In West Seattle Crime Watch – four reader reports about three incidents. First, an attempted burglary as told by both the victim and the neighbor who interrupted.
We’ll call the targeted homeowner E:
There was an attempted break-in (Wednesday) at my house. Luckily the next-door neighbor was home and interrupted their attempt to get in through the garage door; scared them off before they could get in. The police responded very quickly; I was pleased with how soon they were at the scene. The house is … just behind the old Charlestown Café. The only description we have of the person is that they were wearing a red cap and had a nose ring. We’re hoping the neighbors’ security camera may have caught an image of them …
Then last night, we heard from neighbor B, who scared the would-be burglar(s) away!
Wanted to let you know that I heard male voices and banging noises outside our house around 1:30 pm … and came out to see one guy (couldn’t get a visual on who was with him) trying to break in through my neighbor’s garage (on the front of their house no less). We live near the former Charleston Cafe on 42nd. Got a good look at the guy – looked somewhere between 17-22 years old, white, brown hair, possible nose or lip piercing, grunge style clothes with a bright red knit beanie cap. Broad daylight, corner house via the front yard – brazen. Cops came quickly but couldn’t find them. Keep an eye out.
On now to what you might call a heavy metal theft. Or, heavy steel. From Kristin:
I had a 5′ Kohler cast-iron bathtub stolen out of my back yard (35th & Trenton) between Sunday night and Tuesday evening. It was sitting near my garbage cans in a parking area. It weighed a ton (we needed 3 big guys to move it to where it had been stored), so I asume it was taken for scrap metal.
I filed a report with the SPD, but I doubt I’m going to see my tub again. Hoping to discover if anyone else in the area had metal objects stolen recently so I can pinpoint down the likely day/time of the theft.
And a mail-theft report, from a resident who doesn’t want to be identified:
I’m a long-time West Seattlite and I’d like my fellow WSB’ers to know that mail theft continues rampant in our neck of the woods. I live on SW Cloverdale, in the vicinity of West Crest Park. We’re relatively new to this neighborhood and have suspected some of our mail may have been stolen in the past few weeks, but having recently moved also thought it could have been a problem with the mail forwarding process. Now we are certain we’ve been hit. On Saturday 9/15 we had outgoing mail stolen, including payment for a bill. Fortunately my housemate was notified by our postal carrier, who was suspicious when she saw the flag up, box open and empty. *Please, no lectures in the comments about placing checks in the mailbox.* Anyway, the check was altered and cashed at an out of town branch of my bank. Yes, the thieves made it to the bank and wiped out my account before the stop payment on the check, but not before the initial USPS Inspector and Seattle police reports had been made.
Our carrier indicated this has happened frequently on our street in recent weeks. I’d like our neighbors to help keep an eye out for suspicious people/behavior, whatever that may look like to you, such as sitting in cars on the side of the road for what seems like too long. Someone might just be watching and waiting for mail, package deliveries, etc. And, if you are my neighbor and we haven’t yet met, please don’t be offended if approached by me or one of my housemates asking what you might be up to! I have requested information from SPD on Block Watch for this area. We just want everyone to know we care about what goes on around where we live, and the more watchful eyes we have on our block – or a stretch of blocks – the less likely we are to have more crime. Take care!
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