West Seattle Crime Watch: Particularly damaging burglary

| Crime | West Seattle news

Just out of the inbox from Megan:

Our house was broken into today. We are in the 7300 block of 28th ave SW. They took the typical stuff … mostly electronics. The most disturbing part was all the rummaging they did; everything was thrown out of drawers, and the house was completely torn apart. They even tried to drill through a window, leaving it cracked but not broken out and broke our new plasma tv when they realized they couldn’t take it with them. The police indicated that this fit the profile of just wanting to damage property, not necessarily steal anything of value (nothing that they couldn’t walk away with). We are super bummed but no one was hurt, our pets were scared but safe and this is what insurance is for. It’s just a bummer that people are so disrespectful.

Here’s a map of that area.

Trent March 31, 2008 (11:27 pm)

Megan, I am so sorry for your loss and frustration, and glad to hear your pets are OK. It truly does seem to be getting better around here – right?

K March 31, 2008 (11:44 pm)

Oh, Megan, I’m sorry to hear that. There was a recent burglary at West Ridge Park Apartments that seems to fit they way your house was destroyed. Given the proximity, I wonder if it is related. I sure hope the police are taking the West Ridge Park burglary into account as part of a pattern.

JT March 31, 2008 (11:54 pm)

I’m glad you and your pets are alright. What an incredible violation. I hope you get your home and emotional well being back in order soon, and I’m sorry you had to experience that.

JenV April 1, 2008 (7:53 am)

I am so sorry to hear about that, Megan. truly. same thing happened to me a few years ago around this time -coincidence that this happened during spring break? &%*$^!^$! teenagers!!!

charles walling April 1, 2008 (9:00 am)

look close to home for the break in. probely kids that live very close to you. and expect it again. had our home broken into, had finger prints, police never ran them. had a idea who did it, but he took off ofr oregon, and people next door and acrost the street wouldn,t say any thing.

rockergirl April 1, 2008 (11:21 am)

Scary……way to close to home. So sad that this is happening throughout West Seattle on a regular basis. Hopefully it will slow down or stop soon.

Aim April 1, 2008 (1:14 pm)

Oh Megan, I am so sorry. Do you need any help with the cleanup? We had the EXACT same thing happen a year ago. It was very traumatic, and our cats STILL freak out when they hear garbage bags being opened.

We’re very near you, so please don’t hesitate to holler if you need any help – or just need to get away for 5 minutes and have a cup of coffee. The best thing our neighbor did for us (aside from finding it in progress and scaring them off and securing our cats!) was to take me to his place and make me a drink. I’d be happy to pay that one forward.

snowlion April 1, 2008 (6:14 pm)

That is just awful. I’m so sorry. Does anyone know if this was a daylight or nighttime incident? I would second what someone above said about looking around the neighborhood, too – and check/call local pawn shops for anything they might have taken. :(

verbalgirl April 1, 2008 (6:54 pm)

This is just awful…what a petty, hateful, wasteful crime. Megan, I live close by, too, and second the offer of help. Is there any concensus about how most of these burglars are gaining entry into homes? Is it by kicking down doors, breaking windows, or what? I don’t want to be too fearful, but I just don’t know what more I can do to defend my home from this sort of thing.

Megan April 1, 2008 (9:05 pm)

I’m the homeowner here and am so touched by everyone’s support and outreach to help. Both my husband and i stayed home today to clean everything up and it’s all contained now. To answer your questions the crime happened in daylight hours with all our neighbors home. i let them know of course and spread the word to tell police if they saw anything suspicious, but no one saw or heard anything. The police did indicate that it’s not a common area to have this sort of crime and reminded us to tell neighbors to call if they see ANYTHING suspicious as a quick police drive by will usually scare people away.
They broke in by breaking down our wood door in the back of the house. I’m not exactly sure how but they broke through the frame and opened the lock through there. I did a little research today on doors and it looks like there are all kinds of things you can get to prevent this such a metal casings and think metal doors. I am still researching this as we are ordering a new door and frame so if anyone knows of some good options please share.
As for my very kind neighbors thank you again for the offer to help, i think we are ok now. i am always open to meeting our neighbors, we have been in our house for less then a year and have only meet the neighbors directly next door (who are fabulous). Would love to meet you so please feel free to shoot me an email: meganclingman@yahoo.com.
Although this has been a major violation of our space and a pain in the rear we have definitely felt the support of the West Seattle community that WS is famous for. Thanks again everyone!!

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