West Seattle Crime Watch: Beware, if your GPS is still in your car

Out of the WSB inbox, from Hillary in Arbor Heights, who called the police to report the car break-ins and then sent this to share with you:

I wanted to get the word out that both my husband’s and my cars were broken into last night. We are at 42nd Ave SW and 100th (map). Our GPS units were stolen, some change, and a phone charger (for a phone which was not in the car, so the charger is USELESS to the moron – but I need it since my phone has been discontinued).

We’ve lived here for less than a year, after a big move from the east coast. My husband uses his GPS for work, and I use it because I’m still becoming familiar with the area. We feel extremely violated and are wishing we were back east right about now.

I won’t expound on how I feel about the jerk who did this. But at least we can help others.

The Seattle Police website offers very basic information about deterring car break-ins; however, as we mentioned in our story about the November meeting of the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council, law enforcers say it’s optimal not to leave anything in your car that even hints at a GPS system – even suction cups with nothing visible might give someone impetus to break in to look under the seat or in the glovebox. By the way, the WSCPC meets again this Tuesday night (7 pm at the Southwest Precinct), and there’s always a local police rep in attendance, to share info about the latest local crime trends AND to answer questions personally.

17 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: Beware, if your GPS is still in your car"

  • Cephran January 17, 2009 (12:58 pm)

    wha? no car break-ins on the east coast?

    maybe I’ll go along, if you move back…

  • Onceachef January 17, 2009 (1:16 pm)

    Sorry about the break-in.

  • ep January 17, 2009 (1:22 pm)

    Hmm..

    I have lived right near that corner for the last 15 years. Not many vehicle break ins in all those years. But I don’t leave anything in the cars and I usually leave them inside or unlocked.

    But there was just an incident on 40th and 102nd that may explain some of it. There were apparently a bunch of break ins associated with the pot operation. https://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=13503

  • que January 17, 2009 (1:23 pm)

    I am so sorry to hear about the thefts.

  • R26 January 17, 2009 (1:24 pm)

    We were happy to move back to the West coast after a stint out East that included MANY thefts.

    I hope that your experience gets better – we are not all bad! :)

  • Hillary January 17, 2009 (1:28 pm)

    Onceachef, thank you very much.

    Cephran, I posted to help others learn from our mistake – not to be ridiculed. Grow up.

  • Hillary January 17, 2009 (1:55 pm)

    Hi, ep – We just saw the news about the marijuana this morning (unfortunately – haven’t kept up on WSB for a week or so). Obviously has attracted some hoodlums to Arbor Heights! I need to read WSB more often – would have been more diligent about keeping the GPS units inside, which we often do – just not this time!
    R26 – Thank you! We’ve had great experiences with folks out here…just homesick when something like this happens – wherever you are.
    Officer was just here and noticed my registration was also stolen. Yet another reason to be super careful. Now I have to make a bunch of phone calls…UGH!

  • mpento January 17, 2009 (3:00 pm)

    Hey neighbour, welcome and sorry to hear about the break in. I think the area is a bit more prowler freindly than I would like. Maybe we just need to get out and stroll around a bit more (I know I do).

  • Melissa January 17, 2009 (3:45 pm)

    The pot grower guy has been there for ages. I sincerely doubt that this break in had anything to do with him. On another note, we used to leave our cars unlocked (silly) and made the additional mistake of leaving some semi-valuable stuff in them. We’ve been much wiser since our cars were cleared out about a year and a half ago.

  • P January 17, 2009 (4:04 pm)

    hum, never thought about bringing in my registration and insurance info at night time….

  • ArborHeightsMom January 17, 2009 (5:54 pm)

    Sorry about the break in. This is a great neighborhood. One thing that has helped us is meeting the neighbors and keeping an eye out for each other. Everyone is so busy it’s sometimes easy to forget to do that. I hope you get your stuff back or get a decent insurance settlement.

  • jim January 17, 2009 (7:50 pm)

    Sorry to hear of the breakin. I too had my (out of site) gps and a ton of other stuff stolen two weeks back down here by Lowman Park right in front of my apartment. They left the doors to my truck wide open to the rain and also made off with my whole packpack loaded with personal information and other gear. Unfortunately I had forgotten to go back and and retrieve it after taking in the groceries, though it was covered and behind the seat … they found it anyway. How invasive it feels!

  • homie January 17, 2009 (7:51 pm)

    our car was broken into last night – cnr 97th & 37th – as was a neighbor two houses down on 37th. Nothing was stolen but they tried to remove cd players on both vehicles. we’ve been here 3 years now & generally its a great neighborhood but there are lowlifes where ever you go!

  • Scott January 18, 2009 (3:15 pm)

    Sorry about your unfortunate incident.

    It seems like now days it needs to be common sense to bring in your valuables from cars. From GPS units, to iPods, they will take anything that a pawn shop or a drug dealer will take in exchange for money or drugs.

    They really can’t do much with your insurance information. It is just more of a pain than anything else.

    Melissa-I think you are in the wrong on this one. Illegal drug activity in the neighborhood simply brings more crime to the area. Even if it wasn’t the person growing the marijuana it is the people that this brings to the area. For every hippie that is peaceful and smokes marijuana there is a gang banger who smokes it as well and I really don’t want either of these people in my neighborhood.

  • bb January 18, 2009 (7:57 pm)

    i have to say there are less car breakins in this type of suburbia back east, i never had any theft against my property even in NY,PA because people are not apathetic about kids in the streets at night making noise or smoking dope. but in less than 2 years i had my trunk popped (my car is always kept empty), a check stolen from a rental office, and when i called the cops on some people fighting in the streets, i was told the cops are too busy…i really dont understand how the community will spend money to hold hempfest, but cant spend that money to get more police to patrol. its disheartening that people think the kids roaming after midnight smoking pot in the open at the junction should be ignored when they are as likely to smash a car window. Lets stop community events and put all the money into getting a few new patrols in this area.

  • ArborHtsNicePlace January 19, 2009 (6:33 am)

    My car was broken into last year around 42nd & 98th and they didn’t get anything out of it, just took the owner’s manual book with all the car paperwork in it and threw it in someone’s yard around the corner. Fortunately we have great neighbors and I got my stuff back. Bottom line is this can happen anywhere and the best you can do is keep anything of value out of your vehicle and especially out of sight. Also be sure to file a police report as this is important information for them to have as they use these reports to determine where crimes occur and where to step up patrols, etc. If you don’t already have a dog, you might consider one. A nice protection dog like a German Shepherd will make you feel safer and may even prove to be a deterrent for unwanted visitors. We could go out on patrol-patrol! Welcome to Arbor Heights.

  • Danielle January 20, 2009 (7:30 pm)

    My car got broken into last night. They didn’t take my change, sunglasses, some paperwork, baby stuff, etc. so I am assuming they were looking for the GPS. Oddly, I don’t leave the mounting on the windshield…so how did they know I have a GPS? It was broken into 2 months ago but then I would leave the mounting on the windshield so I could understand why they broke in then. So violating. I am tempted to write on my windshield “I don’t leave my GPS in the car so F*** OFF”! I think they target out-of-state plates because they figure you’ll have a GPS. I have out of state plates. Oh yeah I live near 59th and Admiral.

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