VIDEO/PHOTO: Recognize these West Seattle package thieves?

Two more West Seattle Crime Watch package-theft reports just in, and both include visuals of the thieves:

GENESEE HILL THIEF: The photo and report are from Angela:

Around noon today, we drove around to retrieve a package from our neighbor’s house – they were out of town and had asked us to keep an eye out because they’d been informed the package was to arrive while they were gone. When we drove around to grab the package, we witnessed a tall white male, walking down the street with a similar package, and once we confirmed the package was no longer on their front porch, we drove up next to the individual and asked him where he was going with the package. He turned right back around and said he’d put it back. We got out of the car, took the package from him and he continued to walk toward SW Genesee – then headed west up Genesee Hill. We pulled around and confronted him, told him to leave the area, and took a picture of him. It’s likely that he’s still roaming the streets – he said he felt stupid and apologized, and would not attempt to do this again. We searched the area about 15 minutes later and couldn’t find him.

Description
White Male
Roughly 6′ 2″ tall
Wearing a paperboy-style hat – gray
Black flannel-material jacket
(Average) build
Blue water bottle in hand
Either blue or green eyes, not brown
Scruffy in look – probably early- to mid-30’s in age

If you know who this is, the police report to reference is 15-450056.

LINCOLN PARK THIEF: Near Lincoln Park, a Tuesday theft was caught on video shared by the victim:

That video starts with a blue car heading right to left; forward the video to 1:28, where you’ll see someone walking into the video from the left, going down stairs, running back up with packages, and hopping into that same car, which takes off. The package’s owner explains:

On Tuesday, December 29th, in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, this video shows at around 2:25 pm a Blue CRV slowly drove past our house, looked at recently delivered packages and then dropped off a thief (out of view) who stole the packages from our porch and then jumped back in the Blue CRV. Be on the look out for this guy and the car around West Seattle! A police report has been filed and any information you may have, or if you see the car and/or the man in the video, please contact Officer Jenkins, referencing incident 15-449867.

44 Replies to "VIDEO/PHOTO: Recognize these West Seattle package thieves?"

  • Jason December 30, 2015 (2:53 pm)

    Freakin’ newsies, I knew they weren’t to be trusted.

  • Smitty December 30, 2015 (3:00 pm)

    Good luck to all……that video in Lincoln Park neighborhood is high quality, very nice setup. Hopefully it results in an arrest.

    People should really look into video surveillance. Use to be that the video quality was lacking but this is crystal clear. We should all get these and put this thievery to an end.

  • MMB December 30, 2015 (3:03 pm)

    Dear West Seattle neighbors: I would like to get the word out that when you order from Amazon, for many items you have to option of shipping to a “Locker.” There is now a set of them at the Safeway on Roxbury. Look for the options near your home or work when you check out. You get a text when it’s delivered, and you use a one-time code to access your box of goodies. Unfortunately, there are scads of these opportunists waiting to prey on your shipments, so I hope you’ll consider the locker option when it’s available to you. I’m not blaming victims, just “arming” them!

  • Smokeycretin9 December 30, 2015 (3:11 pm)

    DAMN It. He is wearing the same style cap I always wear.

  • West Seattle Hipster December 30, 2015 (3:27 pm)

    Not to be snarky, but are the police all that concerned with package theft? What type of crime is it considered as? It seems like it is escalating dramatically and the police don’t seem to have a solution.

    .

    Bait packages?

  • KM December 30, 2015 (3:28 pm)

    Good work Angela, we would all be lucky to have you as a neighbor!

  • sam-c December 30, 2015 (3:45 pm)

    Yeah, I always have stuff shipped to me at the office. The Amazon locker is also good.
    But, relatives ship things to our home address, and tell us about it AFTER they’ve been to the post office (before we have a chance to tell them to ship it somewhere else). Luckily, this year, everything that relatives have sent us have been small enough to fit in our grouped mailbox package lock-boxes. (you know those things- a stand of 20 mailboxes for you and neighbors, with 2 slots for small to medium size packages at the bottom- you get the key to it in your designated mailbox, and unlock the door …hard to describe but very handy)
    Admittedly, I’ve shipped things to people at home too, since I don’t know their work addresses.

