West Seattle Crime Watch: Business burglary; package thief on video

Two reports in West Seattle Crime Watch this morning. Brad from West Seattle Cyclery (WSB sponsor) is hoping someone in the area has video showing the burglar(s) who broke into his shop early Tuesday:

we had a burglary early Tuesday morning. Approx 2:50am.

Mostly we had damage to the window, shattered but still intact, and the door glass broken out. We have had two attempts prior. The police were notified of both attempts and reports were filed.

After the two previous attempts we changed our security procedures at night. The changes helped reduce the inventory loss to just two 24″ kids bikes with a value of around $700. Glass replacement will be significantly higher.

There are a few more things we will be doing at night to continue reducing our potential exposure but the reality is we will never be able to reduce it to zero.

If any of our Junction neighbors had outside video from the time of the break-in, 2:40-3:20 am, please let me know (brad@westseattlecyclery.com). One of the bikes stolen was bright orange (SCOTT 24″ Voltage with disc brakes) so it should be pretty visible with color video.

Speaking of video, Heather shares this clip showing a package thief in action:

Just wanted to report the theft of a package from our porch on 37th Ave SW between Henderson and Trenton. It happened on the 15th of February in the wee hours of the morning. … The thief looks like a white female between 15 and 25 years of age, brunette hair. We’ve reported it to SPD and I’m happy to report everyone I spoke with was professional and courteous. They said absolutely share the info with WSB and said for crimes like these the community is often in a better position than police to locate suspects.

We didn’t lose anything of value and the merchant replaced it with no hassle. It’s more the idea of it. SPD confirmed that it’s important to report these types of things, even when the value is small.

Any idea who the thief is? Let police know.

dsa March 12, 2014 (10:07 am)

Good video, someone should be able to recognize her if she is local.

skeeter March 12, 2014 (10:29 am)

It’s challenging enough to run a local business. Having to deal with burglaries is an additional hassle I’m sure Brad would rather not deal with! Keep yer’ head up. Your customers love your store!

samson March 12, 2014 (10:29 am)

you could tell she wears north face jacket! Northface jacket has logo on the left in front and same logo on the back right… it is easy to tell.. don’t you agree?

hollywood March 12, 2014 (11:51 am)

Why dont we all start ziplocking dog doo doo in random fedex, ups and us postal boxes and placing them on our door steps for these people :/

Jim P. March 12, 2014 (12:20 pm)

if you can isolate a frame with her face, print it out like people put out missing pet flyers:

“Have you seen me? I steal packages! Call the police if you see me.”

Maybe the police can spend some of those billions of dollars Homeland Security throws around in high tech stuff and do something useful with the facial recognition systems.

enough March 12, 2014 (12:43 pm)

Good idear hollywood.

sw March 12, 2014 (12:47 pm)

Maybe hollywood is on to something.

However, I’d make up a box so it looks legit and have some shrink-wrapped rocks inside for weight. Then I’d include a note that says: “Thank you for stealing this package. Your crime has been caught on video camera and by now your image has been sent to the police and posted on the WSB for all the world to see. Have a nice day.”

mom23 March 12, 2014 (2:36 pm)

someone should send the video/freeze frame of her face to the local high schools!

I March 12, 2014 (2:40 pm)

Great idea Jim P.
Video has been uploaded to my social media page. Hopefully someone can id her.

Brad March 12, 2014 (2:51 pm)

Skeeter

Yes, sometimes these things make it needlessly difficult to run a business. We love being in the Junction. The West Seattle Junction Association, our business neighbors and our customers reaffirms our decision to open a business in West Seattle.

We always knew there was a high likelihood we would have a break in. We need to come up with creative ideas deter theft rather than put metal gates in all our windows. We want the Junction to remain a friendly place to shop, eat and have fun.

Brad

Rick March 12, 2014 (2:54 pm)

Why stop at DOG doo doo? Yeah, I know, pretty gross. But isn’t that the point?

trickycoolj March 12, 2014 (3:00 pm)

Careful with a package of rocks, they’ll be through your front windows when the thief is mad!

Something I’ve debated with landscaping, is it risky to do any kind of rockery or river rocks instead of bark or is it an invitation to chuck ’em through my windows to bratty bored teens? I was a bored teenager once, I remember what shenanigans we caused.

2 Much Whine March 12, 2014 (6:31 pm)

I think there is a market out there for a new company. Their product is ordered online. It’s a package that is delivered to your doorstep. It looks like it could be a computer or something expensive. The package has a small GPS transmitter in it and perhaps an exploding dye pack and maybe something to weigh it down – that’s all. I’d pay a reasonable sum to have one delivered in a FedEx or UPS box to my doorstep. If it gets delivered but not stolen then save it as a decoy for when a real package is going to be delivered. That would make the bait even more appealing – two packages for one! When someone steals it/them the GPS can be activated and the perpetrator located both by GPS and by the brightly colored dye that will be all over them (and possibly their vehicle) after they open the package. Just a thought. Might make people think twice about whether it’s worth the risk of stealing. I know it’s not the perfect solution and there’s a chance it could be inadvertently opened by an unknowing family member but it sure would feel good to catch some of these losers.

Bree March 12, 2014 (7:46 pm)

We were wondering if this is the same woman shown on the news a while back stealing packages and taking to a waiting car. We are not sure but thinking it might be???

themightrabbit March 12, 2014 (8:10 pm)

clearly this was a good video capture. but these people know to look down etc. seems like a good idea for us to install a camera up high, then another down low to really get a better look at the face and publish it everywhere.

pupsarebest March 12, 2014 (11:19 pm)

2 Much Whine, I believe your idea is pure genius!

Eric March 13, 2014 (4:50 am)

The video almost looks like it is night time. The clock says 2:16, but doesn’t say am/pm. I’m wondering if this is running on military time? If so, that would mean this was 2:16 in the morning. Just curious.

Lola March 13, 2014 (6:43 am)

Eric, if you read the post under the video it does say it happened in the wee hours of the morning, so I would say it was 2:16 AM.

phil dirt March 13, 2014 (9:47 am)

2 much whine: I, too, think you have hit on a good idea, however, an exploding dye pack, might get you into problems. I know, banks do this, but there are many unscrupulous lawyers out there, and the possibility that one will crawl out from under a rock and waste your time and money in a law suit exists. There are people who will sue anybody, any time, for any reason and lawyers who will take the case. Please don’t ask me how I know. And, no I am not a lawyer.

Eric March 13, 2014 (5:36 pm)

Thanks Lola, didn’t see that

chris March 17, 2014 (12:14 pm)

Wish I could get one those bag bombs/green dye like the one the banks use or put inside the money bags when they get robbed. Would like to see a thief get one of those in their face when they take a package of mine.

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