West Seattle Crime Watch: Man in yard; thieves on video

Two reader alerts to share this morning; both came in last night: One, a man who turned up in a family’s yard; the other, two men caught on a surveillance camera stealing metal including a wheelbarrow:

First, the mom reporting this sighting does not want to be identified:

We live in the area of 44th Ave SW and Dakota [map] – today at approximately 3:00 PM our two girls were playing in the back yard and noticed a man standing in our front yard – likely close to the small gate dividing the yards. They said he looked like had just finished peeing because he was buttoning up his shorts and then he waved to them. They described him to be a white male, curly black hair and a mustache. It is unclear on his age. Seattle Police responded and took a report. Sounds to be a sex offender and quite alarming that he would come onto our property.

Second, a clip from Marc’s surveillance cameras near 13th SW/Trenton [map] in Highland Park. We do not show faces or use names or other fully identifying information for people who have not been charged/convicted of a crime, but the faces aren’t recognizable here:

Marc says he’s had surveillance cameras covering the driveway ever since a break-in three years ago. He’s wondering if anyone else saw these men and noticed what vehicle they were driving, maybe even took down a plate; police have taken a report (10-220076) if you have information to contribute to the investigation.

Justin June 29, 2010 (8:52 am)

“Sounds like a sex offender”

WTF? He’s a sex offender because he has a moustache? Because he pees? Because waves to children?

C’mon Mom. Stop being such a worry-wort.

Chris June 29, 2010 (8:55 am)

I recognize these characters. They knocked on my door yesterday about 4 p.m. and asked if I had any scrap metal I wanted to get rid of. The white guy has shaggy dark hair and a mustache; normal build. The black guy is tall and skinny. They were driving a beat up pick up that had bunch of other stuff in the back (probably your wheelbarrow). I think it was a grey, older chevy. I am at 15th and Trenton. Let me know if I can help out.

Janis Jerochim June 29, 2010 (9:41 am)

I saw a man like this in Lincoln park yesterday He was walking back and forth and looking around. He made me nervous so I went over by someone. This comment on the man in yard notthe wheelbarrow theft.

meg June 29, 2010 (10:01 am)

Justin- chances are he wasnt peeing in the yard. She isnt being paranoid. She is being a mother. The thought of that situation makes me want to throw up. How awful.

proactiveWS June 29, 2010 (10:03 am)

Yeah, maybe we shouldn’t be throwing around “sex offender” so casually. I mean, was he waving at your girls with his penis? That would warrant sex offender, but having appeared to have been peeing and then waving at someone…not so much.

Cameron June 29, 2010 (10:05 am)

Yea, I have to agree with Justin on this one.

visitor June 29, 2010 (10:05 am)

http://www.icrimewatch.net/index.php?AgencyID=54473

LDH June 29, 2010 (10:08 am)

um Justin,
most grown men don’t stop in yards with little kids playing and drop trou… and wave.

Ken June 29, 2010 (10:26 am)

Seems like we can find some middle ground here… yes, just because the stranger was peeing in her yard doesn’t automatically make him a sex offender. And yes, I would be extremely concerned anyway if a strange man was peeing in my front yard while my kids were playing nearby, sex offender or no. OK?

onceachef June 29, 2010 (10:58 am)

Justin and Cameron, you’ve got be kidding…maybe he’s not a sex offender but what he was doing was OFFENSIVE, even if it was just peeing…in broad daylight…in someone’s yard….I guess you guys have experience at this?

WS Steve June 29, 2010 (11:20 am)

Justin…you’re really ok with random guys relieving themselves in your front yard? Can I stop by on my way home from Bev Place?

And yes…guys with moustaches are %15 more likely to be a perv.

Or a cop.

me on 28th Ave SW June 29, 2010 (11:46 am)

As I read the above statement it states that the little girls said “it looked like he had finished peeing”, being little girls they wouldn’t really know any other reason for an adult male to be pulling up his pants, right? We don’t know if he was actually peeing or not. Yuck either way.

uglybrowncrow June 29, 2010 (12:55 pm)

You better call the FBI/police everytime you see a single-middle-aged male roaming around West Seattle–or in the park…lol

Katherine June 29, 2010 (1:01 pm)

I loaded up the back of my pickup parked on Kenyan between 16th and 17th with a bunch of stuff to take to the dump. Everything metal was taken from it. On the one hand, it saved me a trip to the dump and they didn’t even leave the tailgate down. On the other hand, it was still stealing. Lesson is: don’t leave any metal out that you want to keep!

