West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports: Car prowls; burglary

| Crime | West Seattle news

While recent days have brought major cases to West Seattle Crime Watch, the bulk of crimes in our area remain property crimes, and we have three reader reports to share tonight.

CAR PROWL: Rachel reports, “We are in the 8100 block of 24th Ave SW and our truck was broken into in our driveway. Non-damage, but they stole some men’s Ray-Ban sunglasses and our brand=new baby bag that had some clothes and diapers from our newborn. I know it’s a total long shot, but here is a picture of the bag in case anyone finds it. It was a gift and the best bag.”

ANOTHER CAR PROWL: Dale says, “Early Sunday morning, someone broke the side window of our small SUV. The alarm may have scared them off as nothing was taken. This is near 36th and Juneau. We’ve filed a report with the police.”

BURGLARY: From Kayla:

While I live slightly outside of West Seattle limits, I have friends who have seen the suspect vehicle all over Alaska Junction and want to get the word out.

My home (in the 10200 block of) 24th Ave SW was burglarized at 3:30 PM on Wednesday the 21st. My neighbor witnessed a white male, medium build, about 5’11”, in a metallic gold Toyota 4Runner parked in front of my home, which is sheltered and down a long driveway. He smashed my back door window to get in. Stole a safe with Social Security cards, birth certificates, passports, checks, credit cards, and wills. There was also an extensive collection of foreign currency and a key to each of our cars. Outside the safe he stole my class ring- silver with a pink stone and a picture of crossed tennis rackets, and my school’s mascot, an Indian. It was from Sterling High School class of 2003. There was also a medium K-bar knife and a gold ring with purple stones. I would appreciate it being posted in case anyone finds my things.

NEXT CRIME-PREVENTION MEETING: Tuesday (October 27) is the last meeting of the year for the West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network – you don’t have to be a BW captain (or in a BW at all) to attend; all are welcome. 6:30 pm at the Southwest Precinct, 2300 SW Webster.

CLM October 26, 2015 (7:17 am)

Kayla,
Get the locks changed on your cars right away or he will come back later and steal your cars now that he has the keys

niner October 26, 2015 (8:28 am)

That makes no sense CLM. They would have to get the ignition re-keyed too. I bet you a burglar can still get into the cars, even with new door locks.

Alan October 26, 2015 (9:09 am)

A locksmith or a car dealership service center can change the locks (yes, including the ignition). If the cars are newer and have chipped keys, they can just be reprogrammed.
—
Consider leaving the car somewhere other than at home until this is done.

Rick October 26, 2015 (9:37 am)

Drive a 1985 Yugo. Problem solved.

WSB October 26, 2015 (9:39 am)

If any of them are even still running. Unfortunately, beat-up old cars get broken into as much as newer ones.

Mark October 26, 2015 (9:53 am)

We had a car prowl sometime Sunday night at 47th and Alaska. Left the car unlocked by accident so they rummaged through the glove box and kid’s dvds. They didn’t like the selection so they moved on without taking anything.

aa October 26, 2015 (10:30 am)

I think she has bigger issues than the car! Every piece of personal information was stolen. Please get help from your bank and/or others who can guide you to shore up your personal identity before your life takes a bad turn. This person has everything they need to ruin your credit for a very long time!

You were on the right track having those important papers outside of your home, I’m guessing you did it in case of a fire, but it should go to a bank or someplace safe. With copies saved in computer files such as Dropbox.

betsy October 26, 2015 (11:21 am)

Kayla, Social Security can put a lock on your SSN. It’s a major pain, as you have to contact them every time you need to use your number, but they will unlock it for a short period. My bank recommended this (I’m a federal employee who is among the 24 million who had all personal info stolen in a major hack, thanks to the Chinese) But it is the most secure way of protecting yourself. Good luck.

dsa October 26, 2015 (12:18 pm)

The thief might not have the smarts to open the safe depending how good the safe is.

Sorry.... October 26, 2015 (1:49 pm)

Not to be a downer but if the safe is light enough to be carried all you have to do is drop it on the corner and it pops quite easily. I know this because every TV show basically gives away tips on how to get away with crimes… Watching them I’m always thinking, ” oh cool thanks for that awesome tip on how to get away with theft, murder, robbery, etc… :(

Tomas October 27, 2015 (11:22 am)

I live around 30th and Trenton, My car was parked in my driveway Friday night, which is in the back of my house, not visible from the street. I forgot to lock (yeah a boneheaded move on my part) it and when I woke up Saturday morning I noticed the car door was ajar.

I looked in the car and saw it had been rifled thru and the spare change and ashtray I had been using to hold the change was gone. There was only a couple dollars in change, but a replacement ashtray for my car is $80 new, $40 used.

I talked to a neighbor half a block down and his car had also been rifled thru, with the door left ajar the same night. Interestingly enough I remember seeing a car across the street with the door ajar early Sunday morning a couple of weeks ago. I’m less worried about an isolated incident but with multiple confirmed “break ins” for lack of a better term and possibly a third within the span of two weeks I’m concerned someone may be targeting the area.

WSB October 27, 2015 (11:25 am)

Someone just e-mailed me from that same area saying their truck had been broken into overnight. If you e-mail this information to us (editor@westseattleblog.com), we can include it in the next Crime Watch roundup too – trying to repurpose from comments is difficult at best. Thanks and sorry to hear about it – TR

Jackie October 27, 2015 (11:57 am)

Same thing happened to us last night.. My husband’s car was broken into– they stole sunglasses, an iPod, and rifled through everything in the vehicle. If anyone has any leads please let us know– one of the items had sentimental value (a costume ring we used as a “stand in” at our wedding– no idea whyyy it was in the car but it was) :(