21 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: Circa, Cupcake Royale burglarized"

• jsrekd January 8, 2009 (9:24 pm)

  That is a huge bummer – hope SPD catches ’em

• k January 8, 2009 (10:30 pm)

  no alarm systems?

• WTF January 8, 2009 (10:30 pm)

  Sorry this happened guys. I just goes to show you that go soft on crime in West Seattle the criminals will run the jailhouse!

• B January 8, 2009 (10:48 pm)

  f*(&ing jerks. Their is a special place in hell for people like that. We’ll need to patron both places this weekend to help them make up for lost revenue!

• RS January 8, 2009 (11:06 pm)

  NOOOOO!! Not Circa’s IPOD!! NOOOOO!!!!

• nwsnowslayer January 9, 2009 (8:57 am)

  Yesterday (thurs) between 10:15am and 10:45am my car window was broken and my gym backpack was taken from the front seat. The car was parked behind shadowland on oregon and california. Crazy enough there were cops in the back alley investigating a break in at shoe fly shortly before my car break in. Anyone finds a tan snowboard backpack, please return it to shadowland. I heard they are going to beef up the police in the junction from 4am-11am.

• the_bridge_to_somewhere January 9, 2009 (9:00 am)

  [Stupid, self-indulgent observation follows . . .]
  As a very avid (almost obsessive) reader of West Seattle Blog, I have been struck by the idea that what seems like a wave of crime* is, at least in some ways, really just evidence of my previous complete ignorance of what was happening in the neighborhoods in which I lived. It is only via WSB’s detailed, quick, and extremely localized coverage that I’ve ever heard about car break-ins or residential burglaries or even business burglaries in Seattle — the major papers certainly don’t cover these crimes, at least not in this detail. And I for one am not in the habit of reading police reports on my off-hours.

  I applaud WSB for their coverage of WS crime, for I think it has made the citizenry more safe — I suspect we’re more apt to protect our belongings, more realistic about the crimes that could befall us, and more aware of our surroundings and the potential for crimes to occur. But in the meantime, I think it makes sense to keep in mind that the perception that WS is suffering from inordinate amounts of crime might merely be an artifact of the terrific coverage that WSB is providing to our community; if other communities don’t have a perception that crime is everywhere, this might be because they do not have a WSB analog.

  So kudos to WSB — please continue to keep us posted.

  *and yes, I am aware of a car prowl crime wave, but my overall point remains.
  [/end stupid, self-indulgent observation]

• C.A. January 9, 2009 (9:28 am)

  I couldn’t have said it better myself, the_bridge_to_somewhere.

• WSB January 9, 2009 (9:34 am)

  Back when we increased our reporting about local crime a year ago — while increasing ALL reporting here after taking a chance on turning it into a business so we could do this full-time — there was some discussion along the lines of what’s occurred to “Bridge” — either “do we have more crime?” or “why are you saying so much about it?”
  In short, we report more info about EVERYTHING we can find out — from crime to development issues to fundraisers to politics, etc. etc. etc. — because it’s not just a cliche, knowledge is power. In this case – if you know what’s happening, you know to step up self-protection, watchfulness, whatever. Or in some cases, knowing what’s happening might lead to the community reaching out to help a victim who needs help (see: Morgan Junction locksmith hit by arsonist, subsequently helped by WSB Forum members’ fundraiser) – or might even bring the stolen item home (see: last weekend, stolen bike reported here, commenter reported a possible sighting a block away, bike and owner subsequently reunited).
  I could go on and on about this but will stop right there for now, more stories on other topics waiting to be written for the top of the page …
  Even police agree that more info is better; it was one of the highlights of our amazing 2008 to have been honored with an SPD Citizen Appreciation Award (see photo on the About page), for working to connect the community with more crime/safety information; but what you see above, in this report, is really community members connecting EACH OTHER with that info, and this site is just the conduit – TR

• datamuse January 9, 2009 (11:18 am)

  I’ve been thinking for awhile (and discussed briefly on my own blog) that, for all the Web’s power to create virtual communities of people who are far-flung geographically (which it does, I have friends who I met online in the mid-90s when we lived hundreds of miles apart), it can also be really, really good at strengthening ties within existing geographically defined communities. I really think we’ve seen that happen with WSB.

