West Seattle Crime Watch: Stolen vehicle; vandalism encore

Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports to share this morning – auto theft and car vandalism, again. Both after the jump:

Last stolen vehicle reported here was found thanks to a WSB commenter – can we make it two in a row? This is from Karla:

Just wanted to report my fiancé had his 1988 white Toyota Landcruiser last night. We live on 25th and Thistle. It was stolen between 10 pm and 7:30 am this morning. It has racks & stickers from Hawaii – Shaka sign, Malaga Makaha longboards. Please send out the info & if anyone sees it please call the cops. This is his baby and we want it back!!!

(If you don’t know what a “shaka” sign is, it’s a fist with the pinky and thumb extended.) The vandalism report, meantime, comes from Donna:

Please put a heads up for people to watch their cars parked on the street. We live between Barton and Roxbury on 34th Ave SW and my husband’s work truck had his driver’s side window bashed in this weekend for the 2nd time this month. The first time it was shot out by a BB gun/pellet gun. We couldn’t tell how they broke the NEW window this time. To make things worse, our neighbor a few doors down and across the street had it happen to his car and neighbors at the Roxbury end had their truck window broken, too. There may have been more on our street, but that’s all I know about.

At this point in time, I’m not sure what to do. The police can’t/won’t do anything. The irony is that the one car that was vandalized, belonged to our neighborhood watch person (not that I know of any active neighborhood activities going on). We’ve been “lucky” that this has happened only to his work truck (and they replaced the windows) because we would not be able to afford new windows for our car.

11 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: Stolen vehicle; vandalism encore"

  • Karla Silva March 2, 2011 (9:32 am)

    The sticker on our Landcruiser actually says, “Makaha Longboards” (iPhone apparently doesn’t recognize Hawaiian words). He also had a license plate frome that said North Shore on the rear of the vehicle. It’s easliy identified from all the Hawaii stickers-we appreciate all of your help with keeping your eyes open for it. It’s in really great condition (which is probably why they grabbed it). Hopefully it gets recovered before it gets chopped. Both our vehicle have been hit now in less than a year. This island girl is slowly losing faith in the big city. :(

    • WSB March 2, 2011 (9:51 am)

      Karla – I’ll update it in the copy. iPhone auto corrects can be the worst, you probably know there’s an entire website (if not more than one) devoted to humorous (or cringe-worthy) auto-corrects. (My “favorite” is the fact that it insists on changing “its” to “it’s,” and trust me, I know the difference and wouldn’t have typed the former if I meant the latter!)

  • furor scribendi March 2, 2011 (10:57 am)

    Donna – be sure to make a police report, and insist your neighbors do the same. Between Thistle and Roxbury east of 35th there have been scores of such glass breakage and car prowls since January. At the least the Police will increase the number of evening/early morning patrols when asked by citizens. Demand an officer come out to make a report, and unless there’s a big police response at the same time, they usually will.

  • ann March 2, 2011 (10:58 am)

    Hope you find your landcruiser! I had a 1987 that was in excellent condition. I regret selling it every day!

  • JC March 2, 2011 (11:05 am)

    Regarding the item from Donna, it seems there has been an increase in vandalism in that area between Roxbury and Thistle. Last week two of my neighbor’s vehicles were hit. My car was damaged not long ago as well.

    Not sure what we can do about it, but keeping all of our neighbors posted about crime on our street is a start.

  • JC March 2, 2011 (11:16 am)

    And as Furor says, always file a police report. They need to know about spikes in crime in the area.

  • Julia March 2, 2011 (12:12 pm)

    Karla – So sorry to hear about this. I also had my car stolen last week and the police officer told us that there has been an uptick in car thefts in the Westwood and Highland Park area in the last couple of months. I am planning on buying a club for my next car! Hope you find your Land Cruiser…

  • West Seattle Blockwatch Captains\' Network March 2, 2011 (12:30 pm)

    I’m sorry to hear about these repeat crimes, it’s so frustrating. Do you know if there is a blockwatch in the area? I encourage you to start one and there is a training coming up next Monday, March 7 @ 6PM at the SW Precinct (Delridge & Webster). It’s Benjamin Kinlows’ last training before he retires and all are welcome. You can also join the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network to find out about more training and events, etc. Our website is linked here for more information and to RSVP
    Deb

  • Maryluna March 2, 2011 (11:22 pm)

    Anybody has any information about the area around 42nd Ave. and Andover?? Possibly moving there soon. Any info on break-ins or car thefts?

  • Dan S March 3, 2011 (12:29 pm)

    all the crime info is here: http://web5.seattle.gov/mnm/policereports.aspx

  • i March 4, 2011 (11:32 am)

    Yeah, this issue has gotten way out of hand. My car was hit on Roxbury between 36th and 37th last Saturday night (Feb. 26th) as well. There was some stuff in the car that could have easily been taken from the back seat without opening the door and setting off the car alarm, but nothing was taken. Just vandalism. This was the third time on our street and it occurred very early, between 10 and 11 pm. The first time on our street was last Summer and one of the cars they hit was totally destroyed: all the windows bashed out and the upholstery torn up. I filed a police report this time when my car was hit, but was advised by the guy I spoke with at the non-emergency line to file it online, which I did. The police seem to have bigger fish to fry, so I think the only realistic choices we have as a community are the following:

    1) File a police report for every incident.
    2) Report other instances of vandalism, such a graffiti (http://www.seattle.gov/util/Services/Garbage/KeepSeattleClean/Graffiti_Prevention_&_Removal/index.asp) so it gets taken care of.
    3) Consider when another round of the window smashing happens, and I fully expect that it will, to contact the media. Seems like a new-worthy story and maybe we will get more attention this way for someone to take some action with more police patrols or whatever. From what I understand about this sort of thing is that the squeaky wheels get the grease.
    4) Consider starting a block watch program.
    5) Just keeping an eye out in general.

    Just last night I awoke at around 4 am to a car door shutting on an unfamiliar car parked across the street. Two younger guys got out of the back and walked around the corner while the driver waited. After a few minutes, they came back and got in and drove away. I got the plate. Looked like maybe a Ford Contour or something similar with tinted windows. I could be totally wrong, but what constructive activity could a few young guys have in the neighborhood at 4 am? I didn’t notice any further damage on the block this morning. In my experience so far, this neighborhood is full of great people. I would guess that this is the work of a few bad eggs that make life tough on the rest of us.

Sorry, comment time is over.