West Seattle Crime Watch: Latest cases of wheel-stealing

ORIGINAL 11:30 AM REPORT: Out of the WSB inbox this morning, from Gretchen:

We woke up to our car on cinder blocks, all four wheels stolen. We’re at 17th and Thistle [map]. Think it happened about 1 am. I woke up, feeling like I heard a thud, but don’t sleep well so kind of wrote it off. My 2 year old woke up as well. I went in to his room, fixed his blanket, everyone went back to sleep. Saw it at 6 am this morning. It’s a Honda Civic, so-so rims, 2 year old tires. Was parked in our driveway on Thistle, which gets traffic, but of course not much at 1 am. Our bedroom window is only 10 feet away from where the car’s parked. We have lights on in the backyard and on the front porch. We have dogs that bark at things, but they didn’t hear this. The people who did it were obviously very quiet. We reported it this morning and an officer came over. He said it’s the 2nd one this week in W Seattle. They didn’t leave anything behind, but the officer told me they often do leave tools. Car was still locked. Not sure how one can prevent something like this happening, other than listening to my gut and checking on things when I woke up. I had a feeling…damn. Wish I’d listened to it. Lesson learned.

(Last wheel-stealing reported here was 2 1/2 weeks ago.) Side note: Just half a mile directly east of where this happened, crime updates are part of the agenda for the Westwood Neighborhood Council tonight, 7 pm, Southwest Community Center (2801 SW Thistle). ADDED 1:42 PM: Betsey just e-mailed to say, “My neighbor directly across the street woke up to all four wheels gone and her car up on blocks. She did file a police report.” (This is on 11th SW near Thistle, blocks east of the first report, Betsey says.)

12 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: Latest cases of wheel-stealing"

  • bebecat February 11, 2010 (11:39 am)

    lug locks?

  • SomeGuy February 11, 2010 (12:54 pm)

    Bebecat beat me to it but I was thinking the same thing – do wheel locks actually prevent this or do the thieves have all the keys for those too? Anyone know?

  • ghar72 February 11, 2010 (12:59 pm)

    Yep, got them now. For those who don’t have them, they cost $20 at Les Schwab.

  • rockergirl February 11, 2010 (1:02 pm)

    Such a bummer – so brazen too! This happened a few years ago near our house – thiefs parked the car in our alley jacked it up and took the tires.
    I heard the noise and called the cops but they were long gone by the time the cops arrived. We park our honda in our garage to keep it from getting ripped off – also has an alarm and we use a club if we go out somewhere n park it. Wheels have special locks too.

  • Sue February 11, 2010 (1:51 pm)

    When we bought our car last year, I paid extra for wheel locks. I figure that they’re probably not theft-proof, but anything that slows down a thief is a good thing. If they have a choice between having to deal with a lock on my wheels or stealing the unlocked ones ont he car next to it, they’ll most likely go for the quicker option.

  • KBear February 11, 2010 (1:59 pm)

    Just don’t misplace the key and then get a flat tire…

  • MargL February 11, 2010 (3:23 pm)

    Argh! So sorry to the folks this is happening to!

    Sounds like they need to start ‘carding’ at the hardware stores for folks buying 4 cinder blocks like they ‘card’ young folks when they try to purchase multiple cans of spray paint… Husband saw that happen at Home Depot recently. The young man in line decided not to purchase the spray paint after they asked for ID.

    BTW – if you’re looking to get rid of the cinder blocks I’m looking for some to build raised beds with :-D

  • Shannon February 11, 2010 (7:27 pm)

    This happened to my car last night as well – all four wheels taken off and left on blocks, it was parked at six blocks away at 11th Ave and Thistle – any leads or suspicious activity people have, please report

  • ghar72 February 11, 2010 (9:10 pm)

    You can have the cinder blocks MargL. Glad they can go to some good use! You can email me at ghar72atgmail.
    Shannon, Wow!! What kind of car do you have? I’ve been looking on CL tonight and think i found my tires being sold by someone in southcenter. How to prove it is the question. Did you report yours? Definitely do. I spoke with Officer Carlson. Let them know that you know this happened the same night as another just 6 blocks away. Interesting that we’re so close, but not a straight shot through b/c of the stairs. You’d think they’re connected but…
    Feel free to email me if you want to compare notes. Most everything is in the message I sent to Tracy. Please keep us posted on your situation. Pain in the ass to get new tires though, huh? Our other car was boxed in, so we had to borrow a neighbor’s to get it all straightened out. $800 later. Ugh. Should’ve bought them from the jerks selling them on CL for $500 cheaper!

  • BBGuest February 11, 2010 (10:05 pm)

    This probably sounds silly but when I saw Shannon’s car this morning it looked perfectly normal, until I saw that it was up on blocks! Why do they bother to put it up on blocks? Is the thief planning to protect the brakes so that you will buy the tires on CL?

  • rockergirl February 11, 2010 (10:10 pm)

    Call the cops if you found them on craigslist they can setup a sting I believe.

  • dsa February 11, 2010 (11:17 pm)

    I’m pretty sure they need the blocks in order to get their jack back out once the wheels are off the car. Otherwise it would get stuck under the car.

    So far no one has mentioned anything about motion alarms either not working, not being set, or not having one. My alarm cost a little over $200. That is much less than four wheels and tires.

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