West Seattle Crime Watch, be-on-the-lookout edition: Small business hit by shoplifter; child saddened by bike thief

2:11 PM: Two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports today, and your watchfulness is appreciated:

JUNCTION SHOPLIFTER: From Linda Sabee of Carmilia’s:

Yesterday afternoon (Sunday, June 21) around 4:00, a twenty-something woman shoplifted several items from my store, to the tune of about $325. As she shopped, she told a sad tale about her dying grandmother, proceeded to try on many things and when the store got busy and I was distracted with another customer, she bolted with the unpaid-for items.

She’s tan, athletic but large build, she was wearing a black ‘Fight Like a Girl’ tee with a skirt and tennis shoes. Her long hair was pulled back into a pony tail. She said she grew up around here, moved to San Diego and has been back for about a year to care for her grandmother. She also said she put on ten pounds over the past year. All of this could be untrue. Perhaps she’s a pathological liar as well as a thief.

CHILD’S BICYCLE STOLEN IN ADMIRAL: Maybe you’ll find Rafael‘s bike.

(That’s Rafael and his bike – added 3:11 pm)
Mom Cynthia messaged us:

My child’s bike was stolen from in front of our home last night. It’s a 16″ Tonka boys bike. Looks like (this pic) except no training wheels. If you see it grab it and let me know. Or if you have a 16″ bike we can borrow till we find a new one I would appreciate it. He was fighting back tears this morning trying to be strong. Sweet boy.

This happened near 46th and Stevens.

P.S. We’ll write more about this later but tomorrow night’s West Seattle Block Watch Captains’ Network meeting is the place to be for neighborhood crime-prevention info – 6:30 pm, Southwest Precinct (Webster/Delridge). All welcome – you don’t have to be a BW captain or even a BW member (but if you’re interested in finding out more about how it works, come early and mingle – doors open at 6).

7:55 PM UPDATE: See the comments – Rafael’s bike has been found!

20 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch, be-on-the-lookout edition: Small business hit by shoplifter; child saddened by bike thief"

  • JanS June 22, 2015 (2:54 pm)

    damn, but people are slimy…Carmilia’s..to her it may not have seemed like much, but when you’re a small business, it can be a big hit. I’m so sorry.

    Cynthia..WTF? who steals a child’s bike? How low can you get? I hope this is recovered soon. In the mean time, if you are on Facebook, there is a group called West Seattle Giving Tree (recycle, reuse group). If you can go there, and join the group, there are a lot of young families with kids, and they are a very giving group, and I’m sure would love to try and help until Rafael’s bike comes home.

  • AmandaKH June 22, 2015 (2:56 pm)

    Cynthia! We have a 16″ boys Trek bike you can have! My son and I were just talking about giving it away (he has an 18″ now – big boy)! Plus, I recently had my bike stolen and someone gave me a replacement. Would love to pass on the juju to you. Send me an email smyliegrl at gmail dot com.

  • Cynthia Fein-Wallace June 22, 2015 (3:14 pm)

    Amanda,
    Thank you sooooo much! When can I pick up? I would live to bring it to him after school today. My nbr/txt is 206-617-8427.
    Cynthia

  • West Seattle Hipster June 22, 2015 (3:22 pm)

    As much as the crimes reported on the WSB distress me, I am always proud to see the selfless actions of my fellow WS residents.

  • JanS June 22, 2015 (3:37 pm)

    Amanda KH…that’s terrific.

    Cynthia…if interested in the giving group, I just realized it’s a private group, so you won’t find it. I can hook you up…just contact me at mmfeelgood at gmail dot com. It’s a terrific group of very giving people for many things, and just for West Seattle :) I referred the group to this story…maybe someone will see your son’s bike :)

  • Quilterwoman June 22, 2015 (3:44 pm)

    I’m with you, WS Hipster. The kindness here made my day.

  • Al June 22, 2015 (4:26 pm)

    Nice of you Amanda. Who steals a lit kids bike…

  • TheErcs June 22, 2015 (5:25 pm)

    We saw a yellow bike very much like this at 8:00 this morning in the parking strip on 45th near Madison Middle School… just in front of a house. May not be it, but I thought it was odd that someone left their bike out.

  • Don Schei June 22, 2015 (6:08 pm)

    I saw a bike that looked just like this one a few minutes ago just south of 45th and Stevens laying on the sidewalk.

  • Cynthia Fein-Wallace June 22, 2015 (7:08 pm)

    Don!!!

    Thank You!!! It is his bike!!!

    West Seattle Blog ROCKS!!! And we were gifted a bike two bikes really. One thanks to the generosity of Amanda. And one thanks to my friend Michelle. Amanda’s is a 16in and Michelle’s is a 20″ which turns our fits him better. We will be re-gifting Amanda’s bike soon.

    Thank you West Seattle Blog!!!!

    Love,
    The Fein-Wallace Family

    • WSB June 22, 2015 (7:47 pm)

      Yay! We love happy endings!

  • sc June 22, 2015 (8:47 pm)

    Pretty low to steal a child’s bike. But wonderful for a happy ending!

  • JennyL June 22, 2015 (9:50 pm)

    Cynthia, I recognize Rafael from the preschool class he was in with my daughter Sydney. I am so glad his bike story has a happy ending!

  • Tk June 23, 2015 (1:49 am)

    im a block away and my boys have expensive pro BMXs… Just brought them in the house after reading this.

  • WSFamily June 23, 2015 (5:57 am)

    And huge thanks to Tracy and WS Blog for making this happy ending – and countless others – even a remote possibility!

  • biking dude June 23, 2015 (9:21 am)

    Really too bad the kids wheels got lifted, such a heart-breaker for him…I KNOW!!!

    I hope this episode is used as a life-lesson for him AND all the other kids of parents reading this; put your stuff away when you’re finished with IT if you want to have IT to play with tomorrow.

    I’m not trying to be a hard-a**, more a realist who’s been there and lost one!!

    Pedal-on kids!!!

  • jarval June 23, 2015 (10:48 am)

    Not to change the subject, but near 100th and 31st, Tuesday around 5am, a mid 20s white male attempted to gain entry to a home. Fully fenced, he had to climb over to enter, then tried windows and doors before being spooked. Last seen jumping back over fence.

    IF U KNOW THIS PERSON, PLS WARN HIM HE WILL BE DISPATCHED IF CAUGHT.

    • WSB June 23, 2015 (10:50 am)

      Was that in the county or city? Someone asked me about something that sounds like that but I couldn’t find anything in the SPD tweets even resembling it.

  • Brandon June 23, 2015 (11:38 am)

    I’m so glad you guys found his bike. It would break my heart if my son’s things got stolen. Glad for the happy ending.

  • Ti June 23, 2015 (12:08 pm)

    Poor lil guy:( How could one be so heartless..Feels good to see our community come together and help out..Way to go Amanda!:)

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