2 stolen-car reader reports to share, so you can help be on the lookout:

From Fabiola:

My black 1997 Honda Accord 4 door #ALL3193 was stolen Monday night from the Highland Park neighborhood. The front bumper is slightly broken with the front pushed up and the sides hanging.

From Lauri:

I got my car stolen late (Wednesday) night behind Hotwire Coffee in the parking lot. It is a blue Nissan 2001 Xterra, the usual bumper stickers, Luna Park and Hotwire “Obey the Bean.” Plate 244XSB.

If you’ve seen either one, call 911.

(WSB photo: June 3rd raid at 28th/Yancy)
Six months after police raided an indoor marijuana farm in North Delridge, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has charged its owner with three felonies. This was originally reported in a Seattle Times (WSB partner) story that a WSB reader pointed out to us; we have since obtained the court documents.

After the June 3rd raid at the building alongside Longfellow Creek at 28th/SW Yancy, we spoke by phone with owner Matthew Segal, who told us in that interview that he had been growing 2,500 plants, of which police allowed him to keep 45. At the time, he owned two medical-marijuana dispensaries under the Rain City name, and told us he had been growing at the North Delridge site for three years (records showed he had bought it for a million dollars last March). Police said they also raided two houses, one in the Morgan Junction area.

The charges filed Wednesday against Segal and four others, all described as having no criminal history, allege violations of the state’s Uniform Controlled Substances Act – three charges against Segal, one each against four people alleged to have been working for him, “paid to maintain the marijuana grows, receiving salaries and a share of profit from the sales.”

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Three West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports, starting with another case of a stolen holiday decoration:

#1 – Ann-Marie says her 4-year-old daughter is broken-hearted after someone stole her 5-foot-tall decorative snowman from their front yard in Arbor Heights sometime Wednesday. Here’s what “Monroe” the snowman looks like. “Please bring him back. Our daughter is so upset.”

#2 – Chance‘s car was broken into, back window shattered, sometime during the day Wednesday near the 15th/Roxbury Walgreens. “My SUV has an alarm; didn’t deter them.”

#3 – Meredith reports car break-ins north of Morgan Junction last night:

I just wanted to let you know that last night there were two cars (could be more) in my lot on the corner of Juneau and California were broken into and all of its contents stolen. It’s an apartment complex and has happened twice in the last 6 months. They were able to disconnect my stereo system and break in with the doors locked. Just wanted to give a heads up in case anyone else in the neighborhood has any information or also had their cars broken into.

If your car was broken into but nothing taken, please be sure to report it to police anyway so at least there’ll be accurate stats of what’s happening – you can even do it online.

P.S. Right after we published this, Becky sent an alert about suspicious activity on Beach Drive, so we’ve added it:

We live on Beach Drive, near Cormorant (Cove) Park. My husband was up early Wednesday morning (4:30 am) when he saw a couple of people looking in the windows of parked cars, including a UHaul van parked in the parking lot of the condos out on the pier. The individuals hadn’t done anything criminal but were acting suspiciously. He startled them by saying Good Morning, and they quickly moved on. Again there wasn’t anything to report to the police but we thought the neighborhood should be made aware of this early morning activity and keep an eye out for anything else that is unusual.

As we e-mailed back, police *do* encourage calls about suspicious activity – if they are too busy with major incidents to respond, the dispatcher will say so, but do make a call.

Though it would be better if the cars hadn’t been stolen at all, we’ll still categorize today’s West Seattle Crime Watch update as good news: The two stolen cars most recently reported here both have been found. Deb‘s husband’s Civic, taken from Westwood last weekend, turned up last night at Hiawatha, “ignition jacked but otherwise OK.” And Stephanie‘s CR-V, stolen from Highland Park, was found at the Auburn Outlet Mall, where she says it had been “parked for four days … the only thing they took was our car seat.” That car also needs ignition repairs. In last week’s SeaStat crime-trends briefing, SPD reported 368 cars stolen citywide over the preceding 30 days, and 275 stolen cars found.

Three reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch tonight:

Stephanie reports a stolen car:

Stolen 1998 Honda CRV. Stolen on Dec. 2nd from the 1100 block of SW Holden Ave. Stolen CRV has the following feature/options: Roof rack, tinted windows, 5 spd manual transmission, rear mounted spare tire. WA State Lic. Plate 370YKH

Amy reports an attempted burglary in Sunrise Heights/Gatewood:

Someone attempted to break into my apartment at 35th Ave SW and SW Webster St today. When I came home my apartment key wouldn’t work and I had to call a locksmith. The locksmith said that someone had attempted to jimmy the locks but couldn’t get past the deadbolt.

The type of theft you might not notice happened to Katie:

I live down on Beach Drive around Mee Kwa Mooks Park and I had my plates stolen and replaced last week. Through strange twists and turns, my plates were recovered by the Tukwila Police Department and the plates that were nicely put on my car were also stolen from a silver 2002 Honda from West Seattle. The really nice SPD officer who (responded) said they have seen more and more of these types of theft. He said when the thieves switch plates it buys them time since most people don’t check their plates very often (sometimes only once a year to change their tabs).

