West Seattle Crime Watch: Car windows shot out/broken; busy car prowlers; found bicycle

We start this West Seattle Crime Watch update with two reader reports of multiple cars with shot-out/broken windows:

CAR WINDOWS SHOT OUT/BROKEN, FIRST REPORT: That’s one of several photos Mark sent along with this report:

I wanted to make readers aware and ask if anyone saw this incident happen. I parked our vehicle between Admiral Way and SW Lander Street on the East side of the street while we went to dinner at the Copper Coin. Sometime between 9:15 and 10:15 someone shot out 3 of our windows and also damaged the side panels with a BB gun. We filed a police report and now are dealing with the aftermath.

CAR WINDOWS SHOT OUT, SECOND REPORT: Just as we were about to hit “publish,” this hit the inbox, from Alice:

Our truck window was broken last night, along with those of four other cars on our block.

We are at 44th/ Spokane. The police came and said there were other broken windows south of us and he’s looking around for others. They were all the driver-side rear window and the cars were not opened or rifled. Some of the windows have a small hole but the officer couldn’t say if it was a small gun or not.

Too soon to have any idea if this is related to any of the other windows-shot-out incidents that happened around West Seattle some weeks back; no arrests in those as of the last time we had checked.

CAR PROWLS: As this continues to be our area’s biggest crime problem, as noted by police at every community meeting we’ve covered recently, we checked the police-report map to see what’s there for the past week – and found 26 (this does not count incidents from yesterday/today that haven’t even made the map yet but are likely on Tweets by Beat, which you can see on our Crime Watch page) – here’s our screengrab, after configuring the map to only show car prowls:

The mapped car prowls are, as shown north to south:

Thursday morning – 2300 block of California SW
Monday evening – 3200 block of 60th SW
Monday morning – 3000 block of SW Bradford
Sunday afternoon – 4500 block of 36th SW
Wednesday evening – 4800 block of California SW
Tuesday morning – 5000 block of 51st SW
Tuesday morning – 5000 block of 36th SW
Wednesday night – 5900 block of High Point Drive
Sunday night – 6300 block of Beach Drive
Wednesday morning – 2600 block of Sylvan Heights Drive
Last Friday night (reported last Sat.) – 34th SW/SW Myrtle
Last Saturday morning – 3600 block SW Webster
Sunday afternoon – 2400 block of SW Holden
Wednesday night – 2200 block of SW Holden
Tuesday morning – 7700 block of 35th SW
Last Friday night (reported last Sat.) – 7900 block 34th SW
Sunday morning – 600 block SW Kenyon
Thursday afternoon – 8000 block Fauntleroy Way SW
Last Saturday afternoon – 8100 block 16th SW
Last Friday afternoon (reported last Sat.) – 8100 block 34th SW
Last Friday night (reported last Sat.) – 8100 block 34th SW
Last Friday night (reported last Sat.) – 26th SW/SW Thistle
Last Sunday morning – 8500 block 16th SW
Last Sunday night – 8600 block Delridge Way SW
Last Wednesday afternoon – 8600 block 20th SW
Last Friday night (reported last Sat.) – 9200 block 35th SW

FOUND BICYCLE: A potentially stolen “small pink Barbie bike with white tires” was found in California Place Park this past week; if your household is missing one, please contact police to reclaim it.

P.S. For other lost/found items that are NOT pets – please remember we now have a special WSB Forums section for those – please use it if you have lost or found something!

16 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: Car windows shot out/broken; busy car prowlers; found bicycle"

  • Theory March 19, 2016 (10:23 am)

    I have a theory as to why somebody would shoot out the windows of a vehicle, besides just being malicious – it’s beyond that.  I think that they do so with the purpose of gaining access and stealing items from inside but don’t want to take the risk of spending too much time at the scene. Instead of standing at the vehicle, breaking the glass and then entering the vehicle, I feel that they shoot out the windows in order to gain access, then come back later and if the vehicle is still there with a now open access, they can quietly and discreetly look inside. It is less risky. The vehicles where the glass didn’t break completely are failed attempts. It’s just my theory, but it seems feasible, right? Either way, what a lame thing to do…

  • Matt S. March 19, 2016 (10:49 am)

    I imagine it being young guys who haven’t found anything better to do with their time and are free of the burden of decency. When you shoot out a car’s windows you’ll only draw the attention of anyone walking by, so why return for thievery with added risk of being noticed? Citation: Metal Gear Solid.

  • chemist March 19, 2016 (11:24 am)

    Isn’t that how American Hustle opens –  A teenager “helping” dad’s window business by creating demand for windows ?

  • justme March 19, 2016 (11:48 am)

    Well, this just may explain the peculiar noise I heard last night. Two loud bangs (which I thought might have been two car doors slamming, but slightly different.) And then a car speeding off.

    Not sure what time that was but somewhere around 11pm.

  • watertowerjoey March 19, 2016 (11:53 am)

    Someone tell that map we are trying to change stereotypes.

    • Alan March 19, 2016 (1:13 pm)

      Oh great. So, watertowerjoey, what deep-seated prejudice does this one week of car prowling support for you? That the NE section of West Seattle is the most crime free? I’m going to guess “no”.

    • mok March 19, 2016 (4:23 pm)

      Nice, joe :)

  • Rockergirl March 19, 2016 (2:57 pm)

    Windows shot with BB’s in area of 32nd and Holden last night as well according to Sunrise Heights neighborhood group. 

    • KM March 19, 2016 (6:07 pm)

      Yep. 3 cars total on this block within the last month.

  • MJ March 19, 2016 (4:30 pm)

    It’s the most affluent, and generally that means less crime, except for those looking to steal or vandalize nice stuff. But generally less violent crime.

    • Alan March 19, 2016 (11:36 pm)

      MJ – “It’s the most affluent”? It’s not clear what “it” is or who you are replying to. Assuming you were replying to me, my mention of NE West Seattle was not pointing at the Admiral neighborhood. I was pointing out that, on the map shown, none of the car prowls happened east of Delridge, north of Holden. I’m not saying that crimes don’t happen in the Pidgeon Point, Puget Ridge, and Riverview neighborhoods; I am pointing out the error of drawing neighborhood conclusions from a slice in time. The crime is happening everywhere.

  • K March 19, 2016 (4:52 pm)

    My friends blue SmartCar on front of Salty’s restaurant got his window and side mirrors all shot out. Hope this info helps to catch those criminals

  • ChannelingLewisBlack March 19, 2016 (11:15 pm)

    The moral of this story – don’t want your car prowled in West Seattle?  Don’t own one.

  • IMHO March 20, 2016 (6:05 pm)

    My driver’s side window was shattered last night between 7:30 and 10:30 p.m.,  near Cafe Ladro. Nothing to steal, nothing stolen. The odd thing is that when I went to my car to get my coffee cup at 7:30, there was a Speedy Auto Glass recept on the ground near my passenger door. Coincidence or correlation?

  • Nakean March 22, 2016 (7:57 am)

    Just had my broken into last night at 4433 39th ave SW and another neighbor in front of the house as well.  Anyone know where the best place to look for these stolen goods are?  Audio recording equipment….

  • Michael March 25, 2016 (7:49 pm)

    My wife and I had two windows shot out last Sunday at 16th Avenue Southwest and Southwest Holden. They got the rear glass and the driver’s side window. Bill came in just under $1,000 to have it fixed.

Sorry, comment time is over.