West Seattle Crime Watch: 2 burglaries; 2 suspected package thefts

| Crime | West Seattle news

Four reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch.

First, a burglary near 36th/Trenton, with an arrest reported. Summarizing the neighborhood-watch e-mail string that was forwarded to us – vigilant neighbors heard glass breaking and saw someone entering the house next door just after 4 am. They called 911; in the meantime, a suspect was spotted running through nearby yards, and as more neighbors got involved, he was reportedly cornered in the next block, and police took him into custody.

Another burglary Tuesday afternoon has not yet been solved, so far as we know. From Erika and Jackson:

We would like to make sure the readers of the WS Blog are aware of the burglary that happened at our home yesterday. We live on 17th Ave SW between Holden and Kenyon, and our home was broken into during the afternoon hours (Tuesday) when nobody was home at our residence.

We have lived on the block for six and a half years and have never had this happen before, and typically feel very safe in our home. We are very shaken up, have had property stolen and minor damage to the house, but everyone is OK. We also have an alarm system with ADT, and it took the SPD 2.5 hours to come to our house after ADT called their dispatch. We also called 911 four more times on our own. We are currently working with ADT and SPD to get transcripts of the day to learn how that happened, as we are very upset with the alarm company and police department’s reaction time to our burglarized home. The police officer who did take our case was also very surprised at how long we waited for his arrival.

As everyone in Highland Park, West Seattle, and Seattle knows already, we want our neighbors to stay vigilant, locks all doors and windows when you leave your property (or are even in your backyards), and be aware of suspicious activity.

We also have two reports of possible package theft. From Teresa:

I wanted to let you know that a large UPS package was possibly stolen off our front porch in the Genesee Hill neighborhood (Tuesday) afternoon. I say possibly because no one saw it happen, but the UPS driver confirmed he delivered it at 11 am and by 4:30 pm it was missing when I arrived home. The shipping company and UPS are working together to remedy this for me, but I wanted to make the neighborhood aware of the possible incident.

She notes there were other signs of suspicious activity, such as an open side gate. Meantime, Josh in Sunrise Heights reported that while tracking showed 2 packages delivered to his home Monday, one was missing. So if you’re expecting deliveries … keep in mind that package thieves might be back in business in the area.

Silly Goose July 8, 2015 (12:42 pm)

To those residents that are missing packages, if you are expecting a package and know you arent going to be home you can request the package be held at the UPS HUB or FED Ex Hub, you will still get a notice that your package is available for pick up too!!

HelperMonkey July 8, 2015 (12:50 pm)

Erika, it’s not surprising at all. It took hours for the SPD to show up when my house was burglarized. It wasn’t until I realized they’d stolen my old shotgun and called to add that to the report and they were there right away. So tell them someone stole a weapon. It’s apparently the only way to get them there – they don’t care about house break-ins. Very low priority.

krb July 8, 2015 (2:37 pm)

I’m not so sure SPD views burglaries as a low priority, but it’s important to get the bottom of why it took 2+ hours. That is not acceptable. We had a false alarm last year, and SPD was dispatched and circling our property in less than 15mins.

Seattlite July 8, 2015 (3:16 pm)

HelperMonkey — Why would you suggest for someone to lie to SPD? It’s definitely important to find out why SPD took 2.5 hours to show up at the scene; however, lies are not productive.

norskgirl July 8, 2015 (3:21 pm)

Genesee Hill has had at least 2 cases of mail theft within my immediate neighborhood in the last ~ year. Several of us have installed locked mailboxes for incoming mail (although that is ineffective for USPS packages that can’t be held) and hand deliver out-going mail.

Daniel July 8, 2015 (7:10 pm)

I’ve called the police a few weeks ago about suspicious activity at a neighbor’s house. 3 squad cars arrived within minutes. Granted, I’m 3 blocks from the police department on Delridge and I called them directly, not 911.

bmt July 8, 2015 (10:52 pm)

This past holiday weekend on Friday, July 3rd there were 2 males walking in the Gatewood neighborhood. My radar went off in my gut that they were up to no good. I had never seen them before and their activity seemed suspicious. Their activity included returning 3 times to the same area from a span of 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. They were seen in a green honda accord and also a small black car (kind of looked spray painted). They were carrying 1 small gray backpack in the a.m. and later 2 larger black backpacks in the p.m. This activity appeared suspicious to me. I chose to call the police. Ironically, on Monday, one of our neighbors returned from being gone to find that their home was burglarized with personal and electronic items stolen in addition to another home close to our block whose home was burglarized.
I am here to encourage everyone to increase your home/car security and your overall awareness of your surroundings so you can better protect yourself, your belongings, your home/children and neighbors. Support each other especially when you need to be gone for extended periods of time.
It is an awful feeling to be violated in this way. Been there, done that. My only hope is that my willingness to get involved has maybe helped in someway and will encourage anyone reading this to do the same. If you see/hear someone or something that looks/feels suspicious please notify the police and talk with your neighbors.

Marlo July 9, 2015 (10:58 pm)

Yeah, lie to the police over a recorded 911 line that will really add to your credibility…and integrity.

If the incident is not “in progress” it is not a high priority call. A 2 1/2 hour wait for an officer to come and take a report is quite the norm when they are short-staffed, have other “holding calls”, or responding to higher priority calls.
The reality is not EVERY call is handled during any one shift. At the start of the next shift that call that wasn’t dispatched from the earlier shift then gets attention. “The police don’t care”? The police are “dispatched”—sent to calls by SPD Communications staff who are civilian employees.

So if an officer shows up to serve you in response from your call to 911 be grateful that he/she responds at all. Some cities in the U.S. have citizens waiting DAYS for an officer to show up and that includes responding to precedent one calls.

It’s called reality and not I want it when I want it.

John July 12, 2015 (12:10 am)

Wow Marlo, that’s some high standards you’ve set for public service. You sound like a jaded ex-cop or corrections officer (who couldn’t cut it as a cop).