13 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: Car-prowl alert, and 2 home break-ins"

• winterhawk March 4, 2010 (2:17 pm)

  I only drive every couple days, but either Sunday night or Monday night someone ransacked my car near 26th and Kenyon. Nothing was taken, I assume they were interupted. I was lucky they tried the door before they smashed the window (it was unlocked, long story) but there was a long metal bar on the ground next to the drivers door.

• jh March 4, 2010 (2:48 pm)

  Really sorry to hear this – we live within a mile of the area and were burglarized back in August (broke through the garage during the day). We’ve made significant security improvements since…How do they pull the window off of the house exactly? Is there actually a way to protect against this?

  * My specific home: Burglars pulled window off of house and avoided home security system’s internal glass-break sensors

• grr March 4, 2010 (2:55 pm)

  amazing..even with full door/window security, I still worry. Motion sensors are an important part of any system as well..Should always have one upstairs and downstairs.

• mark March 4, 2010 (3:00 pm)

  I am not sure what they meant by “pull the window off” but any carpenter can take most any window off with a hammer and pry bar in a few minutes. You would hope the neigbors might take notice.

• lazybeard March 4, 2010 (4:25 pm)

  grr — While motion sensors would of caught the issue, the residents possibly have pets. When we had our alarm system (Brinks/Broadview) installed the installer stated that it’s standard practice not to install motion sensors when their are pets that live in the home. That could be the case here.

• anonymous March 4, 2010 (8:16 pm)

  Westwood/ roxbury area: My house was ransacked about one month ago. They didn’t steal anything (electronics smashed, etc.). How did you get a forensics team to come? I like the idea of the block watch…

• henderson March 4, 2010 (11:43 pm)

  makes you wonder if its worth making the exterior of your house visually attractive. i’ve come across a report which mentions that generally a tip is to make your house look unappealing, but then again i don’t know what that would mean through a burglar’s eyes. thanks for the info though, i found you via http://www.alarmsreviews.com

• the_homeowner_of_this_incident March 5, 2010 (4:59 pm)

  The windows of the house all have a hard plastic shielding around the window frame. They simply pulled off the shielding, exposed the actual glass window edge, and either pried OR somehow tugged the physical glass window off… At a glance, these windows look secure, but they are cheaply protected only by the hard plastic shielding. The window broke on the back yard lawn and they climbed through the metal window frame.

  In the case of my neighbor, their window locks don’t work. The window was slid up and bam… both of our houses were built (my house) and remodeled (the neighbors) by the same builder. DOH!

  To answer some of the other things mentioned here:

  1. We have 2 cats and are now working on pet-safe motion sensors. The issue with these sorts of sensors are of course the false alarm tendencies.

  2. The forensics team request was issued by the King County Sheriff officers on the scene
  – It is questionable how effective this was, as black quasi-oily powder was coated over most everything that was moved (which is essentially everything). Still there is a chance their finger prints were in their criminal database and they could be identified.

  3. *pre-emptive answer* We moved in a few months ago and this happens… YIKES!

  Oh well. Life goes on… Protect your homes, stick together, and hopefully we’ll catch some of these low-lives…

  Which reminds me (on a MUCH brighter note) – I also have a house on Beacon Hill and 2 guys tried to break in while I (and my brother) were home. We ended up identifying them, tracking them down at a bus stop near our house, and holding them till the police came. They attempted to kick in the kitchen door and failed… In the process they left a clear, physical boot print on the door as evidence. The police not only arrested them, but took both of their footwear as evidence… Sweet, sweet justice. In this time of loss, I think of that situation to cheer me up… WE CAN PROTECT OUR HOMES! :)

  – A friend

• Pissed off neighbor March 6, 2010 (11:45 am)

  Seaview – 45th and Juneau – More cars broken in to last night.

  • WSB March 6, 2010 (11:56 am)

    Sorry to hear it. If you or anyone cares to write up a short report we can publish it as a separate Crime Watch so it can be linked on our CW page … Also please make sure to report it to police. That may sound “no duh” for some but we have received reports in the past of car prowls, for example, that police say were never reported to them – the official stats and also resource deployment depend on them having an accurate picture of what’s going on out there – TR

• Michelle March 6, 2010 (1:00 pm)

  Car prowl losses may be covered by your homeowner’s insurance, so they should be reported to the police. Years ago, my son’s car, parked in front of our house, was broken into and tools and other things were taken. Homeowner’s insurance paid after the deductible…

• Jes March 15, 2010 (8:55 am)

  Sometime between Thursday, Feb. 25 and Friday the 26th, my car plus neighbor’s car was broken into. We live in a “secured” condo on Avalon Way with a garage under the building. This is the 2nd time my car has been broken into in the garage. I’ve asked the condo association about installing cameras. It would not only help identify the criminal and be evidence in the crime, but it would give insight as to how the criminal is entering a so called secured building. They have refused, saying that a camera doesn’t stop crimes, that it doesn’t give good enough pictures, and that these crimes are just “part of urban living”. They have no plan of improving security or keeping these crimes from happening. I feel frustrated and discouraged.

• Keith Sawka March 16, 2010 (9:16 pm)

  I would be very frustrated as well! My colleague lives in a condo building here in West Seattle and someone climbed up to the second floor and stole a key/fire box. He gained access to the garage and broke into some cars and got into one of the condos. It’s a good thing that we a installed video surveillance in the building because they caught him on several cameras and now the video footage is police evidence. I would use this as an example with your condo association. We could even talk to them on your behalf if you like. We are a new sponsor on this blog and offer alarm and video surveillance systems. ksawka@freedomsystemsinc.com

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