West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports: Vandalism; thieves caught on camera; more

Six recent reader reports in this round of West Seattle Crime Watch. First, if you heard any of Friday night’s loud “booms,” here’s the result of one:

MAILBOX BLOWN UP: When we got a text asking about an explosion heard in Seaview Friday night, we had just heard the same thing at HQ east of Lincoln Park. Sounded like the typical summertime illegal “firework” explosive. Saturday morning, our tipster went out and found the remains of a mailbox along 45th SW and sent the photo.

Ahead, two more vandalism reports, a package thief and shoplifter caught on camera, and a case of suspected casing:

CARS VANDALIZED WITH PAINT: Earlier this week, someone painted “666” on Laura‘s two cars near Yancy and 26th, near the West Seattle Corporate Center parking lot – one, black paint on a white car; the other (above) silver paint on a silver car. She has reported it to police but didn’t have time to look around and see if it had happened to anyone else in the area.

EGG VANDALISM: Ron says it happened on 37th SW in Gatewood:

We awoke (Thursday) morning to egg on our car and found that many cars suffered the same fate. We found several cars from Myrtle to Morgan with egg on them. Hopefully someone saw something. I would like these idiots to get caught. Luckily for us the impact was on the taillight and no damage was done to our car but others did not fare so well.

PACKAGE THIEF CAUGHT ON CAM: From a resident in the 6700 block of 21st SW:
Like many folks in the area, I’ve finally had the misfortune of having a package stolen shortly after it was delivered by USPS. I’ve attached images of the thief that were captured by my camera system. My package was stolen around 2:30 pm on Friday (July 17th).

I submitted an online report to SPD. I know it’s unlikely that I’ll recover my property or that I’ll encounter the thief in the future, but if other folks in the area were hit by the same individual that day, the info is worth sharing.

SHOPLIFTER CAUGHT ON VIDEO: Last time The Beer Junction shared images of a shoplifter caught on surveillance video, a suspect eventually was caught. They’re looking for tips in another case:

The (shoplifter) entered our store at 6:45 PM on Thursday July 2, 2015. He briefly looked around, grabbed a bottle of Lagunitas High Westified Imperial Stout, and quickly left. He was in the store for less than 30 seconds.

If you have any information for police, the case number is 15-231714.

CASING? This happened last weekend near Gatewood Elementary:

Around noon, I was arriving home from brunch with my Dad and sister and there was a car/man waiting outside my house. I asked the man if I could help him and he said he was there by to buy some speakers. Well, we don’t have any speakers, let alone speakers for sale. When I told him he had the wrong house, he said “Isn’t this (insert my address).” I thought this was strange, but thought maybe someone on craigslist was selling speakers and had accidentally given him my address.

(Then) around 10:15 pm there was a car idling outside our house for a long time. I looked out as I was closing the blinds and a man in the car gestured at me. I closed the blinds and next time I checked he was gone. The neighbors dog continued to bark for the next 30 minutes. My husband and I decided to call the non-emergency police line since there were two strange incidents today. The operator I spoke to said it sounds like someone could be casing the neighborhood. She assured us that she would send officers out to patrol the neighborhood. She advised to call 911 if you notice any suspicious behavior like (that).

P.S. Remember the ongoing series of “focus groups” that research assistant Jennifer Burbridge is conducting on behalf of the Southwest Precinct. They’re a low-pressure, potentially high-impact way for you to share your neighborhood-specific thoughts on crime and policing concerns in your area. See the list of upcoming dates and times here.

P.P.S. Signed up for Night Out yet? It’s just nine days away!

12 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports: Vandalism; thieves caught on camera; more"

  • Ttt July 26, 2015 (2:27 pm)

    Beer junction’s camera set-up is impressive! I hope they catch these perps!

  • Jim P. July 26, 2015 (2:43 pm)

    “She assured us that she would send officers out to patrol the neighborhood. She advised to call 911 if you notice any suspicious behavior like (that).”

    Problem is, you’re likely to get yelled at for calling 911 for this as it is not “immediately life threatening”.

    I am usually very “pro police” but I find the SPD reporting system to be the most frustrating I have ever experienced.

    Call the non-emergency number and you wade through five layers of phone tree nonsense before you can talk to a person.

    I reported a suspicious person hanging around hiding in the shrubbery outside our homes and as far as I know, no one ever showed up and another time I reported a couple having public sex on the hood of their car on the side street (next to a school) and after an hour, no one had shown up and in both cases, I sat on hold for over five minutes before ever getting a human.

