West Seattle Crime Watch: No holiday for criminals

Three reports to share: First, from Admiral/57th (map), yesterday morning. Jackie sent the photo at left and explained, “Here’s how a nice kid, age 19, who works full time and is attending summer school full time, found his car (Thursday) morning. ” (The car’s owner is a summer guest at her house.) Second, also from Thursday morning, Jenni in Highland Park reports her neighbor’s home was broken into — near 13th/Kenyon (map) — in broad daylight. She adds, “This is the 5th break in within past 6months on 13th Ave SW. Four of the robberies were between Holden & Kenyon on 13th Ave SW. The reports are that a dark car with 3-4 black males 17-25 park their car and then patrol the neighborhood for homes to rob. We are getting very sick of this and the Seattle Police Dept rarely patrols 13th Ave SW. Many of my neighbors are purchasing firearms due to this increase of robberies which is not a good thing.” She reminds neighbors to do what police also advise if you see something suspicious happening — call 911. Third, Brian in The Junction (40th/Oregon; map) says his Ford Escape was broken into last night – possibly because the GPS suction cups were left in view. He says “a small amount of change/cash from the glove box” was all that was taken. ADDED SATURDAY: Ann Marie also reports a car break-in from Friday:

We live on Belvidere between Hanford and Hinds. I stupidly left our car, parked in our driveway, unlocked. I found the passenger door slightly ajar and the glove box open this morning. I guess they we must not have liked our taste in music, because all our CDs were there, but they took our Garmin GPS and some loose change. We’ll be more careful from now on!

6 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: No holiday for criminals"

  • Leroniusmonkfish July 4, 2009 (2:27 am)

    Glad I moved to AZ. What the hell is going on up there?

  • Orin July 4, 2009 (12:19 pm)

    What part of “don’t leave stuff in your car” did this nice 19-year-old not understand?

  • Jackie July 5, 2009 (6:08 pm)

    Orin,
    There was nothing in his car other than his Starbucks apron and some garbage like empty soda cans, etc. The car was unlocked, anyway. He leaves his car doors unlocked, and nothing of value in his car. And, nothing was taken. This was a crime of vandalism, not theft. Making assumptions, blaming the victim: these are not productive habits.

  • Jackie July 5, 2009 (6:24 pm)

    and p.s. We got him a nice alarm system, and he keeps his doors locked now!

  • datamuse July 6, 2009 (10:37 am)

    A friend of mine used to keep her car unlocked all the time, with nothing of value inside. This was because it was a Mazda Miata, i.e. a convertible, so all one would have to do to break in was slash the top. She said if they were that determined she might as well leave the doors unlocked so they wouldn’t damage the top.
    .
    So someone slashed the top anyway, either not thinking to try the doors or out of pure spite. Ain’t always the victim who’s dumb.

  • Dave July 19, 2009 (1:34 pm)

    We need to quit coddling these criminals and subsidizing their lifestyles with government handouts. But alas, our fair City has a larger staff working on global climate change issues than hunting down criminals.

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