West Seattle Crime Watch: Arrest update; Admiral break-in

| Crime | Fauntleroy | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

2 reports tonight: First, SPD Blotter has posted more details on the incident that sparked the helicopter-assisted search and arrest we reported early this morning (previous WSB coverage here). Seems the 41-year-old man eventually arrested for burglarizing a home in the 4300 block of Cloverdale (map) also is suspected of trying to break into another house near Lincoln Park first. Read the details here. ADDED 8:17 PM: Just posted as a comment on our original early-morning report, Kelly tells the story firsthand:

Hi All: I was the victim in this incident. A white male broke into my house in Fauntleroy last night around 12:30. I’m a single mom, home alone with two young kids (5 and 3). The guy tried kicking in my side door and then walked around up front and kicked in my front door. That noise woke me up and I went downstairs to see what was going on… and froze on my landing as I looked down and saw this jack ass standing in my doorway. I backtracked upstairs, had a complete and total moral dilemma about what to do next: cell phone and interior lock were in my bedroom, to the right but to the left were my kids’ rooms. I headed into my bedroom, locked the door, and called 911 from my balcony. The burglar juggled on the bedroom door handle and… I don’t remember much then. The police arrived within probably 5 minutes. They had been in the neighborhood because the same person had tried to break into Colman Pool (earlier) and they were just winding up their search for him in Lincoln Park. I was lucky. The police had already identified the suspect from his truck and apparently was a level one sex offender. The guy ran with a few of my household items and the police found him a few blocks away. I was taken to that scene and identified him. It was awful and scary and shattering considering the fact I thought this neighborhood was so safe. The police were excellent and gave me a lot of good pointers for security on my house. At least next time, if it happens, I’ll be more prepared.

Thanks to Kelly for sharing her story. (continuing with original 7 pm post) Meantime, we’ve just received e-mail about an Admiral break-in this weekend, including a plea for neighbors everywhere to be more watchful — read on:

The person who reports this says it happened near Lander and 39th SW (map):

My friend’s house was broken into on Saturday 11/8 while she was away. They broke in through a pretty small window and ransacked the place. Stole DVD player, dvd’s, ipod, Wii with all of the games and controllers, all the jewelry, anything with perceived value including personal papers, even kid’s jerseys and trophies. They stole pillowcases and apparently stuffed whatever they could into them. When she got home both the front and back doors were open. The next door neighbor heard a bunch of banging around about noon-1 pm. The neighbor didn’t even bother to check out the commotion. Come on people….pay attention!! We have to watch out for each other. This madness has to stop! This is a pretty bold thing, since the window that was supposedly the entry is on the side of the house just a few feet from neighbor and in the wide open. No bushes to hide behind. Could have been seen by a number of people. Oh, and the burglar must’ve been hungry cause they helped themselves to a hot pocket. The police were called and did arrive quickly. Hopefully they catch them soon!

GenHillOne November 9, 2008 (8:41 pm)

Thank you for the update, Kelly. That is really very scary and I am SO sorry. I can’t imagine, but can understand your dilemma. FWIW, sounds like you made the right choice so you could get help without him stopping you.

This isn’t meant to diminish the experience of the past victims in ANY way, but I’ve wondered about the recent (what seems to be) increased chopper searches for reported burglaries. I wondered if there wasn’t more to the described burglaries to warrant an air search. This, a L1 sex offender, certainly would seem to justify it. WSB, do you have any insight on other cases?

Again, thank you for sharing, Kelly.

ML November 9, 2008 (8:57 pm)

Wow! So sorry you went thru that. Thanks for sharing it w/ us all. I know you have kids in the house, but have you ever thought about getting a gun?

WSB November 9, 2008 (8:59 pm)

Level 1 is actually the lowest level fwiw. Level 3 is highest. The sex-offender search website (which is linked from the bottom of our Crime Watch page, so you can check who’s in your ‘hood) doesn’t even list Level 1’s.

Also, keep in mind that police don’t always know who they are looking for till they find him/her. In this case, the circumstances of one burglary, and a hot trail (in what apparently was Kelly’s case, as soon as I tuned in to scanner traffic when the chopper showed up, officers clearly were swarming the house and finding footprints), might be enough. I am about to check the jail register to look for the person arrested last night and see if there’s anything else on their record (might not be possible if it’s a common name or if there were a lot of people brought in last night on 2 counts of suspicion of burglary, but it’s worth a shot).

WSB November 9, 2008 (9:13 pm)

OK – an update.
The jail register has several people arrested for suspicion of burglary (there are not enough details to definitely match them to specific case or neighborhood) early this morning BUT – only one also is jailed on a “probation hold” (similar to what the police mention in the SPD Blotter) report, and that one is in the state sex offender database, where he is listed as 41 years old and a LEVEL THREE sex offender, which is the highest level, because of a 2nd-degree rape conviction. He also is registered with an Arbor Heights address. According to the jail register, he was last in the KC Jail for about two weeks last November/December, also on a “probation hold.” I will be following up on all this tomorrow for a separate report – online court records are not accessible at this hour – also, I need for starters to absolutely confirm this is the same person.

cjboffoli November 9, 2008 (9:21 pm)

It is always great to hear when they catch these guys. And I know it is hard to follow the story beyond that as the wheels of justice are slow. But I always wonder what happens to them afterwards in terms of jail time or probation. I wonder if the SPD has any sense, on average, of whether or not the judges are pretty good about managing to get these guys “in” for a while or if they’re back out on the street not too long after the arrests.

