We often publish West Seattle Crime Watch reports individually as they come in – this time, six have stacked up during the busy past day-plus, so we now have several to share, from burglary to bike theft to “casing” – all in the following roundup – read on (and p.s., sign up by Friday to strengthen your neighborhood with a Night Out block party on August 4!):
If you are only interested in crimes in your area, you can click here to jump ahead to the neighborhoods included in this long series of reports:
ALASKA JUNCTION
SEAVIEW
SUNRISE HEIGHTS
MORGAN JUNCTION
SHOREWOOD
WESTWOOD
FROM JOHN IN “THE JUNCTION” (aka Alaska Junction):
55cm Kona Jake the Snake cyclocross bike got ripped off today [Friday], everyone keep your eyes peeled! Stolen in West Seattle near the Alaska Junction. It’s the old school Black and White with the glow in the dark paint. Alpha Q fork, 3TTT stem flipped upside down, and the left side bar tape is different from the right side. Ultegra/105 mix, Mavic CPX wheels. Very unique and identifiable. Post on WSB if anyone hears or sees anything.
At approximately 4:30pm on 7/24 a man maybe 17-18 years of age rang our doorbell and and asked to use the restroom. 48th and Findlay. About 6 feet tall and 200-230 pounds with blond hair and partially shaved head. Told him to leave and he did but lingered. Could be casing the neighborhood.
I live on 31st and Holden. I was awakened by the sound of my dogs barking at 4am and didn¹t generally take it as much of anything, but at the same time I curiously heard the sound of our front gate open. (I guess the sound of metal clanging together is audible enough in the dead of night) I ran to the living room window and strangely enough saw a dark figure at our front gate, closing it as quietly as he could. I saw this person then walk to my brother’s truck and look through the windows with a flashlight before hopping into an awaiting car and speeding off.
At that point I ran outside and checked all our cars and the surrounding areas of our house. While doing so I looked down the street and saw red brake lights in the distance. Again, they jumped out and cased another vehicle/house and I immediately called the ‘non-emergency’ number and reported the suspicious activity. Didn¹t seem like they cared (police), but I wanted to let everyone on the blog know!
White male early to late 20’s brownish hair, thin build, camo pants, black backpack, was seen Friday prowling alleyways in the Morgan Junction neighborhood, police were called, quickly responded. Not sure of apprehension. He was seen looking in our neighbors’ back yards, later we saw him down our alley with a roll of copper wire stolen from our electrician neighbor. When he was approached he quickly turned and walked the opposite direction.
I wanted to report that my home was burglarized (Wednesday). It happened between 4:40-5pm. I have reported this to the police. I live in the 9400 block between Barton and Roxbury on 34th. The suspect(s) must have been watching me as they hit my home the moment I left to walk my dog. I was only gone for 15 mins. They stole my purse and all my camera equipment, Canon EOS Digital SLR, XTI, macro lens and camera bag.
The police said there is a surge of burglaries happening and they think it’s by teens or early 20’s. They are on foot and only take what they can carry and sell quickly for cash. Earlier this week I had spoken to my block watch captain and he let me know of 2 young males, one white and one black, that were canvassing our n’hood ‘selling magazines’ – knocking on doors and seeing who was home. I was out of town over the weekend but my neighbor saw them near my home. My dog was home however and probably scared them away with his barking. Then, within 15 mins the very white male the block watch captain told me about walked up to me and asked me if I had seen a black guy in a green shirt – saying he was ‘his partner’ and that they ‘sell magazines’. He then asked me if I wanted to buy any. I said no. This guy was dressed like a drug dealer, didn’t have any identification on him that showed his legitimacy of what he was selling, no I.D. or placard, etc… Later, while walking my dog I DID walk past his partner but said nothing. I recognized him by the description.
Now, it may be this guy or guys or it may not. I also have had bad feelings about some of the people living in the condos on 35th – and in my alley. Either way, I was being watched and they broke in the moment I left with my dog.
As it’s hot out and we are all leaving windows open and doors, please be careful and lock everything up before you leave, even if it’s for only 15 minutes! The police officer said they were in my house 2-3 mins tops. I am still unsure how they got into my house. There was no visible sign of break-in.
I live around 28th Ave SW & 116th SW right near the new Shorewood Elementary School and came home to a ransacked house. It seems some delinquents entered our house by prying our old 1950’s garage door (with a grill brush left outside) just enough so one of them could slip under and into our place. They took two laptops, all our cameras (2 digital point & shoots, 2 SLRs plus lenses), a Nintendo DS, iPod shuffle, all the wires for our electronics, some jewelry and a watch…and carried it all away in our soccer bag on a customized black Specialized mountain bike (definitely the highest priced item). The thieves used our knives to pry open our fire-safe file cabinet (though they found nothing of value there) and our scissors (which they also took with them) to cut open some zipties that were tying down some wires.
Considering all the stuff they left behind it seems like teenagers/young adults who are out to make a quick buck and take some sort of satisfaction in terrorizing their neighbors. I want to say that it was just ‘opportunity’ striking on their part considering how they used all the stuff in and around our house to get in and to get away, however, they also left signs of trying every possible window/door they could to get in so it seems they had ample time to figure that part out. I’m also guessing that it’s someone ‘local’ to our area that’s striking the neighborhood.
They did leave our front door open, so we know for sure they left that way but didn’t come in that way, as there was no forced entry. They were nice enough to close the garage door before leaving though.
I’ve also heard of people being hit a second or third time by burglars and am afraid that they might try striking our place again as they didn’t touch some of our other things or are waiting for us to replace our stolen items. We luckily have the serial numbers to most of our items so maybe we’ll see them pop up in the pawn shops and the police can get a clue that way. The neighborhood block watches around our area have also been notified and are stepping up the vigilance at this time – hopefully these people will get caught the next time they hit somewhere in the area.
With that – if you’re concerned at all about burglaries and theft, the police told us that it is very helpful when we can provide them with serial numbers and ids for stolen items in cases like these. I also urge everyone to look out for their neighbors – these people cased our place while we were away at work and none of our neighbors saw anything (as most people are out making an honest buck during these hours). I believe we were just unlucky and a tight-knit community that looks out for one another is a strong form of prevention for such crimes.
And to that end: Night Out – which used to be called “National Night Out Against Crime” — is coming up Tuesday, August 4, with block parties from coast to coast, a great way to meet your neighbors … a connected neighborhood means a safer neighborhood. Friday (7/31) is the deadline to register so that you can close your (non-arterial) street for your block party – here’s where to go – and let us know about your party if you wouldn’t mind possibly being photographed for WSB; last year we roamed around and reported as we went, and it was great to see so many neighbors out enjoying the night (e-mail the party location to editor@westseattleblog.com).
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