West Seattle Crime Watch: Another business broken into

Less than a week after police confirmed to WSB that they are investigating the recent spate of broken-glass business break-ins as an official “burglary pattern,” there’s been another one. Luciano’s Pizza next to Admiral Theater confirms someone broke their window – it’s hard to tell from the photo because new glass is already in – and took their tip jar. (Thanks to the folks at nearby Mission for the tip; they say police were going around checking with other businesses.)

20 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: Another business broken into"

  • Can't believe it!! August 8, 2010 (2:02 pm)

    Can’t believe NO ONE has seen this happen! Someone must have seen something! Too many windows on too many businesses broken out! Time to get these thieves!!!

  • dsa August 8, 2010 (2:31 pm)

    Was this a daytime event? I don’t understand why anyone would expect a tip jar to have anything in it after closing hours in the middle of the night.

    • WSB August 8, 2010 (3:35 pm)

      They discovered it when they came in today, they told us.

  • bebecat August 8, 2010 (2:50 pm)

    Need the Police to patrol the area at night.

  • RJB August 8, 2010 (3:27 pm)

    I cannot believe the crime in W Seattle!! I LOVE it here but….wow.

  • smash the state August 8, 2010 (3:55 pm)

    don’t do meth, kids!

  • M Slye August 8, 2010 (4:09 pm)

    not again! this terrible and truly disappointing

  • barry August 8, 2010 (4:22 pm)

    its getting bad with crime around here

  • casey August 8, 2010 (5:09 pm)

    Time for neighborhood watch.

  • EyeLiveInWS August 8, 2010 (7:14 pm)

    Every time any crime is reported on this blog, some start saying “the crime rate is going up!” or how “bad” the crime is in West Seattle.
    .
    The facts show the crime in West Seattle is actully quite low in comparison to other areas. If you are afraid, please, do feel free to leave so I can get across the bridge a little quicker, k?

  • bridge to somewhere August 8, 2010 (8:10 pm)

    actually EyeLive, I believe the police have noticed this recent smash-and-grab trend too. Note the article that WSB linked to in this particular article . . .

  • coffee August 8, 2010 (8:24 pm)

    As a business owner, I think about this everynight when I go to bed, sometimes it keeps me awake at night too. I don’t have a cash register, and don’t keep cash on site, but I still worry…..

  • WTF August 8, 2010 (8:30 pm)

    EyeLiveInWS, where are YOU reading crime trends are quite low in comparison to… what? Watts? White Center? Lynnwood? Compton? Bellevue? Blue Ridge? It doesn’t make any difference what or whom West Seattle is compared to. Crime in our neighborhoods negatively effects all of us and is getting more than old. And, it will eventually lead to someone getting more seriously hurt or killed. We all need to stop sticking our heads in the sand and make the punishment worse than the crime. Coddled crimminals are repeat-crimminals.

  • William Brewer August 8, 2010 (8:34 pm)

    Time to start shooting some bad guys.

  • Pete August 8, 2010 (9:31 pm)

    If you look at the crime trends you will see that they are trednig downward. Compared to what you ask? Compared to year over year crime statistics of the SW Precinct. We will from time to time see a blip up in a particular category. These smash & grab burglaries are a big problem right now I admit but the police are looking at trends in these crimes, looking to see if these same time events are happenign in other precincts and will catch these folks. BUT…still look at the year over year statistics in the SW Precinct and you will see that our crime rate has trended downward.

  • cjboffoli August 8, 2010 (9:38 pm)

    EyeLiveInWS: I too have to question the application of this often quoted statistic. Although Seattle’s crime statistics average better than comparable cities/populations overall, it still is possible that crime statistics could be significantly higher in more local samples.
    .
    As an anecdotal comparison, in the four years that I have lived in my house in West Seattle, at least three immediate neighbors have had break-ins (one had a car stolen in the process) and I had at least one break-in attempt on my own house. In addition, two cars on my block have been broken into and ransacked. Police responded to a house nearby because of shots fired inside the house. Two blocks away someone was shot and killed (Bushaw), two banks were robbed and one person was held up at gunpoint on the street. An apartment building under construction on California was burned to the ground by an arsonist. And at least one of the businesses affected by this smash and grab robber (NW Art & Frame) is within this radius as well.
    .
    As a point of comparison, I lived in an apartment on the northern edge of Greenwich Village in NYC for an amount of time that is comparable to the time I have been in West Seattle. Neither I nor my immediate neighbors there were the victims of any kind of violent crime or property crime. None of the shops on my old block of 14th Street had their windows smashed.
    .
    In my own personal realm, crime has been a much more significant reality for me as a resident living near the Alaska Junction than it was when I was a resident of Lower Manhattan.

  • Jen August 8, 2010 (10:04 pm)

    I say next time you’re thinking of ordering a pizza, get it there. It’s actually very good & shows true West Seattle community spirit.

  • ad August 8, 2010 (10:18 pm)

    The curious thing to me about these smash/grab crimes is they must not be getting much $? How can that be worth the risk of getting caught?

    Business owners usually do not leave cash in registers over night. Several different foodservice/coffee places I had worked at have a safe the money is locked in, and it’s usually no more than $200 (or less). And during overnight tip jars usually have no more than a “bait dollar” in them!

  • lenguamor August 9, 2010 (1:46 am)

    Thank you for the much-needed perspective, Christopher.
    .
    In the 12 years I’ve lived in WS I’ve seen it go from a place where I hardly gave home security or personal safety much thought, to a place where those issues are never far from my thoughts.
    .
    Ignore the reality, folks, but that doesn’t make it any less real. Better to deal with it.

  • ad August 9, 2010 (8:56 am)

    Here’s what’s happened in my personal realm:

    -many neighbors cars stolen
    -meth being cooked in the home right next to mine (not far from the WS Junction)
    -dogs poisoned
    -homes in neighborhood burglarized
    -drugs/sex/littering in front of my home (a dead end viewpoint)
    -drunk driver smashing through nearly every parked car on the street, and then fleeing, still driving, as many chased him until he crashed into a garage
    -my dear pharmacists have been robbed several times
    -my car sustained damaged when someone was trying to break in (nothing of value inside!)

Sorry, comment time is over.