So just a heads up to your readers to check their plates! The Seattle PD has been investigating more and more of these and say if you discover your plates are incorrect to stop driving and immediately call the non-emergency line for help.

Five reports in West Seattle Crime Watch today:

BURGLAR(S) HIT WESTWOOD VILLAGE: Thanks for the texts about the board-covered doors at Wyatt’s Jewelers (WSB sponsor) and neighboring NK Nails at Westwood Village. We talked to Kirk Keppler from Wyatt’s. He said they were hit just before 4:30 am; security and police were there within minutes, but the burglar(s) had made their getaway. Investigators have prints and video to work with; Wyatt’s is proceeding with its originally scheduled Open House today (continuing until 4 pm), after hours of cleanup. They were even planning to defiantly and festively put a bow on the board over the door. (added – here’s the photo:)

Four reader reports today as well – all but one involving package theft. The first one has a package thief caught on video:

That’s from Todd, who has also provided the video to SPD after the theft at his home in the 3600 block of 35th SW. Todd says it happened last Thursday night. Any idea who that is? Case number to refer to if you are calling in a tip to SPD is #14-404125.

Ahead – three more theft reports, two involving packages:

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Deb reports her husband’s black 1996 Honda Civic DX 2-door coupe was stolen sometime between 7 pm Friday and 7 am today on 31st SW in Westwood – license ALL7382. One distinctive feature – the bumper and fenders were recently replaced, so they were “primer black.” If you see the car, call 911.

Three Crime Watch reader reports this afternoon – first, maybe you’ve seen Brian‘s stolen car?

My 1995 Subaru Legacy Wagon was stolen across SW Graham Street from “The Bridge.” Happened sometime between 12/4 – 3 PM and 12/5 – 9 AM. The car has a dented front left corner and a black front bumper. Nothing valuable in the car. I had “The Club” on the steering wheel, but I guess that’s not enough these day. I reported this to the police this AM. Incident number 14-403536.

This car (sans Club) was stolen a few years back. I found it four blocks away a couple of days later. Hoping for the same this time.

If you see Brian’s car, please call 911. Ahead, the story of an apparent package theft, thwarted, and mail theft seen (but not stopped):

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The person who e-mailed us this report asked to remain anonymous; it was reported to police, and we see an incident number logged. Though we won’t be able to follow up with them until tomorrow, here’s the reader report, just so you know:

I went up Thistle about 5:45ish and turned right onto 30th; there stood a white guy with his pants pulled down to expose his “nether region,” standing by a newish gray Ram 4×4 with license plate B83…didn’t catch the rest.

My kids screamed, “he’s got his pants down!” so I did a U-Turn when I saw him pull up his pants AFTER I drove by and yank them down again when another car behind me went by. I turned around to get the license # etc. After he did this AGAIN, I turned around again to call 911; then he got in and drove away. I was headed to Target so I was behind him anyway and told them where he drove. He turned right on Trenton.

After a car break-in over the weekend, Aidan is just hoping to get one thing back:

Saturday night (last night) our mini cooper was broken into in the Skylark Cafe/Bar parking lot. … They took my messenger bag and my coat, which had a number of things in it – a Surface tablet, my iPod, cash, etc. I’d just been picked up from the airport for Thanksgiving & went immediately to our friend’s band’s show at Skylark. … I’m messaging you because there was a black journal/sketchbook in the bag that is incredibly important to me. It’s a yearly book and I’ve had one per year since I was sixteen (aka over ten years). I will pay to have it returned. The inside of the book has my name and contact number/email all over it.

My boyfriend and I returned there (Sunday) morning to pick around the area to see if whoever broke into our car threw it to the ground or the dumpsters nearby, or anything like that, but we didn’t see it. The messenger bag was very important to me as well. Neither of these are worth any money to anyone except for me – the bag was made for me by a very good friend – and I’m more than willing to pay for them back!!!

We followed up with Aidan to ask for any further descriptive information:
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Three West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports tonight:

PACKAGE THIEVES, AGAIN: From Jan:

We have found several empty delivery boxes on our parking strips in our North Admiral neighborhood. Clearly, someone is following the UPS trucks today. Please remind readers to have packages delivered to an address where someone will be available to receive: business, school, etc.

LINCOLN PARK CAR PROWL: David explains, “I thought I would send this incident your way to get the word out and maybe help warn others that the car-prowl problems at Lincoln Park (and other park areas) are indeed current and ongoing.” Here’s what David reported to police:

While at work as a dog walker, I left my vehicle at 9:55 am on the date of the incident in the Lincoln Park parking lot across from SW Rose St. I returned at 11:00 am. Later, while driving to a class I am taking I realized my backpack was not in the vehicle. I had left the vehicle locked and saw no signs of forced entry. The backpack was on the floor of the passenger seat. I did leave the vehicle unlocked for under 5 minutes on the street (in the 4100 block of) SW Othello St and (the 9600 block of) 46th Ave SW but the longest period I was away for it was at Lincoln Park.