JenL November 9, 2008 (9:44 pm)

I’d love to know what the pointers were that the police gave her….

Andre November 9, 2008 (10:29 pm)

I hope sooner than later one or more of these intruders find their match and end up face down.

Irukandji November 9, 2008 (10:32 pm)

We’ve had a number of suspicious vehicles, both day and night, north of Admiral starting on Friday. Neighbor confronted one guy outside his house around 01:30 this morning. Police notified and given the vehicle plate number.

C.A. November 9, 2008 (10:51 pm)

JenL – I was just thinking the same thing. I’d love to know more about what she was told. I’m a stay@home parent of two young children, and while I try to take precautions and think I’m becoming increasingly paranoid/aware after reading all the reports on here, I’m sure there’s plenty more I could be doing.

JimmyG November 10, 2008 (1:54 am)

Most of what the police would recommend are common sense things, you want to make your house unappealing to a criminal looking for a potential target. Most important to do and most commonly not done is thinking you don’t need to lock all of your doors and windows whether you’re home or not, but keep them locked.

Get your porch light on a timer, it should go on at dusk and off at dawn, and put motion detector lights in the rear of your house. Criminals looking for a target hate being seen and proper lighting gives them nowhere to lurk. I always shake my head at my neighbors turning their porch light off when they go to bed.
Get stickers that say you have an alarm and put them in a visible spot on a couple of windows.
Harden your doors. Most homes have terrible strike plates on their locks, with short screws that don’t go deep enough (past the door frame) so when a burglar kicks the door it gives way on the 1st or 2nd kick. True Value has better strike plates and longer screws for very little money.
Trim vegetation around your house so neighbors or the cops driving by can see who is around your property. I see so many houses in my ‘hood where they designed their landscaping with no regard to crime prevention.
Put a huge dog bowl by your back door.
I know they’re in fashion, but burglars love french doors or doors with panes of glass which allow you to break the glass and reach in to unlock your door or nearby window.

Most important? Have a plan. Think ahead to what you would do if faced with Kelly’s dilemma. Will you run out a back door, go lock yourself in a room, scream? Having rehearsed in your head some possibilities will put you way ahead of the game.

GB November 10, 2008 (5:38 am)

Kudos to the police! and as mentioned previously I’d love to hear the pointers…
So sorry you went through this..awful and so scary

KatieMcA November 10, 2008 (7:37 am)

Geez, this is scary enough, but the part where he jiggled the doorknob to the bedroom made my skin crawl… I’m so glad you guys and your families are safe and they caught this person!

cruiser November 10, 2008 (7:47 am)

Kelly,

Thanks for sharing this with us all here. Your children are very fortunate to have a brave,smart and quick thinking Mom like you.

I agree with JimmyG and his great pointers,may I also add, get to know your neighbors folks. Get involved with your block watch.

Well done again Kelly

CM November 10, 2008 (8:34 am)

It’s scary and discomforting to have your physical and person space violated! My thoughts go out to Kelly as she works through this to get some sense of comfort and safety back.

Thanks to JimmyG for some good home security pointers. I rent my living space, so it’s nice that the timers and strike plates are inexpensive items I can buy and install without waiting for the landlord to agree or get around to them.

j November 10, 2008 (8:52 am)

Wow! How horrible. This happened to us several years ago when we lived in the Junction. I’ll be thinking about you as you take time to heal from this. Something that helped me was going to the Southwest Crime Prevention meetings because you can see that these crimes are very uncommon.

TeresaP November 10, 2008 (11:06 am)

How about a shotgun pointing at the SOB when he kicks in your door?? Call me what you want, but if anyone enters my house, it is my assumption that he is there to do one thing, harm me and my family and I simply will not allow that to happen. If he is smart, he runs away. If he is not, well he is making a choice.
This guy would have probably graduated to a Level 2 if he would had his way. The fact that these guys even walk the streets is truly an injustice to all.THEY CANNOT BE CURED and when will we ever learn that?

beachdrivegirl November 10, 2008 (11:53 am)

Kelly thank you so much for sharing your story. JimmyG thank you for sharing your home security pointers. It is so scary to think about these things happening in our neighborhood.

Ron November 10, 2008 (11:56 am)

If the victim had a hand gun like most law abiding people should have he could have reduced the population of criminals by one and saved the taxpayers some incarceration money as well, win,win. Cheers

Alia November 10, 2008 (12:21 pm)

How terrifying…

Ron…I personally would not want to shoot and KILL a burglar. Even if they are a “bad guy,” It would truly mess me up in the head and that is not a “win.”

C.A. November 10, 2008 (3:56 pm)

Thanks for taking the time to write out some tips, JimmyG. I’ll definitely look into the strike plates and alarm system stickers.
We have motion sensors on our lights in the back, and keep our front and back porches, steps and the sides of our house very well lit during evening/early morning hours. I lock the doors and windows (even though I catch flack from my husband, who seems annoyed by this fact) while we’re gone and at home, keep our curtains closed when we’re at home (with large windows facing the street and the lights on at night, no need to give everyone a sneak peek at what’s “up for grabs”) and we are surrounded by neighbor’s dogs who seem to bark at the slightest movement of something/someone.
I also strongly encourage getting to know your neighbors. I’m grateful for the Porch Light Night Out block party we participated in this past Summer, because there were a handful of people I’d yet to meet in the 4.5 years we’ve lived on our street, and I now have a contact sheet and feel better about others keeping an eye out for each other.