Reader reports: Suspicious ‘solicitor’; attempted break-in

Two reader reports this morning, both from neighbors wondering if anyone else had similar incidents/sightings:

SUSPICIOUS ‘SOLICITOR’: From Tina this morning:

I woke up to someone walking through my yard to my back door and knocking ever so lightly. When I came to the door and asked what he wanted (through the door) he looked around and asked if I needed any additional fencing or landscaping. He said he lived on my street (37th, near Fauntleroy) and was a “good handyman”. Unless he is new, I don’t recognize this man. He said he would leave his card – he didn’t leave anything. He was a white male, short light brown hair, around 5’10” who arrived on a bike (left at the front steps), visible tattoos on front of his neck – just above his shirt collar. He clearly saw the car in the drive and still knocked. Please be vigilant if you see anyone in your neighbor’s yard. Also, has anyone else seen or heard from this person?

ATTEMPTED BREAK-IN: From Cait:

Sunday morning around 4:45 am we had someone attempt to kick in our garage door in North Shorewood (104th between 25th and 26th)– five heavy kicks to the door and pry marks on the door jam. VERY loud. My husband got up to see the person pass in front of our window and into our side yard but was not able to see him clearly. The person stayed out of our line of sight for a while, either talking to himself or on the phone in our side yard, again talking loudly. He was saying “I’m sorry” and “I don’t know where I am”. We were able to see him pass in front of our window again – but only saw him from the back, about 5’8”, medium build, jeans and a black sweatshirt. No other description available. Police were not able to find anyone in the area upon search. He did not attempt to break into our cars parked in front of the house. We think this may be someone casing properties – we have two large dogs, the largest of which is out of the house at the moment. But our other dog barking did not deter him. Wondering if anyone else in the area might have heard this incident as well.

P.S. The next crime/safety meeting will be this month’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council gathering, one week from tonight – Tuesday, February 16th, 7 pm, Southwest Precinct (2300 SW Webster).

5 Replies to "Reader reports: Suspicious 'solicitor'; attempted break-in"

  • Seattlite February 9, 2016 (11:15 am)

    Two criminal activity reports describing extremely bold criminals.  Stay vigilant neighbors.

  • Matt February 9, 2016 (12:59 pm)

    Cait, I am a neighbor of yours and there are a couple culprits around.  One guy I see talking to himself all the time.  We call him “The Mayor” because we caught him stealing mail one day and he told us he was.

  • mrsMarty February 9, 2016 (4:29 pm)

    Cait….we also live in the North Shorewood area (115th & 30th) and back in December we had someone try and kick in our front door and also opened a side gate to go into our back yard to which they had to untwist wire to get the gate open, this all happened in the early afternoon in a hour and half timeframe of husband leaving for an appt and myself getting home from work.We reported to the police and the only thing that saved us from him/them getting in was the extra long screws we had in our doorjamb.If your person of interest is caught let WSB know (meaning myself) VERY GALD HE DIDN’T GET IN!

  • Cait February 9, 2016 (6:32 pm)

    Wow – I have more questions Matt and Marty. Can you email me? Caitparks86 at gmail dot com.

  • JanS February 9, 2016 (11:35 pm)

    sorry to hear about this, Cait :( Scary…

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