ABANDONED BIKE: In cases like this, the bike likely was stolen. So if this looks familiar …

… Morgan says it was spotted on the roadside near 16th/Dawson in the Puget Ridge area.

Followup on our report last week about a 60-year-old offduty Everett firefighter arrested last Wednesday in West Seattle, where police say he was expecting to be led to a (nonexistent) 15-year-old girl being pimped by her (also nonexistent) father, as arranged in online exchanges with someone who actually was an SPD detective: According to documents just sent by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, David P. Vier is now charged with one count of attempted commercial sexual abuse of a minor.

Most of the details of the allegations are in our report from last Thursday, but the charging document has one more detail, saying that Vier had asked the “father” if he had other children he could bring to the rendezvous (they agreed to meet outside the 35th/Avalon Taco Time, and then Vier was expecting to follow the “father” to an unspecified nearby apartment building). Prosecutors say they didn’t know that part at Vier’s bail hearing last week and want his bail increased to $75,000 because he is “a serious danger to minors”; at that first hearing, his bail was set at $50,000, and he posted bond and left jail hours later. While Vier has no criminal convictions, he has been investigated for domestic violence and burglary, according to the Everett Herald. His next appearance is set for December 3rd.

Stolen car to watch for, from Vera near 26th SW/SW 102nd, just east of Arbor Heights: 1992 dark-blue 2-door Honda Accord, license # 398-YBN, k2 stickers on the back triangle windows. She saw it being driven away less than an hour ago, but didn’t see the thief. She’s in the unincorporated area and has already reported it to the King County Sheriff’s Office. Call 911 if you see it.

P.S. In case you’re just tuning in to the news as the weekend ends – on Friday night, Seattle Police went public with Southwest Precinct crime stats for the first time in a long time (here’s our report). Auto theft is up in this precinct too – 12 percent compared to a year earlier – but that’s a third of the citywide 38 percent increase. Looking at Tweets by Beat for the weekend so far, the only auto-theft reported to Seattle Police in West Seattle was in the 4000 block of California SW, early Saturday morning.

Just made public by Seattle Police – the SeaStat crime data that top brass has been reviewing regularly. Until now, as we have mentioned to SPD several times, precinct-level data hasn’t been updated publicly on the department website since the April stats. Here’s the citywide SeaStat slide deck presented Wednesday – and here are Southwest Precinct toplines we’ve noted while going through it:

That’s the main West Seattle trend called out in the November 19th stats – six burglaries in 10 days in an area including parts of Gatewood, Sunrise Heights, and Upper Fauntleroy. The slide deck also includes year-to-date stats for major crimes; all categories are down except auto theft (up 12 percent, less than a third of the citywide percentage increase), aggravated assault (up 1%), and (added) rape, which has more than doubled, from 4 to 10:

Note that the Southwest Precinct serves South Park as well as West Seattle; the July homicide on the slide above, only one this year in the precinct, was a double murder in South Park, in which a 45-year-old man was charged with killing his mother and stepfather. West Seattle’s most recent murder was the still-unsolved killing of Stephen Jeffries, Jr., less than an hour before the end of 2013.

This edition of SeaStat also calls out auto-theft and shots-fired trends around the city; for the latter, 31 so far this year, down from 35 last year. Again, here’s the full slide deck from last Wednesday’s citywide briefing, including the SW Precinct toplines we pulled out.

More than a year after a charge was filed, there’s a verdict in the case of a woman charged with assault for deliberately driving her car into a co-chair of the North Delridge Neighborhood Council. According to court files, King County Superior Court jury has found 38-year-old Erika Soerensen guilty of second-degree assault against 33-year-old Jake Vanderplas. After two days of deliberations, jurors reached the verdict this past Wednesday, two weeks after proceedings began with pre-trial motions.

The assault happened near 26th SW/SW Andover on July 8, 2013, and first came to light later that day in a letter by Vanderplas, sent to and published by Seattle Bike Blog later that day. Police found Soerensen six days later, slowed by the fact it had a California plate but had been sold to her a few months earlier; prosecutors charged her in October with second-degree assault, of which she has now been found guilty.

The investigation indicated that Soerensen had first passed Vanderplas “at a high rate of speed” while northbound on 26th SW, a neighborhood-greenway street; he then passed her, and after following him at 20 mph for several blocks, repeatedly honking her horn, she swerved into Vanderplas, who suffered a hand injury, and then she drove away; police tracked her down about a week later. As noted in charging documents, her 2002 Nissan Sentra “has a curb weight of 2,519 pounds” while Vanderplas’s 2007 Schwinn LeTour bicycle weighs about 30 pounds.

Her sentencing is set for January 9th, in the courtroom of Judge Regina Cahan, who presided over the trial. The standard range for that crime is three to nine months’ imprisonment.