West Seattle Crime Watch: Car stolen twice in 5 weeks

What lightning allegedly doesn’t do, car thieves have done – strike twice. Someone has stolen Stacey‘s mom’s car, again. May 10th, she e-mailed to say her mother’s car, a 1989 Toyota Camry black 4-door, with a missing hubcap on the front passenger side, had been stolen from the 6300 block of 42nd SW. This morning, Stacey e-mailed WSB the photo above and the message:,”Again, my mom woke up today and her car was gone!!!!!!” (She also mentioned that in an unpleasant coincidence, her sister, a former West Seattleite living in Shoreline, discovered her Jeep stolen yesterday. Stacey says her mom’s car was found downtown four days after the May theft; as it says in the graphic she added to the photo above, call police if you see it.)

curious June 14, 2012 (11:28 am)

this looks like every other old camry – why not show the license #

Christina June 14, 2012 (11:37 am)

I have the utmost sympathy for Stacey’s mom. I myself owned a 1989 Camry and had it stolen and returned 2x’s. The problem is that thieves carry a universal key that works in ALL the Camry’s with the same body style as the 89. When I sold my Camry, I ran into the new owner and he said that he had it stolen the same week that he bought it. When she gets it back, I highly recommend getting “The Club” for the vehicle. It is a cheaper option for security purposes and it deters thieves who just want to get easy access in and drive off with it. Good luck!

Cait June 14, 2012 (11:45 am)

I had a similar problem with my 1990 Toyota Camry – I had it stolen 5 times in total and the last time someone wrecked it in Bellevue. They use blank keys to get in – they are incredibly easy to steal especially for their catalytic converters. I actually got to see the guy that did it in court and he admitted that he was “working” for someone underground who pays HUGE money for Toyota Camrys that they can part out. However – don’t lose hope! I found it 4 different times, basically unharmed. One time I just drove past it a week after it was stolen and though “Holy ****… that’s my car!!”

Good luck!

H June 14, 2012 (11:56 am)

Im just curious why you would not include the license plate. Isn’t that critical to ID the vehicle?

WSB June 14, 2012 (12:14 pm)

When people report license plate #’s with stolen-car reports, of course we include them. Stacey did not (though we can add it if she wishes to include at least a partial plate – it’s voluntary, though). She added the little graphic there in the plate. – TR

Jeff June 14, 2012 (11:57 am)

Yep, older Camrys might as well not have locks, sad but true.

bsmomma June 14, 2012 (12:15 pm)

The irony is my mom was suposed to go to my sisters house on Saturday to have a garage sale so she could get enough money to buy a club! I’m asking about the plate #. It’s not my call.

RobertSeattle June 14, 2012 (12:28 pm)

I believe “Camry” means “steal me” in Japanese.

WSB June 14, 2012 (1:27 pm)

Hondas are stolen more often. We have two (one of them 10 years old and still going strong, the other 8 years old) – maybe thieves make their decisions based on reliability. Sigh. Here’s hoping the car turns up again and that THAT part of the lightning-striking-twice equation comes through as well as the bad part … TR

bsmomma June 14, 2012 (12:36 pm)

OK…….partial plate #……….452-X- – The X really is an X. :)

Tony S June 14, 2012 (3:32 pm)

…awaiting the “Stacey’s Mom” references to begin…

:-)

Alki Resident June 14, 2012 (3:57 pm)

If technology is bold enough to come up with a way to design the license plate so it in fact would display the words the blog is showing on the plate right now in the picture”This car was stolen,call the police” that would be so cool and cars could be found easier and quicker I think.

WSB June 14, 2012 (4:01 pm)

Great idea. At least some technology is advancing … though it didn’t come up in any of the interviews we did, I read someplace that the initial tracking of the car stolen in the May 30th shootings was done by activating its GPS remotely, and that’s how it was found here in West Seattle … TR

Westie June 14, 2012 (4:39 pm)

This sucks! I’ll keep my eyes out. Good thing you had a picture of it. Hope you didn’t have anything valuable in there.

Carrie Ann June 14, 2012 (5:20 pm)

“Stacy’s mom has got it goin on…” — There, Tony, howzzat?
.
.
Hope the car is recovered, soon, and in-tact! Will keep an eye out over here, especially since it seems our block has started to become a popular place for mysterious vehicles to appear and sit, untouched, lately.

WSB June 14, 2012 (5:41 pm)

I just mentioned to someone on Twitter … I apparently missed that song (2003, says The Internetz) entirely, or else I might have been self-conscious about “Stacey’s mom” taking off on a song title! Had never heard of it till the comments here on FB, and on Twitter, ha. I missed a few years of popular music … TR

bsmomma June 14, 2012 (6:10 pm)

Hahaha!!!! I know that song well! :)

marty June 14, 2012 (7:07 pm)

Hey Carrie Ann! What’s your game now? Can anybody play?

Stacey's mom June 14, 2012 (7:37 pm)

Yah, anybody can play. The game is I-spy. I spy something that looks like Stacey’s moms car, you know the one that was stolen last night and is in image above, then call the police when found!! Partial license info is in comment above. Thank you Stacey for putting the word out there on the WSB for your mom. You ‘guys’ rock. Thank you to all concerned. b’sgrammy, k’s grammy, g’s grammy

Carrie Ann June 14, 2012 (8:50 pm)

Stacey’s Mom: Touche. And I’ll continue to play that game, while fingers remained crossed that it’s returned.

Marty: This one’s for you…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvn8ZBa_XgA

bsmomma June 14, 2012 (9:16 pm)

Wow. Go mom!! Hahahahaha!!! I’ m so glad we can still laugh despite all the…..crap. :)

chrisma June 14, 2012 (11:12 pm)

Stacey’s Mom,
I live on that block. I’ve had two cars stolen in Seattle (in the past) and have developed a fairly simple prevention method that I’d be happy to show you. My user name links to my email. Hope you get your car back.

East Coast Cynic June 15, 2012 (6:59 am)

A Car Alarm helps a lot.

scout 1 June 15, 2012 (7:46 am)

So to play this game I should buy an old Camry? Nah! I will stick with my Prius.

Josh June 15, 2012 (11:57 am)

When you get it back, get a pedal lock, like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Club-Vehicle-Anti-Theft-Device/dp/B000L9T7AY

They’ll still get into the car, but at least they won’t be able to take it. Don’t bother with a steering wheel club – the wheel itself is to easy to cut through.

Stacey's mom June 15, 2012 (4:23 pm)

.. Still no car. Thank you for the cyber support and watching out for it.

Christina June 16, 2012 (9:47 pm)

I put lo- jack in my 97 Honda accord and I’ve recovered the car within an hour when I make a police report. It is pricey but worth it. But there are still no guarantees that your stereo won’t get ripped off or any other personal property to include car parts. After the 3rd time I bought a club- and had no issues and i sold it for a newer car. Good luck!

Stacey's mom June 17, 2012 (8:16 am)

Christina: Thank you for the info. Never heard of lo-jack.. googled it and sounds like a good option. With all the thefts going on, this should be on all cars.. and, nail the fools. The car itself is old, nothing special in fact the radio is stock/broken! .. but it was MINE and got me from point a to b. Still no car.. Thanks again.

Dale June 17, 2012 (12:41 pm)

Around the year 2000 most cars went to Transponder type keys which starts/runs the fuel pump. No key, no run. Thus, pre 2000 Japanese cars are targets by thieves. Very easy to steal. In fact, once entry is made you can “peel” the steering column and start the car by hand. No key required. Saturns and Hummers had the same ignition system. Strange, but true.

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