DC June 29, 2010 (2:26 pm)

@visitor: Thanks for posting the link

kim June 29, 2010 (3:09 pm)

re: wheelbarrow
From the video, it looks like th wheelbarrow might have been out w/the trash, left for the taking. Its tire was flat, and it was outside of the yard iwth the garbage cans.

cherylc June 29, 2010 (4:11 pm)

I agree, who knows if that guy is a sex offender, or was just drunk and peeing in someone’s yard. But I definitely do not want people peeing in my yard, and I really wouldn’t want to see it. It would scare me. (I’m a woman with a daughter, but not the one who made the report.)

I did see a guy peeing against the side of the hair salon up by John’s market early in the morning this winter. I was the only one there (besides, obviously lots of traffic, but it was dark), and it made me nervous, but not as much as similar behavior in my yard, by my kids. It’s all context, you know? Guy peeing in the woods or bushes, pretty typical. Guy peeing in a public place in front of people, that’s a little weird.

Marc June 29, 2010 (4:35 pm)

Kim,
the wheelbarrow was between the trash cans, but stored in the driveway and not put out to the street for trash day (weds for us). It did need the tire re-inflated, but clearly had yard waste in it (which they dumped out). As far as I and the police are concerned it was stolen. They trespassed on my property without permission and took something. That is theft. I’m actually kind of amazed by the thought that this sort of thing could be justified as somehow our fault. I’ll agree the item could have been stored more securely, but had the garage been inadvertently been left open (which has happened to many of us)and the wheelbarrow left inside, I have no doubt they would have been “scavenging” for things in my house as well. They are thieves.

Claire June 29, 2010 (6:35 pm)

Nobody should be standing IN someone else’s yard (not the sidewalk), watching children, peeing or not, zipping up their pants and waving to children. Fortunately kids would think that someone zipping up their pants had just finished peeing. Adults would know that probably isn’t happening.
Justin – he’s not a sex offender because of his moustache or because he pees or because he waves to kids. It’s because of the reasons above. If everyone who pees was a sex offender, we all would be. Duh! Clearly you do not have kids or you enjoy peeing in strangers’ yards in the middle of the afternoon. Just watch whose yard you go in. One day it may be the wrong yard.

Westy June 30, 2010 (4:21 pm)

The man is clearly not as educated as you all must be- he’s collecting scrap metal! :) Keeping anything near your garbage cans is potential garbage to him I’m sure. Just driving in a neighborhood how many times do you see good item, left by garbage cans for someone to take home? Sometimes labled “FREE”. As in peeing on a fence.. How many times do you see “no public restrooms” or “restrooms for customers only”? It just goes to show we all need to be careful what we keep out.

caren July 1, 2010 (11:54 am)

Did anyone else notice that the kids were playing in the BACK yard, and they saw the guy in the FRONT yard. It’s not as though he had his pants down right in front of them. Not saying he wasn’t doing anything wrong, but just pointing out part of the story that most commenters failed to consider.
.
Also, he was “buttoning up his shorts”. It’s not a fact that he urinated in the yard. He might’ve just finished tucking in his shirt for all we know.

Claire July 1, 2010 (6:16 pm)

Caren, the kids were playing in the back yard. The man came to the fence between the front yard and back yard (see small gate dividing the yards).
You are clearly missing the point. Peeing is not the issue here. Watching kids you don’t know, on private property (up in someone’s yard), while buttoning up his shorts. That is the issue.

Westy July 2, 2010 (6:07 pm)

 all of the responses are comical! As mentioned the child didn’t know the aprox age of the man. But did notice his zipper was down or did someone put those words in the childs mouth?

Claire July 2, 2010 (9:07 pm)

Westy – Comical. How this is appropriate is beyond me. Your comment makes no sense whatsoever! Many adults can’t guess the age of a person or guess it correctly. It doesn’t say anywhere that the child didn’t know the approximate age. I’m sure a child would not be asked that question because they would not know the answer.
But guess what, a child can tell if a zipper is being pulled up on pants. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. There’s only two reasons to zip up your pants. Should I spell it out?
Why so many people feel it is okay for a strange man to be in someone’s yard, on private property, looking at little girls, zipping up his pants is frightening. It’s not okay in any way shape or form.

Sorry, comment time is over.