• Peter January 9, 2009 (11:56 am)

  I just spoke with our postman in the Junction, and he said that someone attempted to break into a postal vehicle that same night. Also, the word in the Junction is that there were plenty of cars broken into that night as well.

  I’m surprised that the local news has not covered our crime spree yet!

• Eddie January 9, 2009 (12:34 pm)

  Peter – the “local news” IS covering the “spree” – WSB IS the local news.

  (and I’m thankful for WSB)

• I like nice people... January 9, 2009 (12:36 pm)

  Nicely said Eddie!

  I rely on WSB for all my “local” news.

• WSB January 9, 2009 (12:41 pm)

  And just a reminder for the newcomers, this is a commercial, journalist-run online-only neighborhood news operation – one of only a few in the city (though this is a growing phenomenon across the country), and – thanks to community support – the first in Seattle whose operators are actually making a living doing this. Our background is on the About page (linked from “WSB” below this comment).
  Side note, the “citywide media” often takes story ideas from our site, but if I were a betting person, I would bet that this one might not be picked up just yet because there are too many other huge REGIONAL stories happening today: Boeing layoffs, flooding aftermath, and the P-I sale announcement. I could be wrong but I know something about how regional-newsroom resources have to be allocated, and it would usually mean that the neighborhood-crime-type stories go on the back burner for another day. (Let me know if you see a TV truck in The Junction, though. Remember the laptop-grab thefts? They picked up that one fast.)

• alkisw January 9, 2009 (1:01 pm)

  While I appreciate that the police are going to step up patrols I am a little pessimistic about what good it is going to do. They know who quite a few of these people are who are doing the break-ins at the businesses and homes in West Seattle. The keep arresting them and they get to walk right out of jail again. A good example is with the guys they just arrested for the 7-11 robbery. 3 of the 4 guys are ALREADY BACK ON THE STREET!!! Thank you judges!

• the_bridge_to_somewhere January 9, 2009 (1:43 pm)

  Yes, even if SPD catches more people doing criminal acts, that still leaves the prosecutor’s office to prosecute the criminals, juries to find the criminals guilty, and judges to sentence the criminals. Any of these elements is a potential bottleneck for a jail sentence. And incidentally, it was the prosecutor’s office who wasn’t able to establish a case in time for the 7-11 dudes, not the judge.

  And unfortunately, the prosecutor’s office has been hard-hit by the county budget crisis, and I know they have had to be choosy on what to prosecute and what sentences to pursue.

• WSB January 9, 2009 (1:44 pm)

  Small clarification on that last one. They arrested three; as we reported yesterday, two are back on the street – because they have not yet been charged. That one’s up to prosecutors. But yes, police also routinely lament the fact that they can do their end of the deal, but then circumstances out of their control put the bad guys/gals right back on the street. I am trying to get more names when more of these arrests happen, in an effort to try to follow more of the cases through the system and see exactly how this happens – timeconsuming but important – TR
  (I didn’t see Bridge’s comment before filing mine – but this is not necessarily a case of prosecutors deciding not to pursue it – for starters, they only had the one guy on video going in to the 7-11 – the other two just happened to be in the car – so it’s a trickier case to amass evidence in. Nonetheless, remember, your legislators make the sentencing laws; your judges carry them out; both groups are elected, sometimes with no opposition, and to make a difference, you might need to get more closely involved – by giving feedback or maybe even running for something!)

• the_bridge_to_somewhere January 9, 2009 (4:52 pm)

  Cool, thanks for the clarification.

• David January 9, 2009 (5:26 pm)

  I’m going to dinner at Cira tonight to support them. I hope they catch those bastards.

• Carole January 9, 2009 (8:05 pm)

  As TR pointed out, legislators make the sentencing rules, and judges carry them out. But remember that judges are BOUND by the LIMITS of the sentencing ranges set by the legislature. So if a range is 60-90 days for s apecific crime, and the judge gives 90 days, or 2-4 years, and the judge gives that 4 years, that might seem “soft” to the general public in light of whatever the charge is, but that’s the limit. So if you don’t like it, write to your legislator. But be prepared to pay for more jails and more prisons to house those if longer sentence ranges are implemented.

• Eric January 10, 2009 (9:46 am)

  Shoofly Pie (4444 California Ave SW) was also broken into and ransacked on the night of the 7th. Maybe one of your commentators has mentioned that already.

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