West Seattle Crime Watch: 4 reader reports; 1 jail release

| Crime | West Seattle news

Four reader reports and an update tonight:

BURGLARY: Michael’s home camera system caught that quick clip one week ago, on November 5th, when the two people in the video broke into his home in Upper Morgan. In the video, you see them running into and out of a glass door they broke to get in. The main loot, he says, was money that one of his children had been saving up – it appears they left fast because of Michael’s “ear-piercing alarm.” The telltale hat in the video helped him spot one of the suspects near 35th and Morgan two days later; police were called and while Michael says they didn’t have enough evidence to hold anyone at that time, the case is advancing and he’s hopeful of an eventual conviction.

CATALYTIC CONVERTER STOLEN: From Ray: “Just wanted to alert the neighborhood… The catalytic converter was removed from my truck (Toyota 4-Runner) early Monday morning. It was parked in front of my house but on the street. I was told that the thief used pipe cutters and it only takes a few minutes. We live on 40th/Dakota.”

CAR PROWLS IN ADMIRAL: From someone who wants to remain anonymous:

Monday morning (Nov. 11), when leaving for work, I discovered my car broken into. Incident occured on 2700 block of California Ave, right by Freshy’s Coffee. Note, this appears to be the fourth similar occurrence within a few blocks in just the last two weeks. Our GPS was stolen, loose change stolen, and all car compartments were emptied and strewn about. Our car was locked, it’s a 2004 Ford. This is also the second time our car’s been broken into while parked here. Police report was filed.

POSSIBLE PROWLER: Elizabeth noticed a car driving slowly back and forth along her street (SW Monroe in Gatewood) last night, light-colored boxy sedan, possibly early to mid-nineties Toyota or Honda: “The driver picked up speed pretty quickly when they saw me watching. This is a good reminder that we all need to keep a watch out for unusual activity to prevent crime in our neighborhoods.

OUT OF JAIL: Alan Polevia, the convicted burglar/thief sentenced to six months in jail back in September after serving three months, is out. His release on October 21st carries the note “sentence expiration.” We recorded video of his sentencing hearing September 27th (that report also recaps his lengthy backstory).

Eric1 November 12, 2013 (11:43 pm)

LOL….
.
Mr. Polevia is out. I must have failed math because he was sentenced in September for six months, and is out October 21. Even if you give credit that he was in jail from June, I think that makes it 4 months max.
.
Maybe the judge/prosecutor works 20 day months? If so, I want their salary and work schedule.

Alphonse November 13, 2013 (12:19 am)

I think we can all rest easy knowing that Alan Polevia has been released into the care of his sister this time. The release to his father (with whom he publicly assaulted someone with a tire iron a few years ago) went swimmingly. I feel sure that we can expect a sober and productive future filled with random acts of restitution from Mr. Polevia.

56bricks November 13, 2013 (1:22 am)

Bring him to me. Please.

Eric November 13, 2013 (5:00 am)

Eric,

Unfortunately, the time Alan spent in jail while awaiting trial is considered time served.

I think he should have at least gotten 6 months on top of his timed served, and probably got out early for “good behavior”. Actually, he should have gotten far more time considering he is an habitual criminal.

I can rest easy with Alan living with his sister, if she lives in another state. Unfortunately, Alan is a career POS. He may have said the “right things” to the judge about turning his life around, but considering someone who gets released from jail and turns around and breaks into a house the very next day, as he did the last time he was released, I’m not holding my breath.

Michael, I hope they get those POS. You said you saw them at 35th and Morgan. Were they hanging out in front of the mini-mart or in that area?

That looks familiar November 13, 2013 (7:04 am)

That break-in looks identical to the one that happened to us, with the glass being knocked out of the french door and used for both entry and exit without actually opening the door.

My french doors now look out onto a sunroom, which has a steel door they have to come through first.

Attention November 13, 2013 (7:59 am)

Apologies if I double post I don’t see the comment I wrote earlier so I may have not submitted.

Yesterday at 11:00 am I called 911 when I saw suspicious activity at a neighbor’s house. While I was on the phone with the dispatcher two guys dressed in black tops/hoody emerged from the house with hands empty and jumped in large white American style car “hoopty” with blue plates (possibly Florida) starting with 21-. I missed all the numbers but I did see the getaway driver, an African Anericsn male with dreads. The other two were too far away too see clearly but they resemble the two in the video shown above based on what they are wearing. The police came right away but missed these burglars by about 1 minute. The responding officer called me to confirm there was a broken window in the garage but the thieves were unable to access house due to connecting locked door. Both dispatcher and officer were very courteous and professional. Please be on lookout for this car. This happened in approx 4000 block of SW orchard in Gatewood.

