Crime Watch reader report: Watch for would-be-burglars team

Just out of the WSB inbox, from BG:

Yesterday (6/22) an attempted burglary was successfully thwarted on the 9000 block of 13th Avenue SW [map]. At approximately noon on Sunday, I was in my home office when I noticed three youths engaging in suspicious activity across the street in my neighbor’s driveway. With one youth serving as a lookout, the other two removed the screen from our neighbor’s kitchen window and attempted to enter the house. The neighbors were away for the weekend.

I immediately called 911 and police arrived in time to apprehend one of the suspects. Two suspects escaped and were not apprehended. I was shocked by the brazen attempt to burglarize our neighbor’s home in broad daylight on a Sunday afternoon. These three juveniles have been recently observed by others in the area looking into cars and appearing to case houses. I urge you to keep an eye out for them in your neighborhood. Their physical descriptions are as follows:

1. Female, juvenile (14 – 17 yrs. old), African American, approx 5’ 5’’, stocky build. Short hair, worn in a bun in the back of the head. Last seen wearing tight blue jeans, and a tight black top.
2. Male, juvenile (14 – 17 yrs. old), African American, approx 5’ 8’’, muscular build. Last seen wearing baggy shorts, a dark oversized coat, and an orange knit stocking cap.
3. Male, juvenile (14 – 17 yrs. old), African American, approx 5’ 10’’, muscular build. Last seen wearing baggy shorts, a dark oversized coat, and a red baseball cap.

These three juveniles work as a team. The female has been observed walking in our neighborhood on the more than one occasion, and serves as a lookout for the male juveniles. Vigilance made the difference on our block yesterday and the West Seattle Blog deserves credit for making us all more aware of suspicious activity in our neighborhood.

And in turn we hat-tip to West Seattle’s police force at the Southwest Precinct, which is trailblazing for the whole city by aggressively advocating this kind of watchfulness and repeatedly reminding us all not to hesitate calling 911 for ANY kind of suspicious activity as it happens. If a life’s not at risk, the response time depends on what else is going on, but as we were reminded in a recent chat with precinct leaders, thorough and complete crime reports at the very least help them decide where to best deploy their people when they’re planning schedules and emphasis patrols.

7 Replies to "Crime Watch reader report: Watch for would-be-burglars team"

  • miws June 23, 2008 (3:42 pm)

    Great job by all involved! BG, SPD, and, of course, WSB for continually posting incidents such as this, and for pounding into our heads to call 911 immediately in such situations.

    .

    It’s real easy to pass it off as “the police will never get here in time”, or whatever, but this incident proves it does help to act, and do so right away.

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    Ok now, captured one, narc out your friends!

    .

    Mike

  • brj June 23, 2008 (4:19 pm)

    It’s still hard for me to call 911 if it isn’t life or death – I always get the vibe from dispatchers that I’m blocking the calls that really matter. And I’ve had dispatchers tell me that I should have called the non-emergency line when I’ve called before for suspicious activity.
    .
    But if the SW precent says to do it, then I will!

  • amused June 23, 2008 (7:26 pm)

    The one juvenile suspect caught was released to an ‘aunt’ because the wonderful Juvenile ‘Justice’ System refused to take her. From past experience I would bet the ‘aunt’ let her out of the car as soon as she was out of sight of the precinct.

  • WSB June 24, 2008 (12:14 am)

    For those interested – it’s written in clunky bureaucratese but these are the criteria the county supposedly uses when accepting or declining a juvenile suspect:
    http://www.kingcounty.gov/courts/JuvenileCourt/detention/criteria.aspx

  • old timer June 24, 2008 (9:10 am)

    Boy, WSB, that link you gave to the Juvenile Detention Criteria reveals a very untidy practical and moral swamp. The page gives no definitions for ‘grade’ and although to my untrained eye,’ att burglary’ is on the detain list, there must be ‘loopholes’; the very largest, I suspect, is “LACK OF SPACE”.

  • sls June 24, 2008 (11:03 am)

    I hear about all these kids roaming the streets at all hours of the night. Isn’t there a curfew anymore? Maybe it’s agains a childs right to make them go inside at a decent hour. Anyone know about curfews?

  • Tonya42 June 24, 2008 (12:21 pm)

    I was walking my beagle a few nights ago along Beach Drive and about seven girls were all walking in a cluster aznd just screaming at the top of their lungs for no reason. I asked them to shut up and boy did I get some dirty looks. What is with kids these days?

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