In the latest West Seattle Crime Watch roundup – an e-mailed warning from a WSB’er that car prowlers will break into “even the most dirty old beat-up car” – plus, from the police files, the baseboard burglary, the overgrowth pathway, and the bike burglar caught on tape, among other cases – all ahead:
From the WSB inbox, sent by P:
Friday morning we had our old truck broken into while it was parked by Alki point. We went on a walk down to Alki park and when we returned the car doors were locked just as we had left them, BUT the glove compartment was open and looked rifled through and the armrest was open in a different position than when we left it (the armrest has a compartment that is broken so we never keep things in it) but this time it was in a position that looked like someone had been looking to see if there was anything inside.
We were quite perplexed; it seemed fishy and we were both sure that things were not how we had left them in the car – BUT because no windows were broken, we second-guessed our instincts. I checked my insurance papers that were in the glove compartment and they all seemed to be there still, so those were not stolen. Luckily we did not have anything worth stealing in the car, so nothing was missing.
Our car is an old beat-up truck and is quite grungy and doggy inside – no fancy stereo, nothing shiny in the least – I never thought it would get broken into.
We forgot about the incident since it didn¹t seem like anything was taken and no windows were broken. I wondered if maybe I had forgotten to lock one of the doors before we went on our walk but I never do that.
Well. Since we did not try to open the passenger seat door with a key until this evening – we had not noticed that the passenger door lock had been completely tooled. The door still locks from the inside but the keyhole is completely messed up. Which confirmed our instincts on Friday were correct.
BEWARE when you go on a walk in the morning, don¹t leave anything valuable in your car. Thieves will break into even the most dirty old beat-up old cars if they think you have hidden valuables in your glove compartment.
From the SPD online database, which currently has incidents through last Wednesday:
BURGLARY, 8600 BLOCK 35TH SW, LAST WEDNESDAY MORNING OR AFTERNOON: While the home’s residents were way at work, somebody broke in and ransacked their house. The burglar/s left behind a kitchen knife on the living room floor along with two liquor bottles, and stole several other knives missing from a knife block found on the family-room couch, along with loose change, DVDs, and possibly jewelry.
BURGLARY, 1800 BLOCK SW DAWSON, LAST TUESDAY MORNING OR AFTERNOON:
A softball-sized rock was used to smash a window at this home so the burglar/s could break in. They took a new plasma HDTV and cash from a home office. The victim told police, according to the narrative, that she “believed the suspect/s possibly used the overgrown, city=owned pathway that is accessed through her driveway as a concealed avenue to transport her large television undetected. Seattle schoolchildren as well as Metro Bus commuters use the pathway daily, and unavoidably enter onto (her) property. … (She) claimed that she notified the city about her concerns about the unmanaged city owned pathway (but said) the city personnel that she spoke to informed her that the city no longer maintains the pathway and could offer no assistance.”
BURGLARY, 4400 BLOCK SW HUDSON, LAST MONDAY MORNING-EARLY AFTERNOON: Someone broke into a house that’s been undergoing renovation work and opened its baseboard heaters to take out their copper piping. The burglary was discovered by the homeowner, who lives next door; he noticed his tools taken, too. While investigating, police found all the missing items in a pile outside the house.
BURGLARY, 7500 BLOCK 28TH SW, LAST MONDAY: Someone threw a rock through a glass door to get into this house and steal a TV and DVD player. While investigating, police were told of two suspicious people seen in the area – “black males, possibly teens” – they were told the two had knocked at another door and looked through that home’s window. When confronted, one of them said “something about mowing the lawn,” then left.
BURGLARY, 9400 BLOCK 45TH SW, BETWEEN JUNE 17TH AND JUNE 22ND: Someone broke in by prying the screen off a basement window and shattering the glass, but nothing was taken.
BURGLARY, 2300 BLOCK 46TH SW, WEEKEND BEFORE LAST: Several items (not listed in the police report) were taken from an unlocked garage, which the victim said had been searched by the burglar(s) along with her unlocked vehicle, parked in the garage.
BURGLARY, 6500 BLOCK CALIFORNIA SW, EARLY JUNE 18TH: A bicycle that had been chained to a pillar in this building’s locked parking garage turned up missing. A surveillance video showed someone getting into the garage by using a code, taking off the chain and unlocking the bike, then leaving with it after about half an hour. The person on the video wasn’t a resident. But he turned up again later in the video – returning the stolen bike. Police looked at a still frame taken from the video and recognized a white male, born in 1983, described in the report as “a notorious burglar within William sector of West Seattle.”
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