WS Mom November 13, 2013 (8:24 am)

Is that a reflection of some kind of car going by shortly after they run out of the house? In the panel to the right of the video.

Elizagrace November 13, 2013 (8:30 am)

Sadly this makes me think twice about installing glass french doors on our back porch entrance. Good for you for the alarm and camera system!

Sassy November 13, 2013 (9:51 am)

WS Mom – I saw the same thing in the video, and also wondered.
These break-ins are getting ridiculous – in broad daylight, people’s houses are clearly being cased at night and during the day. All in a good neighborhood with many people home during the day.

WSB November 13, 2013 (10:20 am)

Just to make sure you know – more burglaries happen during the day than at night, and that’s long been the case – burglars generally do NOT want to encounter residents, and at night the chance of somebody being home is relatively high. Perhaps unwisely in many cases, they’re not so concerned about being seen going in/out – so keep showing them why that IS an unwise bet, and call it in when you see someone/something!

Toyota owner November 13, 2013 (2:10 pm)

Wasnt there was some clown over the last 1-2 years who got busted with the 4runner catalytic converters. What was his name and story? Is he back?

Meg Halverson November 13, 2013 (4:06 pm)

Sorry about the break-in. I am interested in what camera you used to get the high-quality image. Maybe it’s time. I also appreciate the footage because I’ll be on the lookout.

Michael November 13, 2013 (10:39 pm)

I’m the owner of the Upper Morgan house burg. I’ll say this, get an alarm system no matter where you live. The most important component are motion sensors. Door and window sensors come with any alarm package but a motion sensor is the only way to set off an alarm and catch burgs if they don’t open a door or window! The next most important factor is to report ANY suspicious characters. My neighbor saw these two guys in the video minutes before my event but thought they weren’t in the act of committing a crime but they were about to. He didn’t call and our was soon burged. REPORT ANY SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY! These two were walking around in broad daylight dressed in all black at 11am. That’s suspicious!!!!

Josh November 13, 2013 (11:53 pm)

If possible, get a large dog that barks. Burglars avoid dogs (in combination with alarms and lights) like the plague.

moon November 14, 2013 (5:24 am)

Ongoing narcotics activity in the gatewood neighborhood, we reported to SPD but no response. How long do we have to put up with this ?????

WSB November 14, 2013 (7:07 am)

Moon, go to the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting at 7 pm next Tuesday at the precinct and ask police directly.

Phil dirt November 14, 2013 (7:44 am)

If possible, get a large dog that barks. Burglars avoid dogs (in combination with alarms and lights) like the plague.
Comment by Josh — 11:53 pm November 13, 2013 #

I’d rather take my chances with burglars than have to listen to Josh’s large barking dog!!

Michael November 15, 2013 (3:38 pm)

To Meg, Elizagrace and Sassy. The reflection in the glass door is just my pendant lights over the kitchen island. The burgs’ rapid exit caused it to open slightly..more.
I replaced the French Door glass with laminated glass that’s virtually unbreakable! The installer said it would take three guys behind a 4″ thick steel pipe to break through it. It’s perfectly clear, can’t even tell there’s a membrane in the middle. There’s a cheaper solution for existing windows it’s called 8mil thick security film you can install yourself (if you’re handy) like window tint. It’s also totally clear and makes the windows virtually unbreakable as well. Laminated glass is the best but 450 to replace with regular – lam cost me 650. I replaced both doors with the lam.

The camera is a wireless ADT video camera that was $175 extra. Not high res by any means but priceless being able to check live feed while away or if there is an alarm event. No DVR option so it can only record to an online access point “if” there’s a tripped alarm.

Megan November 22, 2013 (2:20 pm)

Our friend’s car was stolen from the front of our home. The second car from our neighborhood this month. Both were older Hondas. She was at the grocery store and away for only about an hour. Someone is clearly canvasing for certain types of cars, waiting for a daytime when most people are at work, and must be vigilant to get just the right moment. They are getting quite courageous!

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