West Seattle Crime Watch: 4 wheels gone; 1 sighting; 1 break-in

Amanda sent that photo and this report:

On Friday morning, 3/27 I went outside to walk my dog at around 5:30 a.m. and noticed that all four wheels and tires had been stolen from my car, which was parked in front of my house on 44th Ave SW, between Oregon and Genesee (map). My husband and I parked the car in that location at approximately 8:30 p.m. last night, so the incident occurred overnight. The vandals were kind enough to leave the car sitting on a tire jack and a spare tire. My car is a 2005 Honda Civic and it did have alloy wheels. … I’ve rarely seen this level of damage on our street and, frankly, I don’t know how you police this sort of thing. But, just a word of caution to other folks in the area.

Less than a mile away, we just got a phoned-in report about a possible car-prowl suspect spotted in the 50th/Edmunds vicinity (map) – the caller had phoned 911 but also wanted to alert people in the area to a man seen looking in at least one car window, and then walking away very quickly when spotted by a passerby. She described him as “Asian, 18-23, about 5-9, red baseball cap, hoodie-type sweatshirt, and jeans. last seen heading south on 50th. She noted that two of her friends had their cars broken into in the past week in the Admiral District, so she’s got her radar up.

Last but not least, a report received earlier today from Steve:

Just wanted to get the word out that my car was broken into out in front of our house last night.This is in the 8700 block of 16th ave sw, at SW Trenton (map). They broke the passenger side window right at the lock button, got in and rifled through everything. Luckily there was nothing of value in the car (learned that the last time they did this a couple of years ago). In fact, the only thing that was missing was a couple of packets of Starbucks Via instant coffee that were in the space between the seats. Luckily, we have a regular speed trap in front of our house too, in the school zone, so Officer Sue took the report & all this morning.

30 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: 4 wheels gone; 1 sighting; 1 break-in"

  • Changingtimes March 28, 2009 (12:33 am)

    5’9 asian guy? Havnt seen many of them and believe me I’m looking!! ;)

  • jeff March 28, 2009 (8:52 am)

    Luckily there was nothing of value in the car… In fact, the only thing that was missing was a couple of packets of Starbucks Via instant coffee

    Howard Schultz doesn’t appreciate you taking cheap shots at Via in crime reports

  • brad March 28, 2009 (9:02 am)

    My Honda Civic 2006 was parked RIGHT BEHIND this car!! When I woke up and went outside I was very confused as to why their car had no wheels. I went outside to leave for work around 6:30am. My window is faces the street and is kind of close to where the cars were parked, I am surprised they were so quiet. I have always thought that our street was really safe. I guess this just goes to show that you can never be too safe. Sorry you got targeted Amanda

  • OP March 28, 2009 (9:11 am)

    How does a 2005 Honda not have a car alarm?

  • Tony March 28, 2009 (10:28 am)

    Every standard factory security theft deterrent system works only when a lock is unlocked and the door opened. That’s with every VEHICLE unless it has an aftermarket alarm, as such would have gone off if it had a motion sensor on it.

  • Save Our Streets Seattle March 28, 2009 (1:58 pm)

    It is NOT safe to live in West Seattle any longer.

  • Sam March 28, 2009 (2:37 pm)

    “Every standard factory security theft deterrent system works only when a lock is unlocked and the door opened. That’s with every VEHICLE unless it has an aftermarket alarm, as such would have gone off if it had a motion sensor on it.”

    Wrong. Once I set the factory Toyota alarm on mine, if you open the hood, alarm goes off, break a window, alarm goes off, try to drive it with the alarm going off… you get 3 blocks before the engine shuts off.

  • CandrewB March 28, 2009 (3:00 pm)

    SOSS, while I appreciate your activism, I have to disagree. If one shows a modicum of street smarts, as in any large city, your chances of being a victim are minimal.

  • Save Our Streets Seattle March 28, 2009 (7:32 pm)

    CandrewB, can you explain how the photo at the top of this blog post indicates a lack of street smarts on behalf of the owner? Also, I don’t know how long it takes to remove and steal FOUR tires, but I’m guessing it takes a while and makes a fair amount of noise. Are there really not enough Police to patrol Friday and Saturday nights for crap like this?

  • Huindekmi March 28, 2009 (7:33 pm)

    It’s obviously the owner’s fault for leaving the wheels on overnight. That’s just asking for trouble.