  • Lola December 30, 2015 (4:09 pm)

    Someone should know who the guy is in the photo? I will be on the lookout for him as he is in my neighborhood. I can’t believe how brazen these thieves have become.

    He even tells the people Oh I will not do it again, how many times has he done it since this time????

  • AG December 30, 2015 (4:13 pm)

    For the folks in Lincoln park, can you let us know what kind of camera you use? That’s some GREAT quality and I’d love to pick up one or two.

  • Thermo December 30, 2015 (4:20 pm)

    outdoor video cams are pretty cheap these days. I have one on the front porch that does constant video upload to cloud storage and does local photo storage on motion detection. I get notifications every time the motion sensor triggers. Most of the time it is the wind, or a squirrel… but I’ve had it capture many deliveries.

  • Raincity December 30, 2015 (4:20 pm)

    I would be interested in knowing what kind of camera was used for the lincoln park video – it’s very clear!

  • motormike December 30, 2015 (4:21 pm)

    @MMB thanks for the heads up. I keep trying to use the nearby 7-11 one but it’s always full.

  • anonyme December 30, 2015 (4:32 pm)

    The guy in the photo was casing in Arbor Heights yesterday morning. I was going to call police, but a) they never come, and b) they usually make it plain on the phone that they feel I’m wasting their precious time.

    One note: the guy was wearing the hat shown above as he walked down the alley. When he came back out the same way, he was wearing a stocking cap.

  • payrollgirl December 30, 2015 (4:50 pm)

    @smokeycretin9…I knew you were a scoundrel!!!! LOL!
    Just kidding :>)

  • Jeanie December 30, 2015 (5:25 pm)

    Oh, Jason, your newsie comment was classic!

  • smokeycretin9 December 30, 2015 (5:29 pm)

    Lol, except I have a beard, and am only 5’10”

  • PangolinPie December 30, 2015 (5:42 pm)

    Heh, Smokeycretin9 – time for a new hat. :)

    I think we should all invest in outdoor surveillance cameras, and BIG props to Angela who had the foresight to take this guy’s photo. Robert Heinlein said that “an armed society is a polite society” but in fact I think that a society with cameras is a civil society (when they’re privately owned, at least). *Take pictures and share!!*

  • chemist December 30, 2015 (5:58 pm)

    Raincity, the logo says “nest” and they only sell one camera currently ($180).

  • Vincent Dakotah Langley December 30, 2015 (6:10 pm)

    This guy’s name is Ron, I believe.

  • Asha December 30, 2015 (6:11 pm)

    Is that Brett Favre?

  • Katrina December 30, 2015 (6:22 pm)

    UPS also had a service, I believe called MyUPS, that will notify you the day before a package is scheduled to be delivered. You can choose to change the day, the address, or have it held at A UPS service center. You can do it online or use their app. Works well for me.

  • Kravitz December 30, 2015 (6:49 pm)

    These idiots should be caught soon – great details on both suspects/incidents. Thank you Angela for caring about your neighbors and the hood!

  • G30 December 30, 2015 (7:16 pm)

    West Seattle Hipster, stealing a delivered package off a porch is no different than opening the door of a car parked in the house driveway and stealing a purse from inside. It is property theft and pursued as such.

    Difference is, you can lock your car door to make it harder for thieves. There are fewer options when it comes to delivered packages.

    I work from home most of the day so haven’t had a package stolen. But to provide cover for delivered packages I have a large planter beside my front door and delivery people usually place the package behind that, so it’s not visible from the street.

    • WSB December 30, 2015 (7:54 pm)

      To the question of whether package theft is pursued and prosecuted – one case that comes to mind is that of Emanuel Kozma, arrested almost a year ago after package/mail thefts in the Alki area, in King County Jail until his October sentencing for what amounted to time served – but, I’ve finally confirmed via checking the Snohomish County jail register, he was transferred there the same day and remains in custody there on a felony drug charge. – TR

  • C December 30, 2015 (7:21 pm)

    I know a lot of people have privacy concerns with cameras, but I think they are a great idea. While we were away we had someone enter our property and apparently case our house. I now have six cameras covering our property. They capture all movement in HD and automatically upload to the cloud. I can access the video from anywhere and the video is secure, even if the hardware were to be stolen. It’s wasn’t very straight forward to setup, but it would all be worth it if it meant getting one more thief off the street. Not that they would really be off the street if they were to be caught.

