ORIGINAL REPORT, 5:03 PM: Three West Seattle Crime Watch reports, starting with an investigation under way now:

POLICE SEARCH: Thanks for the tips about a police response in Upper Alki/West Admiral. Scanner traffic indicated they were looking for someone but no details on why; our crew went to the center of the search, Admiral Way and Lander, to try to find out more. Police there tell us someone reported being “grabbed” while walking in the area. They were talking with a possible suspect when we arrived so we don’t have further details; as far as we can calculate from the time frame that was mentioned, they didn’t get the report until at least 45 minutes after the incident, so it’s been at least an hour and a half now since the incident. We’ll add anything more we find out.

Since we’re talking Crime Watch, we’ll add two reader reports that came in earlier today:

CAR-PROWL SPREE: Ray shared this report sent to neighbors:

I’d like to thank Kathleen for letting me know my car had been broken into and I should also thank the Seattle Police Department and Officer J. Dobson for their swift and professional response. Last night my 2013 Honda Accord was broken into and a cell phone stolen on 38th Ave SW between Juneau and Raymond.

A total of four cars (and counting) were prowled last night between 9:00 pm and 7:00 AM today. If anyone has video on these cars, SPD would be really pleased to hear about it. Case #15-414043 at 206 733 9800 if you have related information. A $200 reward for apprehension and conviction of the thief is up for grabs (will be split, if there are multiple competitors for the prize).

I lost a cell phone out of my car and consider myself lucky that was the only theft. I expect to be replacing the door and the trunk lid, courtesy of our little friends. A few tips.

1) Never leave valuables in your car, even in our safe little area.
2) Particularly and especially valuables with data in or on them that can be used for identity theft.
3) If you are a firearms aficionado, please see #1 & #2. If the Seattle Chief can have his service weapon stolen out of his car, there is not a single one of us that is magically invulnerable. Leaving a gun in a car is a bad choice on many many levels – keep it on your person or under adult supervision at all times.
4) If you don’t have a car alarm system, now is a good time. If your system only triggers when a door opens, now is a good time to upgrade. My little thief caved in a window and went in through said window, cleverly not opening the door.
5) It is likely time for us all to be a little more aware as the holidays approach and thievery abounds. There has also been a uptick in packages being stolen from doorsteps throughout Seattle.

I will be installing an external camera covering our primary parking area shortly. I suggest doing the same, and I have found the AT&T alarm and surveillance system to be quite satisfactory.

GARAGE BURGLARY: Sent today by Rebecca:

I just wanted to report that our garage was broken into Thursday night, near 35th and Manning. The door was open in the morning and we thought we left it open, but then realized that all of our tools were gone. They did not take bikes or golf clubs, but a couple drills, chop saw, large tool box and several other tool sets. Not sure if any other burglaries were reported int he area, but seems like around the holidays the rate of burglaries goes up. Our garage is separate from the house but we were home and have several house guests and three dogs so a pretty brazen burglary.

ADDED 11:11 PM: One more report has come in tonight – from Lori:

Last night between the hours of 11 pm & 7 am. 3 of 4 tires/rims were taken off our 2012 Subaru. It was parked in our alley @ the 5200 block of 41st Ave.

We start this Crime Watch roundup with video of a porch thief who wasn’t even stealing a package:

Ramin‘s home surveillance camera was rolling when a thief stole “some stuff” from the porch earlier this week near 45th SW & Erskine. Thieves are striking in daylight too. From Sarah:

Wanted to let you know that we had a package delivered on our front porch by the USPS and within a half an hour the package was stolen off our front porch. We live on 35th between Barton and Cambridge. So, please let people know this is happening, and if they see a package on their front porch to not delay in retrieving it. I am filing a police report. Happy Black Friday…

Justin reported a package stolen from a porch in Gatewood, on SW Thistle between 35th and California.

Vehicles and their contents remain targets too. Car prowler(s) hit Tyson twice in less than a week, near 42nd SW and Hill in Admiral:

I’m a videographer and store some of my equipment in the back of my car under a cover which prevents it from being seen from the outside, but they busted my back window and took between $3,000-5,000 worth of lighting, tripods and misc gear. I assume the first time was just a test to see if my alarm would go off and they returned less than a week later to finish the job. I know I should have learned my lesson the first time but didn’t believe they would be back…lesson learned.

Police say they just can’t repeat this often enough … don’t leave anything in your car. Anything at all. Even if you think it’s hidden, even if you think it would be of no value to anyone else.

Meantime, Kellen‘s stolen trailer was found, minus its contents:

Last Friday morning the 20th between 7:15 and 8:30 my black enclosed utility trailer was stolen from my parking spot at the Public Storage facility located on Olson Place. The thief someone managed to remove the coupler lock and make off with the trailer using a U-Haul truck (according to the limited security video reviewed by the facility). The trailer was recovered the following day by Renton Police but all my tools and equipment used from my contracting business were missing. While I will very likely never see any of my tools again, maybe there is a very slight chance that another tenant there saw/remembers something suspicious from that morning that could be of help to the police in possibly finding those responsible. Or if all else, this could serve as a notice to current tenants of that facility to take extra precautions with your belongings that this kind of thing can happen; even in a seemingly well-secured place.

Last but not least:

FOUND BICYCLE: Look familiar?

Mark sent the photo, explaining that it turned up this evening on the side of his house, on 64th SW between Alki SW and Admiral Way. (If you’re missing a bicycle and haven’t seen the other found bikes featured here recently, check the Crime Watch page for links.)