West Seattle Crime Watch: Package theft on video; illegal dumping; car prowl…

Four reader reports to share today, starting with a package theft caught on video:

Pam says the video shows her Netflix Amazon package being lifted Wednesday afternoon near 12th and Barton – and right before the person comes fully into view, they took mail out of her mailbox. Recognize the person in the video? (Added: Here’s a frame grab.) Let police know.

Ahead, three more reports – a car prowl, illegal dumping, and suspicious nail-scattering:

First, the car prowl – Sarah reports:

We just wanted to let you know that our car was prowled sometime overnight (4/16 – 4/17). Nothing was stolen (fortunately we didn’t have anything in the car) and there wasn’t any damage. We thought we had all the doors locked, but apparently one wasn’t. That won’t happen again. Just to let you know that somebody is going up and down the streets trying car doors until they find one unlocked. We live in the 2100 block of 47th Ave SW.

Even if nothing is taken, and there’s no damage, PLEASE report car prowls – police repeated that request again at Tuesday night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting (as reported here).

Mike shares the aftermath of illegal dumping – yes, it’s a crime – near Schmitz Park Elementary:

He says the dumpers were in an F250/F350 Supercab or Crewcab, red, 4×4, and adds: “Next time they could fill the potholes in the dirt/rock alleyway and throw away the plastic.” He’s reported it to the city.

And as we were writing this, Jill e-mailed to report what looked like a possibly deliberate scattering of small nails in the southbound bicycle lane on Delridge Way near Home Depot last night. We recommended a Forum post with details, so watch for that.

32 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: Package theft on video; illegal dumping; car prowl..."

  • Joe April 17, 2014 (11:31 am)

    On 21ST AVE SW, just 150 feet or so from the parking lot entrance to Sanislo Elementary, people dump anything and everything there on a way too regular basis, at least once a month it seems.

    I have seen not just the usual bags of garbage and lawn clippings, but couches, chairs, and what was left of a twenty foot trailer all right in front of the elementary school.

  • Joe Szilagyi April 17, 2014 (11:59 am)

    I wonder how effective a “You are being videotaped” sign would be, in addition to the camera…

  • Semele April 17, 2014 (12:01 pm)

    Just a correction to the first video. It was not a Netflix package that was stolen but a package from Amazon. The person dropped a Netflix disc on the front stoop while grabbing the box that was from Amazon.

    • WSB April 17, 2014 (12:26 pm)

      Sorry. I misinterpreted the e-mail mention of a Netflix package.

  • Oh, like you blend April 17, 2014 (12:07 pm)

    Interesting tactic used by that scummy package thief; blending in by intentionally sticking out. That blaze jacket often worn by street crews, emergency personal or construction workers gives him an “official” air. Perhaps the jerk is coming from work and will help someone identify him. But I suspect it’s his “camo.” Man, how I hate a thief.

  • Lisa April 17, 2014 (12:09 pm)

    After taking my children to school this morning I noticed that the duffle bag that keeps their baseball cleats and gloves was stolen from our front porch. Im not sure if it was last night after practice or this morning. I guess we should have known that anything not locked up will be taken. We live on 21st sw and Roxbury. If whomever took the bag is reading this please return it. Our children need their gear!

  • jissy April 17, 2014 (12:25 pm)

    OK, someone has got to recognize that guy….

  • Marianne April 17, 2014 (12:42 pm)

    I wonder if they can track the Netflix movie? It may have also been stolen though.

  • VanillaGorilla April 17, 2014 (12:51 pm)

    Looks like our pkg thief is driving a dark grey ford ranger truck by the peek a boo view the camera provides perhaps keep an eye out in your neighborhood??

  • CMB April 17, 2014 (1:08 pm)

    Hopefully he got a box or tampons or something.

  • Semele April 17, 2014 (1:19 pm)

    To Joe Szilagyi – There is a sign saying video surveillance is in use. Obviously this person didn’t read it or just didn’t care.

  • watertowerjoey April 17, 2014 (1:22 pm)

    I absolutely LOVE my cameras. Actually very reasonable and they have a 30-day loop. Very nice and clear pictures too. Mine came with 4 cameras so I have just about every angle covered. About $350 total, i think.

    Sadly (or I guess, happily) the only thing I have caught so far is people putting their dog poop in my alley garbage can!

  • Morgan April 17, 2014 (1:53 pm)

    Is there anyway to post just the freeze frame of the jerks face on here? I’m sure not all readers will take the time to watch the video, but might recognize him by glancing at his photo.

  • B-squared April 17, 2014 (1:56 pm)

    Hey, watertowerjoey, what cameras do you have? is it a survellience package that includes the software too? Or is this streaming to the web?

  • AG April 17, 2014 (3:16 pm)

    I’d like to know about cameras too. This one has great picture quality. Watertowertjoey, what do you use?

