West Seattle Crime Watch: Another dead-end car prowl

From an anonymous Alki-area resident – second car-break-in report this week from someone who considered it unlikely on their quiet dead-end street – read on for the victim’s story, and what the thief DIDN’T take:

I live on Bonair Place, an extremely quiet dead end off of 53rd, half a block back from Alki (map), so for this to have happened is really surprising and alarming (despite the rise of this kind of thing and the fact that I’ve notice it creeping more and more north in West Seattle). Long story short, my car was locked last night and when I left for work this morning, the passenger door was propped open and once I opened it, saw that the contents of my car thrown everywhere. Console was torn open, cup holders removed, even the little storage areas in my door were a mess. My GPS (and the car charger, mount, etc) were taken along with a charger for my iphone, a cord for my iPod, and my change holder. Oddly enough, the thief didn’t want my Hanson cd (haha, I’m trying to find humor anywhere I can).

The victim asked a neighbor if anything unusual was seen last night, and that neighbor reported seeing someone unfamiliar walking down the street around 10:30 pm – no description to share, though. The e-mail concludes:

I just wanted to let you know (and the people in the area) to watch out and wonder if anyone else in the area was hit last night. My car was for sure locked so we’re baffled how he got in cuz there were no obvious signs of damage from entry. … Through your site (and its loyal readers), I’ve been very aware that crime is creeping toward Alki, and there had been a noticeable increase in tagging/graffiti there which again, I’m assuming is related. While I’m bummed I have to replace some stuff, my main concern is that now I feel creeped out and violated. Someone was in my car, creeping around on my street. And if it was the guy my neighbor saw, it happened only minutes after I took my dog out to pee before bed.

12 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: Another dead-end car prowl"

  • shane April 9, 2009 (5:46 pm)

    I used live on Bonair Pl. It doesn’t get any more dead end than that.

  • Another anonymous April 9, 2009 (6:02 pm)

    I was hit too last night, but I had nothing stolen. I live a few blocks down on 60th and Alki and my two cars (both convertibles) had their canvass tops slashed. Good times! We’ve never had problems like this before.

  • alki_2008 April 9, 2009 (7:36 pm)

    Odd that this happened on the one day since in the past week that it wasn’t super-crowded at Alki. Ugh! Might be nice to have the increased police presence when summer rolls around.

  • Chris April 10, 2009 (9:13 am)

    A screwdriver plunged into a car lock will work on vehicles that are older than 10-years old. This happened to my car about 15 years ago (living in AK at the time).
    It’s frustrating and pisses you off when you find your car broken into and stuff gone.

    For the person who posted their story – you may need a more lighted area to prevent this – we all know criminals don’t like working directly under light.

  • Brentut5 April 10, 2009 (12:14 pm)

    We live up the hill aways on 49th, also a dead-end. When driving my son to school this morning I noticed that 4 people on the next block had flat tires. Too much of a coincidence for me…

  • Tim April 10, 2009 (12:28 pm)

    I also live nearby, on a dead end. I never leave anything I care about in the car. I also have been leaving my car unlocked. Sometimes it is prowled, but at least the windows are never broken, and the roof isn’t slashed.

    Please think hard about lighting. It destroys a lot of good sky-watching, for often only a bit of piece of mind, with no real reduction in crime. If it is not done well, it provides shadows for creepy people, and lights up the car for criminals ease. Remember, these are brazen people. If they look around a well lit area, and nobody is about, then why wouldn’t they commit the crime? They work very quickly, so a little light rarely bothers them.
    Try checking with your insurance company before buying a car. They can tell you the most often broken into models for the area, right down to the year. Some of them, like 90’s honda’s were notoriously easy to get into just with a coat hanger and a few seconds. The dealer doesn’t usually mention this…

  • Brian April 10, 2009 (1:38 pm)

    I live on 40th Ave between Hinds & Manning near West Seattle High. Our car was broken into on the evening of 4/8. Luckily, we had taken out most valuables (including our GPS). All the thief got was spare change. Our doors were unlocked, so no damange. (We left it open accidentally after unloading groceries the night before!)

  • chase April 10, 2009 (2:03 pm)

    There has been trouble for the passed week in this area. My 14 year old nephew was mugged at whale tail park last Friday night. Thank god the police were right there because of a reported “car prowl”in the area. The 4 boys from white center were arrested up on California Ave.a short time later.It was a cold night and just two boys at the rec.center for skating and neighborhood fun. What is going to happen when the weather gets warm?….We have lived here our whole lives.That would be 50 years and have never had any trouble like this before. We want our Alki back!!!

  • Tom Wettengel April 10, 2009 (5:47 pm)

    My car alarm went off about 1030 pm the other night (04/08). I quickly looked ouside from our 3rd floor deck and saw a single black man wearing a hoodie with a back pack standing nearby. He slowing walked south along 55th Ave.SW (right off Alki Ave).

  • Amy April 10, 2009 (9:58 pm)

    Yep. My car was prowled, very near Bonair on Alki, March 31st. Nothing taken, because I don’t keep anything valuable in it. I sent a note to my neighbors; some of whom reported back that it’s also happened to them lately.

  • Ildiko April 10, 2009 (11:10 pm)

    It is the season. Last summer 59th Ave SW was hit. The car prowlers walked up the street from Alki beach towards Spokane hitting cars as they went. My car was hit. Luckily I do not keep anything expensive in it. After speaking with both the police and neighbors I had found that there were no less than seven cars hit that night alone. A few of my neighbors did not report it, thinking that it would not do any good.
    I would like to propose putting together a neighborhood watch. I was involved with one many years ago at a different address. There is something to be said when neighbors band together.
    A few things I would like to propose is to figure out how we can get a designated bicycle patrol on the beach such as the ones on Pioneer Square. I think this would help with keeping the beach/picnic areas cleaner as well as deter the drug dealing that is happening on the weekends down at the beach.
    I am in the process of putting together a plan. Will comment again as I figure out how to go about this.

  • WSB April 10, 2009 (11:17 pm)

    In addition to organizing a Block Watch, I cannot repeat strongly enough something I have said many times before: Come to the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meetings. The new leadership that’s been in place about a year has made many changes, and these meetings are always attended by police leadership – with chances for attendees to directly report/ask about problems and concerns. We have been covering these meetings regularly for a year and a half and there is generally decent representation from south/eastern West Seattle but seldom anyone from north West Seattle, which as is shown here is far from crime-immune- The group’s next meeting is 7 pm, April 21, Southwest Precinct, and it would be a great place to either get a sounding board for the plan you come up with, or to get help for further developing one – TR

Sorry, comment time is over.