30 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: Admiral alley anguish"

• JanS December 4, 2008 (12:16 am)

  Travis, I’m so sorry to hear this. Ilive only a couple of blocks from you, and as high priced as the area is, NO neighborhood is immune to these things. You just have to be vigilant, pro-active. Put automatic lights outside your condo, never ever leave anything in your car that you value, even if it’s just a buck in change. Know your neighbors, and those who live around you.

  Remember that you’re only a few blocks form a major highschool, with a great deal of teens in it. While I doubt that these crimes are perpetrated by the students, it’s always good top have that knowledge. Know the non-emergency police phone number and use it. They will use your information to keep a record of things, even if it seems insignificant to you.

  And lastly…you bought in what is considered an upscale neighborhood..prime pickin’s for those that think you may have something of value.

  Again…I’m really sorry to hear about this. Know that you’re not alone. And if there isn’t one, form a block watch. They send out quarterly reports of crime in your area…and compare statistics to the same time last year…it usually included a map of which block and what kind of crime has occurred.

• star55 December 4, 2008 (5:21 am)

  Jan, remember that the recent crimes in the Admiral area were not cause by the local WS High students but by others from outside the area.

• mike December 4, 2008 (6:37 am)

  “gang related” I would not be too sure about that. there’s been a lot of little wannabe thugs running around the Admiral area this year but I’d hardly call them “gangs”. These are kids that are bored and want to think they’re bad ass.

  I say offer to take these kids down to Rainier Valley, drop them off around 1 AM and see how well they do for themselves. They want to be bad ass, then let them find out how pathetic they are.

• homesweethome December 4, 2008 (7:03 am)

  Travis – we feel your pain. The best thing to do with graffiti is clean it up immediately. We used Goo Gone last weekend when all the power poled/electric boxes etc were hit outside our building – it works best on metal – for wood, paint is the answer. I too doubt this is gang stuff – this is wannabe kids and young adults with nothing better to do. All of us in this neighborhood have to be vigilant – car prowls even in secured garages are on the rise here. That said, I attended a block watch meeting recently for this area and only 16 people showed up.

• Gina December 4, 2008 (7:47 am)

  I have never thought of the block with the theater and gas station and the 7-11 on it as being upscale. I need to take a closer look at it on the 44th Ave side. Are all the rat-trap boarding houses gone now?

  The parking lots of the 7-11 and the Arco? BP? Chevron? (I’ve lost track of the name changes over the years) are gathering places, and have been gathering places for decades, for young people hanging about with nothing better to do, waiting for someone with a car to show up.

  With graffiti–if windows get tagged with markers, wd40 works wonders. Also makes short work of the labels with graffiti that get stuck on things. Let it soak for about five minutes, scrape with anything stiff, windshield ice scraper works best.

• JT December 4, 2008 (8:13 am)

  Representing the “downscale” part of town, 10 years running of no graffiti, vandalism, or break-ins. Some of my neighbors are even friendly. Most are clean, and I’ve always felt safe. Apparently our property values don’t warrant a police watch on the alley, but I think I’ll still stick to my neighborhood anyway.

• charles December 4, 2008 (8:41 am)

  about time the males in your area get to gether on week ends and patrol the alley where u live. set things up with the police force and tell them what u are going to do. we did that here one time, the police did come and got the party people out of a empty house. i was block watch capt on this area. got lots of cars towed away. sadly the city down scaled the block watch. i only look out for my self now.

• Irukandji December 4, 2008 (9:15 am)

  Hmmm. The kids involved in the May burglaries on 37th were WSHS kids, and the more recent Admiral/Belvidere arrests involved at least one guy, Skyelar, who is a WSHS 10th-grade drop-out. WSHS does all it can to educate kids and support the community, but they’ve got their share of felons and felon-wannabes.

• rbj December 4, 2008 (9:31 am)

  Let them graffiti. It adds character to the sometimes characterless admiral/yuppie district.

  Breaking into a car is not cool however.

• mellaw6565 December 4, 2008 (10:08 am)

  Upscale neighborhood – lol! This is the kind of elitist sentiment that I wish would stay in Bellevue. Please – crime happens everywhere! Get a grip!

