West Seattle Crime Watch: Student athletes hit by car prowler(s); plus, rogue tree cutter

During Tuesday night’s West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network meeting (full report to come), Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Wilske listed Lincoln Park as one of his emphasis priorities for the summer season, particularly because of its ongoing car-prowl problem. The first of two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports includes another example of that:

Michelle reports a car break-in during the West Seattle High School tennis team’s game at the Lincoln Park tennis courts on Monday. She says two backpacks with “several valuable items” were stolen from the trunk of a Honda Accord, and the debit cards in those backpacks were used quickly at stores including Roxbury Safeway. The car break-ins have been reported to police and they are hoping to find clues on store surveillance video. If you find any tossed-aside backpacks, and/or personal paperwork, please report it to police.

Ahead, our second reader report – the case of the unauthorized tree-cutter:

The anonymous tipster says this happened near in Highland Park, 14th and Barton:

There is a sketchy guy who has been cutting trees without permission and then wanting money; please call police if you are approached by him for work. I think he is just trying to earn a bit of cash, and might not be “all there”, which is fine, but he has crossed the line into property damage and theft, which is not okey dokey.

He stole my telescoping pruning saw while working at one neighbor’s house about a month ago. I caught him walking down the street with it, and he said he’d “be right back.” He came into my yard a few days ago (I think initially forgetting that I was the lady who had been yelling at him about stealing her saw) trying to get more work, and then looked panicked when he recognized me, and told me some story about how he’d bring my saw back that day, and there had been a tool mix up. Still no saw.

2 days ago he cut a full tree down at my neighbor’s house on the other side without permission, dumped that tree in my driveway without cleaning it up, dumped another mystery tree on her front yard that we don’t know the origin of, and then came back wanting payment. She yelled at him, and told him never to come back.

Talking to the neighbors across the street, I found out he has been repeatedly trespassing into their yard and trying to do tree work for them.

I filed a police report for the saw online, and (Monday) an officer came out so we could file a destruction of property report with the police in person.

All we know is his name might be Cody, he is missing some teeth, and he might be staying or working for someone in the apartments at 15th and Barton. Any info would be appreciated.

14 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: Student athletes hit by car prowler(s); plus, rogue tree cutter"

  • Rick April 23, 2014 (6:41 am)

    Johnny Appleseed’s evil twin brother?

  • Ellar April 23, 2014 (7:22 am)

    His name is Koli, and I believe it may have been my tree he trimmed with your saw; wish I’d known!
    He sometimes sleeps in a camper van behind my neighbour’s house, 16th at Kenyon. Your tools are probably there.

  • VanillaGorilla April 23, 2014 (10:04 am)

    yep a hawaiian looking dude showed up on my porch sat drunk with chainsaw in hand yelling about tree work had to escort him off!! then he went to my neighbors house and told them i was gonna foot the bill to have there yard landscaped for the next month?? good thing they called me to check what was going on.. watch it people this guy is shady and looking to get his hands on anything he can!!

  • BlairJ April 23, 2014 (11:27 am)

    Great. Someone who is drunk or “not all there” going around with a chain saw. Just what we need in the neighborhood. I hope VanillaGorilla filed a police report too.

  • sc April 23, 2014 (11:39 am)

    If someone was sitting on my porch with a chain saw I would be calling the police immediately!

  • Charles April 23, 2014 (1:07 pm)

    This man showed up at our place too last weekend with his chainsaw and gas can telling me my neighbor was gonna pay half to take down our tree… Which I’ve been talking about getting done..
    But I looked out and wondered how he was gonna take down a 40+ft fir with a 12″ chainsaw and no ladder or chipper?? Sorry Buddy!! Oh and he did stink of booze.

  • SM April 23, 2014 (3:46 pm)

    Geez, something like this happened to me years ago…I came home to find the grass had been cut and I figured the landlord had done it. Some time goes by and then this crusty-looking dude shows up saying he had cut the grass and had looked in my mailbox for his pay. Obviously he hadn’t found it and he got REALLY upset when I told him I wouldn’t be paying him for work I hadn’t requested and that he needed to stay out of my mailbox and off my property. I eventually shut the door in his face but then worried about it for days.

    Note–it wasn’t this guy.

  • drahcir61 April 23, 2014 (5:55 pm)

    Chainsaws are dangerous. If he didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night then I’m not interested.

  • M April 23, 2014 (10:37 pm)

    Koli approached me on the sidewalk a few months ago asking to prune my neighbor’s tree. When I asked him for contact information to pass on to my neighbor, he asked me to talk to my neighbor about his proposal, told me his name, and said he would come back later. He never did. He said he was from one of the Pacific Islands. He was friendly, but either mentally ill, chemically affected or both. This happened on 17th between Barton & Henderson. I suspected he was likely homeless and was trying to make a little money.

  • Ginny April 24, 2014 (10:15 am)

    I do not know if this is related, but I woke up Tuesday morning the 22nd to find that portions of my hedge had been chopped off and the branches were lying on the lawn. The hedge was fine at 8:00 pm the night before when I took my trash cans to the curb. Now I have big chunks of my hedge cut out and a puzzled look on my face. I live in Burien, not far from the LDS church. No one has yet to take credit for this escapade.

  • Connie April 24, 2014 (2:38 pm)

    I believe this is the same man that dumped yard waste and garbage in my alley on February 27th. He is of medium height and build, dark black hair, sometimes wears a dark blue stocking cap and his clothes are very baggy, seems to be in his forties, of Pacific Islander descent, and often intoxicated. At the time, he was staying at a house on 16th and Trenton. Over the past six months he has come by my house many times offering to trim my trees for $100.

    When I saw him and the two men he was with unloading garbage from a pick-up truck into my alley on Feb 27th, he curtly told me that the carport where he was dumping the garbage belonged to his neighbor that gave him the okay, and that he would be back to clean it. He never came back. The yard waste he dumped turned parts of the alley into such a muddy mess that my neighbor’s car got stuck in it.

    Be on the lookout for this fella. He is bad news. I should have reported his misdeed to the police when I had the chance.

  • Vanessa April 24, 2014 (3:42 pm)

    Yesterday this guy came to my house saying that he was working at my neighbors house and asked if he could clean up my front yard. I told him I couldn’t pay him anything and he left. He must have been lying about working at my neighbors because she has had no yard work done recently. This morning I saw him crossing the street at Henderson and 16th carrying a chainsaw and gas can. Does anyone know if the police can do anything about him? From all the comments it seems like he repeatedly bugs the same people and now I’m worried I’m on his list.

  • M April 24, 2014 (11:45 pm)

    @ Connie – from your description, he sounds like the Koli who asked to prune my neighbor’s tree.

  • ellar April 29, 2014 (7:49 am)

    Back at Kenyon/16th SW this week, if anyone wishes to demand return of their tools!

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