West Seattle Crime Watch: More car prowlers despite the chill

Some more non-snow news before we move on to the evening update: Even while the main page here was devoted mostly to weather-related news, we’ve been adding crime reports to the WSB Crime Watch page. Most of it, car break-ins, and we have another of those reports tonight from Greg:

My neighbors live at the end of 52nd Ave. SW one block south of SW Stevens St. (map) They had their SUV broken into and the stereo stolen around 2 AM on Wed. 12/17. It was an older vehicle but it had an aftermarket stereo. It was parked in the driveway in a spot not easy to see from inside the house.

If you don’t have an alarm on your vehicle, a decent one with a motion sensor costs less (installed) than your comprehensive deductible (or if you are not insured, less than a repair bill for a torn up dashboard). A flashing red LED costs almost nothing to buy and can be installed by anyone. It is a cheap and simple ploy that is better than nothing at all.

Forget “The Club”. I still see them around, but a thief with a newer high tension hacksaw can cut through your steering wheel in under a minute and pull that useless hunk of metal off.

We share crime reports from West Seattleites, as well as from official sources such as Seattle Police, in the interest of “knowledge is power” — if you know what’s happening, you have a better chance of protecting yourself and your family, and we’ve reported multiple stories in which informed, aware neighbors have helped catch criminals and solve crimes. E-mail us at editor@westseattleblog.com any time.

13 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: More car prowlers despite the chill"

  • JH December 19, 2008 (7:36 pm)

    I was the one on the cross country skis who noticed the broken window. What a shame-such great neighbors.

  • A December 19, 2008 (7:46 pm)

    Our neighbor’s car was also broken into this week – radio stolen. 44th & Juneau

  • mike December 19, 2008 (8:00 pm)

    Look on craigslist to see if anyone is selling your radio, then don’t respond to the ad but send it to the police for them to use and find these thief’s. A friends car was stolen last year and they found the thief when the laptop that was in the car was sold on craigslist.

  • Sue December 19, 2008 (8:29 pm)

    I disagree that we should “Forget The Club” – I brought mine with me from NYC. We used to have 2 cars and both my husband and I continued to use them out here. People laughed at us, but we were surrounded by neighbors who had their cars stolen, and ours remained untouched. Sure, someone with a sophisticated tool can get my car if they want to – but the casual thief may be deterred. If I can lessen the odds of trouble, it’s worth it to me to use it.

  • SpeakLoud December 19, 2008 (8:49 pm)

    Several residents on 18th Ave SW down by the SSCC also had our cars rifled through-fortunatly I keep nothing of worth in my car! But they went through the glove box and left the door open.

  • Ann December 19, 2008 (10:10 pm)

    My car was broken into tuesday night and I have an alarm (although not a motion sensor). Please dont let that give you a false sense of security, just dont leave anything in the car. of course, a stereo has to be.

  • Dan December 19, 2008 (10:53 pm)

    I’m on 17th SW by SCCC as well and had my car rifled through as well. Guess someone was productive and well insulated from the cold….

  • freezing08 December 19, 2008 (10:55 pm)

    My husband is an SPD officer and works in the highly carprowled areas of Lower QA, S. Lake Union and downtown and says EVERY car should have a club. It would save lots of stolen vehicles from being stolen. That and leave nothing in your car. As well – they use an ‘ice pick’ like device that they hold up to the window to shatter it – quickly (and silently) and they break and grab, break and grab. Very fast, in and out.

  • Michael December 20, 2008 (2:44 am)

    The “the Club is useless” myth persists…even when someone’s not even talking about car theft they want to perpetuate the old wives’ tale wherein most car thieves roam around with hacksaws so that they can pick and choose just which car they feel like stealing tonight.
    .
    Yes, the Club will not stop your stereo from being stolen. And if the thief absolutely NEEDS to steal YOUR car, he’ll find a way, Club, alarm, or whatever.
    .
    But when someone needs to steal a car quickly (which is most of the time), and/or is armed with only the usual tool a car thief uses (screwdriver), it will prevent that car from being YOUR car.

  • WTF December 20, 2008 (3:58 pm)

    As much as it pisses me off to hear, the reality is these ah-s are generally stealing your car for two reasons: 1) joy ride and destruction 2) use in the commission of another crime. The Club DOES help prevent them from targeting a car. They will just move on the easiest target available; get in and out. If the thieves are in an organized theft-ring, you can have a fort built around your exposed car, because they know what they are doing and an alarm, club, dog, etc. won’t help. I do have my doubts that many of the “a.h.s” in WS are smart enough to be in such a ring, and stay long in the area. Most rings like this are short lived in an area, then move on. Get The Club. $39.99 is a very inexpensive piece of mind.

  • Oliver December 21, 2008 (4:47 pm)

    Our car was broken into between 1:30 am and 6 am. Thief stole a thermarest mattress out of the back. It’s a large box (mattress is folded inside) about 3ft tall 2ft wide 1ft deep with a handle and wheels. They dragged it from out alley on 46th, up Dakota to 51st where i lost the tracks. If anyone saw anything or sees one being sold, please post the info here or call us 206 391 9891. Thanks

  • A Westwood Neighbor December 22, 2008 (12:32 am)

    The chains were just stolen off our Camry parked at Kenyon & 34th… around 11pm

  • Another Westwood neighbor December 29, 2008 (3:01 pm)

    Our bike (41 yr old 10 speed,silver w/front and rear carriers) was stolen from our front porch this morning (Mon 12/29) in the windstorm. Sad enough – my dependable ride for four decades. Monetary value = little, sentimental value = lots. The thief left behind two much nicer bikes which are now triple-locked. Vicinity of corner of SW Trenton St & 32nd Ave.near Westwood. Identifiable by old Huret deraillieurs and new gumwall tires. Please forward any leads on abandoned bikes bearing this description. Thank you!

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