  • MellyMel April 17, 2014 (3:27 pm)

    @watertowerjoey
    what brand/model are the cameras? I’ve been thinking abut setting something up.

  • koni April 17, 2014 (3:39 pm)

    We have cameras from dropcam which are great…they record and are hd and have night vision mode too. You can even set up alerts to your cell phone when motion or sound is detected…you can also talk through them to your house ;) The cameras are about $100 each and the monitoring service is free for a month, $10/month after that.

  • Meaks April 17, 2014 (3:50 pm)

    I can tell you that the vehicle that he was driving was a Ford Ranger. And it’s lifted. And it’s navy.

  • Pam April 17, 2014 (3:53 pm)

    The cameras are Qsee you can get them at Costco. They have great night vision as we’ll. pretty easy to install.

  • Eric April 17, 2014 (3:57 pm)

    going frame by frame, the thief’s shirt looks a little dirty and he might be wearing work boots, hard to tell. But when he turns around, there seems to be some kind of faded graphic/picture on the work vest.

    This guy maybe using the vest as a decoy, but it’s quite possible this dumb POS was making some rounds after work too. This could have been a thief’s version of impulse merchandising. Happens to see a Fed-Ex/UPS truck, follows it and gets package- or just happens to see the package, which would most likely mean that he lives somewhere in the vicinity and this is his route.

  • West Seattle Block Watch Captains' Network April 17, 2014 (4:03 pm)

    We had an awesome presentation about surveillance cameras at our January 2013 meeting & WSB posted this very thorough coverage: https://westseattleblog.com/2013/01/west-seattle-block-watch-captains-network-gets-security-camera-savvy/.

  • watertowerjoey April 17, 2014 (4:24 pm)

    @MellyMel, it’s by a company named Swann. Amazon is your best bet. The only thing I would caution is it is not cloud based and therefore you need to make sure the burglars can’t find it and take it(the hard drive)! Otherwise it defeats the whole purpose.

    It’s pretty easy to install but they are “wired” cameras. I think they offer wireless too.

    It can stream to my mac or iphone but I never use those features, really.

    I’m sure there are many companies that produce these, but I can attest that these work perfectly.

    We had an “incident” in our neighborhood a few months back where I caught on tape (crystal clear) four guys who had just stolen booze from Trader Joe’s. I emailed it to the police and heard nothing.

  • JTB April 17, 2014 (5:18 pm)

    Finger prints. But the SPD would have to go to the work of retrieving them and searching for a match, assuming the Netflix package or whatever it is hasn’t been lost or hopelessly fouled.

  • Kravitz April 17, 2014 (5:43 pm)

    This guy wins “D-bag of the month” award. I hope he reads the blog and realizes that his pudgy mug is public now and that someone can ID him. What an ass. I hate that people have this sense that they can take from others. I hope he gets caught and they link him to other thefts in the neighborhood and lock his ass up for a while.

  • Rob April 17, 2014 (5:44 pm)

    While not as popular it could also be a Mazda B – series pickup (B2300 or B2600).

  • watertowerjoey April 17, 2014 (6:25 pm)

    He touched the gate as well (for potential fingerprints).

  • snowflake April 17, 2014 (6:39 pm)

    and he didn’t close the gate behind him!

  • Eric April 17, 2014 (6:45 pm)

    When the guy drives off, you can see his license plate. I wonder if there is a way to blow up a still and enhance the pic

  • Mike April 17, 2014 (7:07 pm)

    Agree its a ford ranger or B series Mazada. I don’t think its “lifted” most likely 2 wheel drive standard cab.

  • drahcir61 April 19, 2014 (12:49 pm)

    To capture an image from this video (or any video) do the following:

    1. Your PC likely has “Snipping Tool” … find it on your PC, launch Snipping Tool & minimize.

    2. Maximize this YouTube video, begin playing & pause on the frame you want to capture.

    3. Press & hold the ALT key & press the TAB key … a window should pop up showing you all applications currently running.

    4. Continue holding the ALT key, each time you press TAB it will cycle thru the programs. Release when the program Snipping Tool is selected.

    5. In Snipping Tool, click New … use your mouse to point & click a box around the image.

    6. Save this image … print on a color printer.

    7. Email the image &/or distribute copies to neighbors, local stores, etc etc.

    Hope that helps!

  • Dee Kalani April 24, 2014 (1:52 pm)

    @ Joe, do you live on or near 21 St ave sw where you see the dumping. We have asked the school, and SPU for help with this matter so far no resolve. Do you have any insight that might be helpful? We think that it might be that hauling outfit that lives on 18 th but can’t prove it. It’s real bad, we report it as bio hazardous , remember that whole tore up motor home that was dumped there?

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