(WSB photo showing Zebra burglary damage, just after police arrived on July 19th)
We promised a followup on the broken-glass burglaries we’ve been covering in the past two weeks – starting with one at The Swinery on July 16 – so here’s the newest information from Southwest Precinct Lt. Norm James. He confirms:
We do indeed have a commercial burglary pattern in West Seattle. To date, we’ve had 8 confirmed smash and grab burglaries that fit within our pattern since the middle of July. The burglar typically breaks a window to gain entry, grabs a cash register/vending machine, then flees.
Lt. James says another common point is that they’re happening in the early morning hours. He says King County Sheriff’s Office detectives also are investigating similar cases, and working with SPD counterparts “to coordinate the investigation.” Meantime, the Southwest Precinct is checking to see if any other SPD precincts have noticed similar trends. As for what else is being done about this new “burglary pattern,” Lt. James continues:
We have advised businesses to try to make it inconvenient for burglars to access cash registers/vending machines. We are also putting out directed patrols in the areas of these burglaries. As always, we ask for the community’s assistance in reporting suspicious people and activities. At this time we’ve been asking businesses with cameras focusing on the exterior of their buildings (to) review those tapes every 24 hours and report suspicious activity.
The most recent smash-and-grab was early Saturday at the liquor store in The Junction (WSB coverage here – our story also lists the previous ones we covered, and has a comment that adds to the list).
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