it and one VERY distinctive note about this vehicle…..It has a VERY LOUD engine ( low rumble/idle ).
P.S. SPD’s latest every-two-weeks SeaStat trends briefing is now online. No Southwest Precinct breakouts this time, but if you’re interested in what else is going on around the city, have a look.
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