West Seattle Crime Watch: Teens held up; home broken into

Hoping these will be the last ones for the night, but they couldn’t wait till tomorrow. Ann wants to send out a warning about the robbers who held up her son and friends in Westwood last night, and Jeanine sent word of a break-in this afternoon. Both reports ahead:

First, just in from Ann:

After 11:30 pm last night (8/17/11) my 15 year old son and his two friends were walking from Westwood Village headed toward Arbor Heights. when they noticed that there were two African American young men, dressed in black following them. The boys felt uneasy about the two~ and went into the 7-11 on the corner of 35th and Barton to allow the two guys pass by.

When they felt that the coast was clear, they headed towards Arbor Heights and before they know it, they were approached by the two guys again. Looks like they were waiting for my son and his friends.

The 2 guys showed a handgun and had my son give up his cell phone and Vashon Island Lacrosse team jacket. my son and his friends didn’t have any money on them (thank goodness). So the guys didn’t get much from the boys. cell phones and clothing can be easily replaced.

They had walked to and from Westwood Village many times (day and night) over the past few years without any incidents. My son said the 2 guys made a comment as having some affiliation with the guys that shot and killed SweetHeart the other night. This makes me even more nervous.

i would like to warn the residents of Westwood, especially around the Westwood Village area, to please be careful when they are walking at night.

And from Jeanine:

I thought the WSB should know that myself and my husband were burglarized today around 3pm in the 6700 block of 18th Ave SW. They crawled in through the downstairs door window after trying to kick in the door. (I had a door club/stop in place, which slowed them down.) They took a TV, a laptop, a shotgun, and a ring. The officers who helped us said that they’re pretty sure they know who did it as they are repeat offenders. As evidence, they confiscated one of my kitchen knives that the burglars were carrying around the house, broken glass and a bloodied curtain from the door they came through. Thankfully, they did not make a huge mess and nothing was rifled through, but our dog is pretty shaken up. A neighbor saw the burglars and called the police. Please make the neighborhood aware (we already informed our block watch captain), and if anyone has any info please let us know.

Westgirl August 18, 2011 (9:13 pm)

What’s going on with all these afternoon robberies?? So scary! Glad everyone is safe and sound though!

Joel August 18, 2011 (9:33 pm)

can’t even walk home from the shopping center. time to take the police from Admiral and put them at Roxbury 24/7.

these hoods need to do some hard time in prison.

CMT August 18, 2011 (10:22 pm)

I ran across this petition to restore a sheriff’s deputy to White Center. Sounds like a good idea. That community has really been working to rebuild itself and deserves some help.

http://www.change.org/petitions/dowconstantinekingcountygov-restore-funding-for-a-white-center-deputy

ohmy August 18, 2011 (11:06 pm)

Completely agree with CMT – they should have more than one though for safety and overall effectiveness. We are talking a sharp rise in gangs again.

z August 18, 2011 (11:09 pm)

Great, one more shotgun on the street in the hands of an idiot.

Norma August 18, 2011 (11:15 pm)

I live in the Admiral district but I shop at Westwood Village,the Safeway on Roxbury and several businesses in White Center and have family and friends that live in all of those areas. It’s important for every neighborhood to feel safe. I appreciate the work our local police do and the WSB for keeping us informed.

Mike August 19, 2011 (1:22 am)

Sorry to hear about these incidents. Please, please get a gun safe. Leaving guns in the open only let’s the bad guys get them faster. This is basic gun safety, even taught in my hunters safety course 24 years ago.

KT August 19, 2011 (7:03 am)

@Jeanine – I live on 17th very close to you, and I would like to get active with the block watch. Is there a place I can go to get information for it? So sorry that you had to deal with this. Let me know if you need help with anything too.

Really August 19, 2011 (7:27 am)

Thanks for blaming the victim. You do realize that no background check is required to purchase a shotgun, so practically anyone can buy one with no waiting period.

WSB August 19, 2011 (7:48 am)

“Really,” that’s not “blaming the victim” by our rules – we don’t allow outright “victim-blaming” comments. It’s a good general reminder BUT on the other hand, Jeanine didn’t say, nor would a police report likely say, where the gun was when the burglar(s) found it. It in fact could have been locked up somewhere for all we know, and we don’t require Crime Watch reports to go into those details – some people do, some don’t; the point here is just “there was a burglary” … – TR

JD August 19, 2011 (8:15 am)

Really – A shotgun purchase goes through the same checks that someone purchasing an AR15, AK47 or Long Hunting Rifle goes through (If purchased at a store)

Alki Resident August 19, 2011 (8:22 am)

@Ann-I’m feeling pretty strongly that those two thugs had nothing to do with Sweethearts murder but only to put fear in the boys that if they didn’t hand over the goods,something bad would happen.Does 7-11 have surveilance of them walking by chance?My kids know to stay somewhere and call for a ride,this’ll give me a chance to drive around and see the perps myself so they get arrested.

Cclarue August 19, 2011 (8:38 am)

I’m close on 16th as well. We have no current block watch. We could get a big block group together.

OP August 19, 2011 (9:51 am)

Really glad to hear the boys are safe. And smart thinking on their part to just hand over petty items to these clowns/thugs/vermin. There was a notable arrest made in the “Sweetheart” murder, so, given the description here it’s unlikely these two had anything to do with that crime—though it’s disturbingly possible.

On a side note: I would not be happy with my 15-year old son being out at 11:30 at night—I don’t care how often they do it. Westwood Village is a decent area, but it has issues.