• nuni December 4, 2008 (10:16 am)

  My husband used to live in a condo in that alley and I had my car broken in to.

• KMM December 4, 2008 (10:22 am)

  I live in the 2100 block of California Ave (3 blocks from the Admiral Theater and the area mentioned in this post), and several cars in my (unsecured) parking garage were broken into last night, smashed windows and all. Mine wasn’t thankfully, but my boyfriend’s was and my neighbor’s was. We reported the break in to the police. Anyone else get broken into last night??

• j December 4, 2008 (10:48 am)

  Travis, I doubt you are an elitist! When you pay a premium on your home you should not have to be surrounded by bottom feeders and the disenchanted. But it is always a good idea to thoroughly investigate the area you move to.

• mellaw6565 December 4, 2008 (11:29 am)

  J – so people that aren’t rich are bottom feeders and disenchanted? Get real! That’s just insulting. We live in HP with lots of “bottom feeders & disenchanted” and we’ve never had our cars or home broken into. Not that it doesn’t happen here too, but don’t kid yourself that just because you consider yourself “privileged” that you are entitled to more protection or free from crime.

• KSJ December 4, 2008 (11:46 am)

  Seems to me that y’all are losing sight of the question, which is whether anyone has ideas to help prevent this kind of problem? No one wants to see graffiti and vandalism in our neighborhoods (except that one commenter who I hope isn’t really that negative), regardless of how “upscale” you think your own neighborhood is.

  I’ve been noticing more graffiti lately too, and encourage property owners to get it cleaned up quickly. Does anyone know, when it’s on public property like utility boxes, can neighbors clean it up? Or is there someone from the city we should call?

• KM December 4, 2008 (11:47 am)

  More happening in the Admiral District than graffiti and car prowls:

  (The following is from the West Seattle Herald’s crime blotter web page, around Thanksgiving time)

  “Early Wednesday morning, as she exited the east doors and walked into the parking lot of the Admiral Safeway, a young woman was accosted by a man who demanded her bag. He grabbed it from her and ran behind some bushes on 42nd. The victim then heard a car speed away. As she had entered the store she had noticed the suspect standing outside the doors, talking agitatedly on a cell phone. He was a black male, early to mid 30s, about 6′ tall, with scruffy facial hair and wearing a mid-length black windbreaker with a hood.

  Saturday morning, the manager of an Admiral-area business was assaulted as she got into her car with some business deposits. She was punched in the face, and the suspect got away with about $2,000 in a merchant bag. (Here’s a helpful tip for other business owners: Place the merchant bag into a nondescript brown paper bag before heading out the door.)”

• Flavian December 4, 2008 (1:12 pm)

  Here’s info on graffiti removal: http://www.seattle.gov/UTIL/Services/Garbage/Reduce_Garbage_&_Litter/Graffiti_Prevention_&_Removal/index.asp

  I’ve used removal solvents from the paint store, and it worked on signs and switch boxes, but denatured alcohol works as well. Be advised that the graffito you are removing may be some sort of sign from a gang that denotes the boundaries of their turf. Then again it may not. In any case, use caution, daylight hours only, and look over your shoulder. Do not directly challenge anyone you see tagging: call the police!

• Irukandji December 4, 2008 (1:52 pm)

  Someone is concerned about theft and vandalism and what to do about it in an area that has plenty to thieve and vandalize. I believe the reference to bottom feeders has little to do with rich v. poor and more to do with young disenfranchised thugs taking what isn’t thiers, tagging what isn’t theirs, destroying what isn’t theirs. Please, breathe deeply.

• mellaw6565 December 4, 2008 (2:12 pm)

  Iruk – as a teacher of the disenfranchised at-risk youth, your comments and those of the OP are insulting to them and to me. Walk in their shoes one day and you’ll look at them differently.

  BTW – look at the statistics. Most of the burglars and prowlers are ADULTS!!!!

• Sharon December 4, 2008 (2:14 pm)

  I lived in that area from ’96 to ’03 without too many issues, but things seemed to go down hill around 2001. Used to see thugs around Met Market, 17-11 and the gas station. Also, there’s a greenbelt on Prince & 42nd where homeless folks reside. A dead body was even throne from a car at 41st and Prince at 4am one the morning. We woke up to police converging on the area.

