West Seattle Crime Watch: Arrest after bizarre break-in

| Crime | West Seattle news

From Joe at 45th/Andover (map):

This morning after I left for work (5:30), my wife was investigating a sound she heard in the kitchen. There stood an unknown black male. Asked to identify himself and his intentions he said he “was there to take anything he wanted.” Someone had told him he could have whatever caught his eye. My wife had him wait outside while my son was summoned to speak with him. During this period my wife called 911. After speaking with my son the man left heading north through the alleys. In minutes 4 SPD units responded. Police caught him 2 blocks away; he was brought back for identification as the intruder. Long story short he is now a guest downtown. Hopefully this will help other local burglary investigations. Maybe the return of missing property.

RobertSeattle November 5, 2008 (12:35 pm)

It’s good for the intruder that Joe wasn’t Denny Crane…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7ElnDCorSo&feature=related

Andre November 5, 2008 (1:21 pm)

I’m glad this approach worked out for Joe. That said, I personally feel that as soon as someone breaks into my home he/she handed off their human rights at the front door.

Gene November 5, 2008 (1:42 pm)

A similar incident happened to my fiance and I about a year and a half ago. We live in High Point and had an intruder twice in a roughly 12 hour period.

The first time my fiance was home alone at about 430 pm and was lying in bed watching Oprah. She heard a noise and ruffling in the kitchen and then our bedroom door opened. She was resting and didnt think anything of it thinking it was me. She called me and asked me where I was. Obviously I wasnt home so she started to freak out. Shortly after she heard the person leave she went to go see if she could tell who it was. The only thing she could see was a navy colored jacket. Now it wouldnt be completely abnormal for one of my friends to have come over or drop something off or whatever so she had me call my firends. No one had come into our house. We reported it to the police with no further incidnet until the next morning.

I was leaving for work at about 7 am ish. I got a call about 30 min later. It was my fiance frantic that someone had opened our sliding glass door, come in started walking around the house again. This time left, walked around the back of the house and was looking into our bedroom where she was still in bed. She made eye contact with this person who was wearing similar clothing as the person the day previous. No words exchanged. She immediately called the cops again. He left without incident.

My worst fear is that it was to be a crime of sexual nature. Honestly though who knows. I think it was someone from the mental hospital down the street that got loose maybe..Anywho, it was kind of weird that this person came IN our house just minutes after I left for work and she was home alone… kind of like he was casing my house. Regardless, extra patrol cars where in our neighborhood for a few days, we built a fence and got a dog. No incidents since but these BLATANT intrusions in broad daylight are NOT something that we should have to worry about regardless of the neighborhood.

cmc November 5, 2008 (1:46 pm)

Wow, that is so scary! Andre, just curious, as a woman without a gun in her home what should one have done differently? I am so glad nobody was injured.

Vanessa C. November 5, 2008 (2:07 pm)

Seems like some mace in the face would suffice…
Reminder to self: Buy Bear Mace at REI

big gulps,eh? well, see ya later. November 5, 2008 (3:34 pm)

Sorry this happened to both of you. Let’s all remember to be carefull and vigilant. Let’s also remember that luckily these are isolated incidents and per capita they are farily rare in our hood. Being aware is good. Living a life in fear is not good.

peace out

rjb November 5, 2008 (3:35 pm)

I cannot believe how this was handled. As a woman without a gun, if this happened to me, I sure as hell wouldn’t go get my son to go and TALK to the guy. She is very lucky this guy wasn’t (more) insane / unstable and armed. If a stranger was in my kitchen, and my son was at home, I’d grab him, get outside and call 911 in as little time as possible. Again, she REALLY lucked out that she isn’t injured or dead.

WSB November 5, 2008 (3:50 pm)

Rjb, there may be some details here that the writer did not include, so nobody really can say what did or did not happen, how the intruder behaved or did not behave, and why those who had to deal with him did what they did (I can say this, having been in a situation with dangerous people before where there was no option but to talk to them) – this story is shared primarily to note the arrest and also as a reminder that an intruder might wind up anywhere.

changingtimes November 5, 2008 (4:35 pm)

i actaually agree with rjb on this one, what did she say “excuse me sir, wait here while i fetch my son,” the guy deserves to be caught after not running at that notion. and i also agree the minute someone i dont know is standing in the kitchen i would be screaming and exiting as quickly as possible.

P November 5, 2008 (5:11 pm)

as a reminder, lock up your homes! I drive all over west seattle and always see windows wide open and homes looking like not a person is to be found. This is just an invite to come in and clean out the place.

JimmyG November 5, 2008 (5:41 pm)

I really hope the “intruder” wasn’t brought back to the house to be identified. Any defense attorney worth their salt will have his identification by the victims thrown out.

You take the witnesses to where the alleged suspect is, not the suspect to where the witnesses/victims are.

And if I come across a stranger in my house who tells me he’s there to take anything he wants, I’ll be giving him a bullet or two that he can take with him.

wtf November 5, 2008 (6:47 pm)

As my online name implies, I’m yelling it at you. I’m floored at the casual nature by which you (all) describe an actions you took when an intruder is in your homes. You passively approach such situations, you will be a victim again.

And RobertSeattle, all I can say is hilarious!! Loved the You Tube

t November 5, 2008 (7:23 pm)

Lucky he didn’t get shot! Can’t say it would have worked out that well if he came into my house…. my dog probably would have got to him before I did though. Just another reason to love having a dog!

charles November 5, 2008 (7:51 pm)

lock your doors all day long. lock your cars when driving. watch your backs. best u can do

Joe the Electrician November 5, 2008 (8:35 pm)

The other trick is lock your doors even if you’re working in the yard. If you can’t see the front from the back and vis versa, then you are leaving an entry point naked. People in WS are too passive, most cities work have called the ME to pick the guy up in their kitchen.

Just Me November 6, 2008 (6:14 am)

It’s hard to say what the best course of action would have been for the woman but I think she was wise not to esculate the situation by freaking out and screaming. Apparently the intruder was playing dumb or maybe he really was mentally deficient? She made him aware that she was not alone in the house by calling out to her son, we shouldn’t assume that the son was a child and, she met her 2nd objective of getting the intruder out of the house. I’m sure she had a plan B if that failed, either running to a neighbor’s or killing the bastard.

I'm home November 6, 2008 (10:45 am)

Brave thing to do but not so sure it was “smart”…obviously, this time it worked out. Why in the world did your son go outside with him?…he could have had a knife or another weapon…doubly lucky I’d say. I think I would have been taking a swing of the bat if it had been me. I have to think she was VERY lucky that he didn’t do anything to hurt her or her son. Always lock your doors!

wtf November 6, 2008 (8:20 pm)

Change your routines. Do not assume that someone isn’t watching you…all the time. It sucks, but we live in a big, and increasingly violent city (whose police don’t give a sh*t; they are all talk and no action). If you live alone, make sure your neighbors are “normal” then know who you are. Invite conversation with them…but, trust no one. Again, very sad, but by allowing the interned to run the asylum, the stable have to live this way.

Juan November 8, 2008 (4:33 pm)

Joe, you live so close to me (I am on 45th/dakota) and we had a break in as well, but they ran off with lots of stuff.

there had been some young men in our neighborhood asking to take things brazenly. they were yelling near my house that they wanted my laptop until my neighbours ran him off. then they came back 2 months later and stole several computers from my house.

I wonder if i can ask the police if my stuff can be found?

sorry about your break in, very frightening.

Sorry, comment time is over.