    I know the police have a rough job but I’d like to see more evidence *any* job is being done.

    Or at least make it more clear when you can call 911.

  • WSB July 26, 2015 (2:57 pm)

    If you get “yelled at” by a calltaker/dispatcher, ask to speak to a supervisor. Police say repeatedly and frequently that they WANT people to call 911 (except in a specific case like the 7/4 “don’t call 911 with fireworks UNLESS someone is injured or something is burning” request) and that you need to report anyone who you believe has told you you should not have called. We’ve had this discussion here frequently. Yes, calltakers/dispatchers can be intimidating and brusque – they are collecting information and trying to get it to a coworker who in turn is dispatching resources. Here’s just one of the briefings we’ve written about:
    .
    https://westseattleblog.com/2013/06/how-does-spds-911-call-center-work-west-seattle-block-watch-captains-network-calls-on-its-leaders/
    .
    I’m not trying to discount any individual’s experience but it’s really important that people NOT be dissuaded in general from calling 911. That’s why we’ve covered this topic multiple times.
    .
    TR

  • Ron Merlin July 26, 2015 (4:09 pm)

    My apartment got egged also three nights ago. Juneau and Alaska.

  • schwaggy July 26, 2015 (6:58 pm)

    Beer Junction kid shouldn’t be hard to find with a walk like that. Dumb@$$ didn’t even grab a cold one.

  • seattletimebandit July 26, 2015 (7:43 pm)

    My truck got egged at 41st and Monroe. Punks.

  • AA July 27, 2015 (12:06 am)

    I am in Arbor Heights and called 911 on a suspicious vehicle that drove down the alley behind our house 3 times in the space of two hours last week. 911 operator was very polite and took all my info. The only reason I called 911 to report is because I remembered seeing previously in the WSB that you were supposed to call them rather than the non emergency line to report suspicious activity.

  • Wspeoples July 27, 2015 (7:46 am)

    Some jerk scratched KKK ony car…
    Seriously… What the heck possesses someone to to that???

  • HelperMonkey July 27, 2015 (8:22 am)

    thanks to Amazon’s policy of using the postal service for deliveries now and “CARRIER – LEAVE IF NO RESPONSE” policy, package thefts will keep happening. It’s happened to me twice now.

  • Natinstl July 27, 2015 (8:25 am)

    I’m pretty sure the mailbox thing was done by some teenagers that live down my alley by 44th and Juneau. I heard the explosion that night, but couldn’t make out exactly where it was coming from. About ten minutes later I heard the group of teenagers coming down the alley laughing talking about the police and fire department being called. Have no proof though.

  • groceryworker July 27, 2015 (4:17 pm)

    someone told me the guy in the video from the beer junction looks similar to someone who hangs out at the qfc in the junction sometimes. but to be honest, in looking for any of these scum bags look at safeway and qfc in the junction. they come in all hours of the day, 99% have been kicked out hundreds of times without the care in the world because as grocery workers we can’t touch them. they don’t care they come in and steal time and time again. we have been assaulted, spit at, cussed at, you name it, it has happened. police have been called but they can easily jump on a rapid ride and be gone before they even get there. 2am 3am grocery store looks completely different then 3pm when everyone else does there normal shops…just my two cents….

  • E August 1, 2015 (9:16 am)

    JUST FYI- AMAZON HAS A “SEND TO AMAZON LOCKER” OPTION ON IT’S ORDERING PAGE. I NORMALLY DO NOT ORDER ONLINE ANYMORE UNLESS I KNOW I WIL BE HOME TO GET THE DELIVERY. DECIDED TO TRY THIS. IT WORKS GREAT!! YOU ARE GIVEN AN OPTION TO PUT IN YOUR ZIP, THEN PICK THE CLOSEST LOCKER LOCATION. I OPTED FOR A 7-11 STORE NEARBY WHERE THEY HAVE A WHOLE SECTION OF WALLS WITH THESE LOCKERS. THEY EMAIL YOU WITH A CODE TO OPEN YOUR LOCKER WHEN IT’S THERE, AND YOU HAVE THREE BUSINESS DAYS TO GO GET IT. WELL LIT, SECURE, EASY! I WILL NEVER HAVE ANYTHING DELIVERED TO MY HOUSE AGAIN IF I AM NOT HOME, AND USE THINGS LIKE THIS WHENEVER POSSIBLE.

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