• GenHillOne December 4, 2008 (2:17 pm)

  lol, Irukandji, “whoa, take a breath” was exactly what I thought; agreed, I think the reference was to the jerks actually doing the deeds

  Travis, you got some good clean-up tips here and the block watch idea is helpful if for no other reason than to get to know your neighbors, perhaps start with your condo building? It is true that it happens everywhere unfortunately.

• j December 4, 2008 (4:00 pm)

  Mella, I live in Highland Park too. I am also a fifth-generation West Seattleite. Take a breath and actually think about my point. Why are you on the side of the takers and against what you would call an elitist? And you are a teacher?

• Irukandji December 4, 2008 (7:44 pm)

  Mellaw, odd of you to assume I never have walked in those shoes or that I have never worked with or felt for kids who come from horribly disadvantaged homes and impoverished lives with few options. Time to get off the high horse, the one ought being led to water. Wishing you a virtual massage and clean air to breathe.

• roberto jose December 4, 2008 (11:44 pm)

  Graffiti is no joke. Obviously an established gang or seeming wannabes have decided that the alley behind the Admiral Theater is their turf. You see graffiti marks the boundaries of an area. And existing graffiti motivates other bangers to visit and include their markings upon and within the existing graffiti. In other words, by allowing the graffiti to remain, other gangsters will hear about it and want to place their markings within the same location. So, photograph the graffiti and e-mail the images to the SPD Gang Unit. The Gang Unit has the ability to decipher the content of the graffiti’s message. Then remove the graffiti ASAP. If the bangers assume the residents don’t care about the alley, it is only a matter of time before they will start slinging dope in that alley. Resultingly, car prowls and residential burglaries increase with the increased volume of drugs that could be distributed in that specific location. Remember, we are seeing a rapid increase in California gangs moving north to Seattle. And once the bangers establish a turf – eradication can be very difficult.

• A December 5, 2008 (10:00 am)

  We just moved and share an alley with CA Ave businesses and apts. People keep dumping tvs, computers, trash at these businesses dumpsters! It’s right behind our garage. Any thoughts? The trash men won’t take it. We once came out to find a stuffed animal sitting right behind our garage door next to an empty beer bottle. I was thinking about posting a sign or something about illegal dumping? Does anyone know can we report the business even though someone else is dumping things at their dumpster??

• homesweethome December 5, 2008 (2:24 pm)

  KMM – we’re in the same block as you – any way to connect and possibly tackle this problem together?

• MF December 5, 2008 (10:54 pm)

  Travis,
  Good post. My wife and I share your concern. Thanks for the post!

  Roberto,
  Thanks for the tips!!! Something tells me you are not just an average citizen.

  Everyone else,
  Thanks for the entertainment! This is better than watching Desperate Housewives!! LOL!!

• Travis December 10, 2008 (8:05 am)

  Wow–I am surprised by all the discussion, which I find encouraging. Definitely true that most of the tagging is done by bored teens, but suffice to say that a few instances are obviously different (and I say this as a witness to both types).

  I’m sorry to hear about further car break-ins that same day closer to College St., but I have noticed more police vehicles in the area since. Hopefully that helps.

  Thanks all for the advice/support.

• Murl Hartwood December 10, 2008 (8:57 am)

  Let’s set up a motion-activated floodlight with stereo blaring classical music in every alley where problems exist…I bet the W.S. “wannabes” don’t hang around very long! ;) As for some of the previous posters – it’s sad, but no area of West Seattle is “safe” anymore. It’s not just poor, dis-advantaged youth, either. Tagging is NOT graffiti art, and should not be tolerated (it adds NO “character” to ANY neighborhood). Everyone needs to be vigilant and involved – don’t just close your curtains, because next time it could be YOUR car/home/safety at risk.

• NOT a yuppie December 14, 2008 (4:48 pm)

  All of you people are worked up over something that really doesn’t matter at all. Stop leaving valubles in your cars. And think about all the bigger problems there are in the world.

Sorry, comment time is over.