ConcernedParent August 19, 2011 (10:47 am)

I live just north of Lincoln Park and would like to know how to get info on being a BLOCK PARENT as well as info on NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH. Can anyone email me some info please : randyrocket93@gmail.com

Security Guy August 19, 2011 (12:12 pm)

Most residential burglaries happen in broad daylight. The bad guys prefer to break in when people are not at home. It makes their jobs less stressful when they aren’t interrupted.

Many people keep a firearm for home safety. A gun locked in a safe will protect no one, just as an empty gun protects no one. The bad guys are not going to just sit there if you ask them to wait while you unlock your safe (my gun safe usually takes at least 2 attempts to open).

NearWestwood August 19, 2011 (1:26 pm)

We are on 26th Ave S a few blocks below Roxbury.

We had some neighbors who had their back patio door kicked in also during the midafternoon, just a week or so ago – took some valuables from the house, including computers. They have an alarm, but usually rely on motion sensors – which aren’t generally switched on during the day when people are home. Someone WAS home, but asleep. A laptop was taken from right next to them >:( :(

We are adding extra sensors to our patio doors now :P

Dave August 19, 2011 (1:32 pm)

As to the boys who were mugged, I’m the step-father of one. Last night, I cruised that area around the same time that the event occurred and spoke to some teens who were hanging out.
They told me that they hadn’t heard of it, but that two young guys had moved in a block away who were causing problems with neighbors and stealing items from their yards.
I’ll be driving my partner’s son by there occasionally to see if we can sight these guys and determine if they’re the same ones, so we can call the police with their address.
I’m really sick and tired of this crap. Shootings in White Center, robberies in West Seattle and, in my neighborhood, Top Hat, we’ve had a lot of car-prowls and people shooting up in abandoned houses. I’ve had to call the police several times on break-in’s at the empty house across the street and I’ve even gone in and snapped the needles off the hypodermics they’ve left behind.
This has to stop.

Rob August 19, 2011 (2:40 pm)

Also, to the several who asked about blockwatch- there is a well established group that coordinates blockwatch with the SW police precinct..I know they have a page on facebook if you seach for “west seattle blockwatch”.

WSB August 19, 2011 (2:49 pm)

http://wsblockwatchnet.wordpress.com
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West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network
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Basic “how to set up a block watch” is on the Seattle Police website – http://seattle.gov/police

Adam August 19, 2011 (3:43 pm)

The robber picked up a knife to use as a weapon while exploring the house? That’s comforting.

Curious August 19, 2011 (3:49 pm)

Your son should read the descriptions of the guys from the Sweetheart murder…they are looking for two others. So don’t say these guys couldn’t have been related these jerks get off on doing this stuff to people so they could have been bragging about it knowing your son and his friends wouldn’t want to get shot too. Read the description we need to get these people off our streets!

Dave August 20, 2011 (1:07 am)

He’s seen the Sheriff’s video of the shooting suspects and they’re not the same. Thanks, though, for the suggestion.

Concerned Voter August 22, 2011 (4:42 pm)

Saying they were affiliated with the guys who shot the woman in White Center was probably just a scare tactic.

Its time to take back West Seattle into the real citizens hands!

moji August 22, 2011 (8:10 pm)

Dave,
don’t touch the dirty needles. Don’t.

Lisa August 23, 2011 (10:39 am)

No one should have a gun in the house without having it locked in a safe that takes longer to get into than the few minutes most burglars will spend in a house. Be smart and safe – let’s not contribute to causing a much worse crime somewhere else.

Dave August 24, 2011 (12:30 am)

Rest assured, Moji, I used two pairs of pliers to deal with them.

Grew up here August 24, 2011 (7:58 pm)

I have to admit I am pretty dissappointed that the only race labled is black here. It feels like that gets lumped in with judgments about “Hoods, thugs, bad guys and criminals” Which feels like it builds a racist agenda.

Now, Im sorry a kid got jacked at westwood. Growing up here that happens offen. I am grateful, they didn’t get jumped “beat up”.

As adults blogging around fear doesn’t help build a community, Especially not along race or class. If your really concerned join a mentor ship program for young people in White Center area to impact their lives in a positive way. The Service Board is a great one. Nor does it help to be thinking your “taking a community back” when it was originally a cambodian refugee community. Its a miss conception that “poor little white center” is too petty to help itself from the criminals. When the reality is its very common for high school kids to bully eachother (not that its cool) its also common for bullys to use fear and threats and burglars to break into houses in afternoon. It happens all over America.

I am sorry for the familys of people that have to deal with fear and violence, espeically sweet hearts family that is dealing with a major loss. However blogging doesnt create positive solutions. Its just creating a community of people that judge the west seattle white center youth and especially black kids.

WSB August 24, 2011 (9:52 pm)

Grew up here, there’s no blogging going on here. We are a news organization, reporting news stories, including news shared by the community. We have had this discussion dozens of times on the site and all ethnicities/other descriptive factors have been mentioned in crime coverage (as well as other coverage) – this story earlier this week, for example, involved suspects described as white – https://westseattleblog.com/2011/08/west-seattle-crime-watch-more-details-on-pellet-gun-arrests
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we also cover many stories of people of all ages and ethnicities doing great things to help the community.
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Tracy

Dave August 25, 2011 (1:35 am)

Not only that but, in scanning back through the posts, the only time blacks were specifically mentioned was to describe the two young men who mugged my step-son.
That’s not an indictment of black men in general but, rather, a description of two men in one particular instance.
Your characterization of the conversation is way off base, “Grew Up Here.”

Sorry, comment time is over.