West Seattle Crime Watch: Car break-ins, bike theft

| Crime | West Seattle news

Three reports to share in West Seattle Crime Watch this afternoon – two car break-ins and a bike theft – read on:

From LP:

Our car was accidentally left open last night and sure enough it was rifled through…they probably only scored a few bucks in change. They dropped a small black pouch in our driveway that looks like maybe it once held a small container of pepper spray? Maybe that came from someone else’s car? There was also a blue sweatshirt left in the street that may or may not be related. Anyway, this is the second time this has happened in recent months when our car has been unintentionally left unlocked. Makes me wonder if they are checking the car doors in our neighborhood every night, we’ll definitely be more diligent about that from now on! We are located near the intersection of 45th and Austin, already reported to SPD non-emergency.

From Tyler:

My blue 2009 Sahara Jeep parked in our alley drive way (with porch light turned on) was broken into (Saturday) night. The alley way is off 45th Ave SW and Hanford … I regret my car was unlocked. He/she/they? ransacked the interior of the Jeep pulling all articles out of the glovebox and center console as well as the back seat storage areas. I immediately identified my camera (an EOS 450d ($700)) in a black sling bag with a pair of Rayban prescription glasses and 2 women’s jackets were missing from the car.

While putting my car back together and picking up all strewn articles, a neighbor two doors down walked up and asked if our car had been broken into. They too, had their car, a black Jaguar, broken into. Their car doors were unlocked by accident as well,they had several music CD’s stolen. I explained I had an expensive camera stolen, and he said…oh, we have that. While looking around their vehicle they found my camera bag and a black jacket tossed between their neighbor’s car and a trash can. My other jacket was found behind our trash cans and bordering neighbors’ hedges.

Looks like they may have been startled by something?

From Laura – this note is edited from one she shared with a mailing list:

Well, wouldn’t you know it, we had a bike stolen from our garage on Saturday. … two kids were hanging out in my from yard with my oldest son and I. My oldest had played basketball with the kid at the DCC, so they were familiar with each other. After chatting with us for a bit, they rode down to the library with us – then stole (our son’s) bike from the library.

I phoned (husband) and asked him to drive around to try to find the kid on our son’s bike and our garage ended up being left open due to a remote malfunction. I then called the police non-emergency number and as we approached our house, there is THE SAME KID and his friends taking my bike with the trail-a-bike attached out of my house and riding it up Hudson. The police were great and they handed me off to the emergency number as the theft was in progress. The kids dropped my bike at the DAVA building (it is heavy and there was this crazy lady running with a baby in her arms screaming “Give me my bike! Stop that kid!” More happened but that is the long and short of it. (The) bike was not recovered.

So if you happen to see a yellow, Jeep brand, 18-speed, 18″ mountain bike, please do call the police or myself at the number below. The boy who stole the bike is African-American, 9-12, wears a large diamond in his left ear, about 4’10” … He lives on Holden, according to him, or in High Point according to the police and frequents the community center. With all that information I have some hope that the bike might be recovered although I am not holding my breath.

Side note: The West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meets tomorrow night, 7 pm, Southwest Precinct – if you have neighborhood crime concerns, that’s the best place to bring them up with local police leadership.

Westie May 17, 2010 (3:45 pm)

Before reading the WSB I had no idea there were so many unlocked cars left out overnight! No wonder all crooks keep coming back. It’s easy pickings.
A word of advice – invest in a remote car door lock. Before I go to bed I’ll click mine to confirm the doors are locked. Yes, they’ll still get in if they want to (or if they see a $700 camera laying there, or a GPS on the seat), but if the door is locked evidence appears to show they’ll keep going to find the one that’s not locked.

mike May 17, 2010 (4:53 pm)

honestly not sure if locking really helps. If you have something valuable in your car they’ll just break the window or break the lock. My girlfriend’s car was locked in open well lit visible area and had only small value junk in the car. The cost of the damage was astronomically more than the value of the junk they stole.

I think the best you can do if you must store valuables in your car is the car alarm, but even that may not help.

kathleen May 17, 2010 (5:12 pm)

My current strategy is to keep nothing of value in the car and keep the doors unlocked. My car has been stolen out of my carport twice (eventually got it back both times) and the doors were locked. The cost to repair the punched-out lock was huge.
If they want in, they’re getting in. If they’re just rifling through for stuff at least you’re not out the cost of the damaged door – assuming they do no other damage.

blah May 17, 2010 (11:42 pm)

does the kid have a mowhawk?

Cheryl May 18, 2010 (12:51 pm)

First time in the 3 years we have lived in West Seatte…but we too have had something stolen. We live on Erskine Way SW & Dawson (or 45th SW & Dawson). On Thursday evening or Friday day (May 13th & 14th) someone stole the two large ceramic pots we had out front between the street & the sidewalk. These are pots that have 18” to 24″ steel rods that hold them in place and should be a deterrent…none the less…the pots are gone and West Seattle’s increasing petty crime has tarnished us.

jsrekd May 19, 2010 (9:17 am)

Yep – thinking about leaving it unlocked, they just take the “stuff” and since I try not to keep anything of value in my car…we had our car broken into last week, 6700 blk of 41st Ave SW – broke the passenger window, $150 later….

teah May 20, 2010 (4:29 pm)

I was looking all over the site to see if anyone in my neighborhood reported the car break-ins that happened last Saturday (May 15th) night. I live on 37th between Roxbury and 98th, and at least 5 cars were broken into and vandalized on 37th and Roxbury. One car on Roxbury (right next to the church on the corner of 35th and Roxbury) had all it’s windows broken and the windshield smashed. My neighbors across the street always leave their car unlocked and nothing in it to prevent their windows getting smashed, but they busted up everything inside anyway.

cj May 22, 2010 (10:19 pm)

We live in the same area as the Roxbury car prowls/damage and both of our cars were broken into last night, 5/21- on 104th. We’ve had both cars broken into with the doors locked, and $200-$400 worth of damage done that way, and this time, all doors were unlocked and they got a pocketknife- that’s it. The SPD officer who took the complaint said it was definitely cheaper that way. I also heard about a recent daytime burglary attempt in Arbor Heights but the resident was home. Anyone else get hit recently?

TS June 4, 2010 (2:45 pm)

Mine was the car with all the windows smashed. They even took the time to smash the turn signal lenses at all 4 corners of the car. They also took the mediocre CD player and my wired cell phone earpiece. Sadly, it was enough to total the car even though the car ran fine and even the paint wasn’t scratched (it was a 13-year-old car but a daily driver). It appears that the vandals tried to steal it first. The SPD officer told me that there were a total of 6 cars in the area with broken windows that night. This is now the neighborhood we live in – no one seems to be allowed to own anything of value. I will be moving away as soon as financially possible.

Sorry, comment time is over.