  • WSB March 28, 2009 (7:40 pm)

    Perhaps, as with pull-out car radios, snap-off car wheels will become a new trend. Although I’m now nervously awaiting the first inevitable report of a car body getting taken off the wheels, instead of vice versa. We already had that hood removal …
    .
    Seriously folks, I do believe CandrewB had a good point about “street smarts,” but I request that following crime reports, which are shared by other WSBers in good faith so that we know what is happening, where, and when, and aren’t just all in blissful ignorance (official police reports, even of major incidents, tend NOT to get out as fast as reader reports) — please avoid anything that resembles “blaming the victim.” Crime is wrong, period, and it’s the criminal’s fault, always.
    .
    That, of course, does NOT mean we shouldn’t get educated – please see some of the links at the bottom of our Crime Watch page, and let us know what other information we could find to share … or what other advice YOU have that has worked, or seemed to.
    .
    -TR

  • CandrewB March 28, 2009 (7:40 pm)

    Not sure of the exact situatation, however not having aftermarket rims would help, or if you do have them, install locking lugnuts on them. You could also install a motion sensing alarm. If they are stock rims, well every now and then things happen and there is nothing you can really do about it. Regardless, I would not say West Seattle is no longer a safe place to live.

  • Todd March 28, 2009 (7:52 pm)

    I would..

  • Todd March 28, 2009 (7:53 pm)

    The bigger we get, the more down hill we go, IMO.

  • Save Our Streets Seattle March 28, 2009 (7:53 pm)

    So “street smarts” to you means every West Seattle resident having to buy more security lights, buy a new alarm for my car, or buy an expensive surveillance system? CaB is either a cop or a car alarm installer making serious money. Most of the rest of us don’t have a couple thousand dollars to “upgrade” to protect against the latest crime wave? Again, where are the cops?

  • alki_2008 March 28, 2009 (8:19 pm)

    Car alarms are great. Makes unlocking the doors and opening the trunk a lot easier too, when all you have to do it push a button. Car alarms don’t cost a ton…but can, if you have a lot of other options added on.

    Another benefit of car alarms…some insurance companies give discounts if you have them. :)

  • so done. March 28, 2009 (9:08 pm)

    AND! The car alarms can second as your morning wake up… just in case you hit snooze one too many times!!! YAY!!!

  • austin March 28, 2009 (9:46 pm)

    Locking lug nuts are an inexpensive deterrent to wheel and tire theft. An alarm system with a kill switch is a good way to keep commonly targeted cars like Civics relatively safe while you’re away. At least they left the car!

  • WTF March 29, 2009 (12:46 am)

    We could all be so lucky:

    http://is.gd/puDK

  • OP March 29, 2009 (2:08 am)

    It is NOT safe to live in West Seattle any longer. Please, go hide in a cave. Lock yourself away. West Seattle is the new Detroit. (Or Oakland) I do hope my hyperbole offsets yours….$10 says they deactivated their car alarm….

  • Frag March 29, 2009 (9:32 am)

    Factory alarms are useless. Locking lug nuts just slow folks down. A Kill switch wont stop anyone from steeling your wheels. Even a high dollar alarm can be defeated. This is why I wont own a Honda.

  • What The March 29, 2009 (11:42 am)

    Obviously this is a clear case of the owner using her car to “bait” the thieves.

  • Cleveland Ken March 29, 2009 (6:43 pm)

    I like how they used the spare tire to prop up the car. Now that’s a smart thief, he was able to open the trunk and maybe use their own jack too. I give him props for the ingenuity.

  • AmyT March 29, 2009 (10:47 pm)

    If you own a civic it’s best to get an active alarm that has the sensor that notes when the car is being jacked up.

  • weitz March 30, 2009 (7:00 am)

    http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=434545

    Top 2 stolen cars are Honda’s

  • Amanda March 30, 2009 (8:47 am)

    This is Amanda, owner of the wheel-less Honda above. Just a point of clarification: The tire jack and spare tire used to prop up the car were NOT ours. The thieves did not open the car doors or trunk, meaning the anti-theft system was not activated during the incident. My husband and I are investing in wheel locks for sure.

  • sa March 30, 2009 (12:29 pm)

    I have seen a few of these reports now on WSB. Amanda, can you please verify if the wheels you had were factory stock, or if they were something fancy aftermarket? I don’t know enough to know whether your “alloy” wheels are considered desirable aftermarket accessories, or if standard factory wheels are alloy. Thanks.

  • Amanda March 30, 2009 (6:26 pm)

    Our wheels were factory stock.

  • WestSeattleMojo April 2, 2009 (2:05 pm)

    I have a 2003 Honda Civic, and live near Manning and Charlestown and California Ave…and my wheels/rims (alloy, but stock!) were stolen the night of March 31st/morning of April 1st. I had locking lug-nuts on all rims as well as a car alarm, but neither of these stopped the theives. Just FYI to everyone in the neighborhood, especially Honda owners….

  • jennifer April 5, 2009 (3:36 pm)

    My comment to the the people who say “West Seattle is no longer safe” I live in what is considered a very safe neighborhood with virtually no violent crimes (Mill Creek) yet last year we had a rash of over 30 home break ins during the middle of the day in a two week span, 3 times young boys were victims of attempted abductions, AND cars are broken into and stolen on a regular basis in our “charming, leave it to beaver neighborhood” one poor family had thier wheels stolen 5 times off thier vehicle that included an alarm on the car and a video camera recording the thieves handiwork. Please share what town does not have crime? Stop bashing such a charming and FRIENDLY community!

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