  • WEST SIDE ROB December 30, 2015 (8:25 pm)

    NO ASHA ““~~~ Looks more like johnny football,
    he’s the kind of squirrel that would do something like this after a party in a drunken stupor.

  • pupsarebest December 30, 2015 (8:31 pm)

    Surely someone will recognize the very clear photo of the Genesee Hill thief—another aspect of his physical appearance that should be helpful in identifying him is rather large ears.👂🏻

  • LS December 30, 2015 (8:44 pm)

    With todays modern technology age I would like to see police or someone start planting packages in plain sight with GPS trackers inside so that some of these thieve’s final destinations can be detected.

  • Lisa Secord December 30, 2015 (9:41 pm)

    Nice work, Angela and comrade!

  • Trick December 30, 2015 (10:16 pm)

    I love my nest cam (formerly Dropcam) great quality,easy set up, $9 mo for cloud storage. I’ve had mine for 2 years,can’t recommend it enough.

  • Krissy December 30, 2015 (11:05 pm)

    Thank you MMB that is awesome to know!

  • Will December 30, 2015 (11:58 pm)

    Good example of community policing and looking out for each other.

  • DD December 31, 2015 (7:32 am)

    For those who have cameras set up, do you also have some sort of sign that says, “smile, you’re on camera?” Wondering if that would serve as any sort of deterrent, since getting people on film only provides fodder for an investigation that may not go anywhere.

  • Brad December 31, 2015 (9:36 am)

    Dude looks like Mike Damone!

  • WS Mom December 31, 2015 (1:12 pm)

    Would he be so bold as to wear the same hat around town? This guy might be in the Alaska junction right now! Last saw him in front of Yummy Teriyaki

  • ~Hockeywitch~ December 31, 2015 (1:33 pm)

    It’s ridiculous that we have to have packages shipped other places than our homes, or have to have surveillance cameras on our homes because of the low lives out there snatching things from our porches, cars, etc.
    I had to do something because of packages getting left at my door and them getting stolen (one of which was a puppy pictured mouse pad… sure the thieves were THRILLED to get that one). I went to the UPS Store and got a PMB… they notify you when you have a package arrive… Might be something someone out there might want to look into. I let everyone know that if they are sending me anything letter sized, to send to my home address, but anything bigger than a letter to send it to my PMB.

  • RRS December 31, 2015 (2:57 pm)

    I just saw the Genesee Hill package theif walking around near Alaska Junction, and called 911! He must not read the WSB because he was wearing the exact same clothing!

    • WSB December 31, 2015 (3:23 pm)

      Thanks, RRS. Since we have the incident report numbers in both these cases, we’ll be able to check back at some point and see if suspect(s) were ever caught, identified, etc.

  • Vincent Dakotah Langley December 31, 2015 (5:21 pm)

    I already told you people this guy’s name — his first name, at least. I do not know his last name, sorry.

  • Nancy December 31, 2015 (8:44 pm)

    Is this the same guy pictured on 12/26 in the Santa hat?

  • Be mama December 31, 2015 (10:11 pm)

    I think I saw this guy tonight in the Alaska junction too. Selling “something” for cash in the parking lot behind NW art and frame.

  • Asha N. January 1, 2016 (11:37 pm)

    @Vincent is this Ron guy the estimated height of 6’2?

  • Paula January 2, 2016 (7:14 pm)

    Hope SPD reads WSB and follows PigeonPointNeighborhood on FB. Help them solve a lot of crimes. So many people are able to provide pieces of the puzzle.

    • WSB January 2, 2016 (7:19 pm)

      Social media is great for some things – we have evangelized and cross-promoted it for 8 years now – but the open web is the ONLY place you don’t have to be a member – where the information is open to *all* to see, the one West Seattle-wide clearinghouse for news of many kinds, plus crime information, lost/found pets (which, like crime, know no neighborhood bounds), etc. So if there’s info there that you’re not seeing there, please encourage people to contribute here as well. The more fragmented the discussions are, the less effective they are. There are more than a dozen distinct neighborhoods comprising West Seattle and the problems/challenges/successes of each one are almost always of interest and relevance to the others – TR

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