Dear Package Thieves: 2 West Seattleites have messages for you

| Crime | West Seattle news

Hey, package thieves! If you’re reading this … we have messages from two recent targets. First, JL:

I had an USPS package stolen from our stoop Friday afternoon. We are near 34th Ave SW and SW Andover [map]. It was delivered Friday at 3 pm while we were still at work. I didn’t report it until now because I thought there was a possibility that the package was delivered to the wrong address, as the USPS has been having this growing problem with us and our neighbors the past few weeks. But it’s not looking like that’s the case.

The contents weren’t anything very valuable, just a record from a now-defunct local band. If anything, I’m annoyed that it was a record that took me a little while to find, and even more annoyed that we have someone in the neighborhood whose morals are low enough to steal anonymous packages.

To the thief, if you are reading this: Do me a solid and go sell the record to Easy Street Records. They’ll give you about $5 for it. Then they can turn around and sell it to me for $10. I’m happy to pay it, and you’ll be helping stimulate our local economy and support a West Seattle business. It’s a win-win! You get $5 and I get my record. Come on, buddy.

Just as we were about to publish JL’s report, this one came in, from Rusty:

Wednesday afternoon I had 3 packages delivered to my house (close to 41st & SW Rose St.), each containing cast-iron weights, and each weighing approximately 80 lbs. The mailman parked one house away, delivered the packages, then continued to the adjacent block on foot. When he returned to his vehicle, he noticed that someone had attempted to steal one of the boxes, but only made it 1/2 block before giving up and dropping it on the sidewalk (very close to his truck) and partially ripped open. The other 2 boxes were strewn about close to my door, as if they had tried to move each one.

The mailman left a mail theft notice on my door and I figured out that I was missing one box, so on Saturday I went to the post office and was able to retrieve the missing box. I would like to sincerely thank the conscientious mail carrier for being pro-active, and also let the loser who tried to steal my mail know that they might want to get a set of their own, as they are currently too weak and soft to steal them from others.

Got a message for a criminal? Or even just a basic “here’s what happened” report? Send Crime Watch info to us at editor@westseattleblog.com – after you have reported to police, of course. Thanks!

Lost and Found February 28, 2016 (3:49 pm)

I found three packages and a piece of mail on the ground across the street from my house (in Highland Park) this afternoon, all addressed to the same house in Gatewood. One box was not opened, but the other two had been with contents on the ground nearby. My husband and I tried to re-deliver them to the address, but no one was home so we tucked them out of sight from the street. Hopefully they’ll still be there when the owners get home. At the very least the boxes are now open so the thieves can see they have no resale value and hopefully leave them be.

Eric February 28, 2016 (4:29 pm)

The sad thing from seeing videos on here and the local news in other Seattle areas, is that quite a few of these people caught on camera do not look to be financially struggling. In fact, a couple of people caught on camera were driving pretty nice cars. It seems that this POS, I’m entitled attitude is embedding itself more and more into, for lack of a better term, “mainstream society”. Meaning these people may hold jobs and may be responsible in certain aspects of their lives, but they still have that POS, I’m entitled mentality that the usual POS criminal has.

Trickycoolj February 28, 2016 (7:46 pm)

You’d be surprised what income level gets addicted to drugs especially pain pills and now heroin. My cousin attended a funeral last week for a former classmate that OD’d on heroin. He was 31, had a 4 y/o son, good job, and his mother never suspected a thing. You really can’t tell these days.

george February 28, 2016 (5:21 pm)

I want to know what happened with the girl that was caught on the HD camera posted here on ws blog. Did the police do anything? Her image was crystal clear. Do u have follow up?

WSB February 28, 2016 (5:33 pm)

Don’t know. It was a King Co. Sheriff’s case.

Chuck February 29, 2016 (12:17 am)

Am I reading this correctly? The US mail carrier delivered 80 pound packages?? I didn’t realize they would deliver anything heavier than a holiday fruitcake. Also about 80 pounds, strangely enough. Certainly they didn’t hand-carry them–guessing they rolled them on a dolly? And, even if UPS or another carrier, who orders exercise weights by mail??? Haha–you must have paid a fortune. Hope you get your other package back. And that the jerk got a hernia.

Rusty February 29, 2016 (8:33 am)

Chuck –

I was surprised that they used USPS as well (kind of felt bad for the mailman). He did a great job though, and I was able to recover the package from the Post Office. The shipping was free, total cost wasn’t so bad – $191 for over 200lbs of dumbbells. Not sure if the thief got a hernia or not, but am definitely going to be working from home more to see if I can meet them and ask ;-). Until then, I guess cameras are the best option. If anyone knows of some good quality ones that won’t break the bank, I’m all ears.

Thanks!

colleen February 29, 2016 (9:43 am)

My message is for people looking for package thieves.

I walk up 35th early every morning for the exercise. I’m almost 70 so I need to stop and catch my breath a couple of times, usually in the same spot. THis appears to be regarded as suspicious activity by some folks. Old ladies catching their breath while walking up a hill present absolutely no threat to anyone. WE don’t move fast enough to steal your stuff . People who actually go on your property may, but old ladies getting their exercise do not. If you want to catch thieves, invest in a camera. If you don’t want your packages stolen, rent a box as I did. But please don’t harass people simply trying to walk up the sidewalk. If they scare you, try talking to them politely. Thanks.

LarryB February 29, 2016 (8:51 pm)

Wow. I can’t believe that people are hassling you. That’s sad.

I agree about the mailbox. We got one too.

Kate February 29, 2016 (8:54 pm)

My friend, Mike, is in the middle of launching the Package Guard. It’s a simple alarm for your packages that sits on your front porch. Mike had a box of coats for the homeless stolen from his porch so he invented the product. He’s launching a Kickstarter campaign next week, but he’s giving away free Package Guards to anyone who shares their story on the facebook page. You can also check out http://www.thepackageguard.com/ for more info. I had a record stolen, too!! Those things come in such district boxes that they’re easy targets.

Kevin February 29, 2016 (9:02 pm)

Rusty,

I recommend you look at the Q-see brand and get the 960 (analog)resolution unit, or as close to it as possible. You can get into a package from Costco for $179 (4 cameras, DVR, 80ft cable, cell phone alerts)or look on the web and they come as stand alone sets with DVR and 4 or 8 or 16 cameras. The one I use is a 16 cameras at 1080P resolution with 100ft of Ethernet cables. Most name brands are good, but the menus are what really matter. I have had DVR’s for 20+ years and have solved many problems in our neighborhood. Just had a brake-in at the neighbors house the other day and the person had taken a bike out of one house and broke into another two houses down from there and stayed there overnight and left the next day. I did not know about the break ins or we would have found him. If the neighbors had a DVR then they would have seen the guy push their bike down the street to the next house and he would be in jail right now.

Rusty March 1, 2016 (12:31 pm)

Kevin –

Thanks for the info! I will definitely be getting outfitted soon – sad to see the need (and also that people are hassling 70-year-old women out walking as well!), but I’ve had enough with the loser thieves thinking they can steal from anyone with impunity.

West Seatteite March 1, 2016 (1:58 pm)

I just moved into the neighborhood and got several packages stolen right away. I’ve decided to put out some decoy packages and record who is coming and going.

Also, as I understand it, in Washington state you are allowed to fire upon anyone committing a felony against you. So, simple solution. Put something worth $1000 into a package on your front porch. Wait, with gun and solve the problem for everyone.

F— you package thief. I will find you.