West Seattle Crime Watch: ‘Brazen burglary’ suspect charged

Charges also were filed today in another case we’ve been following – the “brazen burglary” case from last Friday, in which a resident came face to face with an intruder in her residence near the Luna Park business district.

The suspect, 41-year-old Thomas L. Nebel, is charged with residential burglary. He has been in jail since Friday, with bail set at $7,500. Charging documents say this is his first criminal charge in King County, but he has a record in Snohomish County and “extensive criminal history in Idaho, Oregon, and Alaska,” with convictions including burglary, assault, battery, and forgery. The mugshot at right is from 1999, the only time Nebel was in Washington Department of Corrections custody, and so the only mugshot that was available for us to request in our state (we’re checking to see if anything’s available from the other states).

Elaborating on the reader report we published from the burglary victim, the probable-cause document included with charging papers says she arrived at her home around 11:30 am Friday after getting word the fire alarm had gone off. SFD found no evidence of a fire and left; that’s when police say the victim found Nebel in a downstairs bedroom. They say he fled the house and ran into the greenbelt, where neighbors saw him; he knocked on one neighbor’s door and asked to use a phone, saying he was being chased, but he didn’t call anyone, and subsequently hid in that neighbor’s house. Police were alerted and found him hiding in bushes by a balcony, with a backpack and bag nearby that didn’t belong to the homeowner. Police say the victim’s house had been entered via a broken window.

6 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: 'Brazen burglary' suspect charged"

  • Steph May 11, 2016 (6:08 pm)

    Thank you for clarifying that his mug shot was from 1999.  Cuz if that picture was of a 41 year old, I was going to ask if he was stealing people’s beauty secrets.

    • WSB May 11, 2016 (7:08 pm)

      Yeah, this isn’t the first time the only mug shot available has been a decade-plus old, but I think it’s better than nothing for starters … I’m still looking around AK, OR, and ID to see if there’s any chance something more recent is available, and will contact their respective corrections departments tomorrow to see if they have a setup like ours, where photos can be requested. – TR

  • Sd May 11, 2016 (7:45 pm)

    Thanks for the update on this, WSB.

    And thank you to my neighbor for positively ID’ing this man.

  • Atomicoven May 11, 2016 (9:30 pm)

    So how many chances does he get? And with all the offenses only a 7500 bail? I’m sorry he might be salvageable but not on my dime as a taxpayer. Not anymore.

  • Andy May 12, 2016 (4:43 am)

    He’ll be out with a slap on the wrist in no time.  

  • Brian May 12, 2016 (1:18 pm)

    “not on my dime”

    How do you think prisons are funded?

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