WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Car stolen with boxed stroller; carport prowled again; daytime car break-in at grocery-store lot

Warmer, drier weather brings out more people. Some, unfortunately, are criminals, which is why we have another West Seattle Crime Watch report so soon after the last one. If you see a possible crime in progress, call 911 and you might be able to help bust someone responsible for multiple incidents.

Here are 3 new reader reports:

NEW PARENTS’ CAR STOLEN, WITH STROLLER: From Chris:

On Sunday morning, April 2nd, a gold 2009 Subaru Forester with YTG-862 plates was stolen from the 4000 block of 41st Ave SW near Holy Rosary School. The car had 2 bike racks on top of it and a brand new [in the box] stroller for our 21-day-old baby. Please call 911 if you see the car.

SAME CARPORT, DIFFERENT PROWLERS ON CAMERA: Just a few days ago, we shared video from David of prowlers in his carport near 48th and Hudson. Today, at 6:45 am, “when there are likely lots of people up and about,” he got somebody different on camera:

Here’s a cropped framegrab with the best closeup:

Let police know if you have a tip on who that might be.

SUPERMARKET LOT SMASH-AND-GRAB: This happened Saturday afternoon in the parking lot at Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor):

My car window was smashed in at the Met Market parking lot. On April 1st, 2017 around 4:15 p.m. It was a gray 2010 Prius. Canvas tote was stolen containg my dark brown leather day planner and headset and white mesh makeup bag among other miscellaneous items. Would love to have it returned if found or any info regarding the breakin.

The victim says the tote did NOT contain a wallet or anything else of value to anyone but her – given the calendar in the day planner. As police often warn, the criminals act so fast, they don’t stop to check whether it’s really worth their time – it’s grab first, look later. And they can go almost unnoticed, even in a busy supermarket parking lot in the middle of the afternoon. This too has been reported to police.

LikeAGoodNeighbor April 2, 2017 (12:42 pm)

Assumed car prowl loot – Lacrosse helmet and gym stuff found on Edmonds and 36th.

Me April 2, 2017 (4:43 pm)

Hockey helmet. Not lacrosse.

CR April 2, 2017 (1:20 pm)

I must have pulled into Met Market just before the smash and grab or it happened while I was circling the lot to park. Didn’t notice anyone suspicious. Place was packed. Ended up parking near the Prius and assumed it must have happened overnight. My guess is the criminal spent under 15 seconds on the crime. Another reminder to us all not to have anything visible in the car including stuff of little or no value. It’s expensive and a hassle to repair the car damage.

mr_z April 3, 2017 (9:39 am)

Indeed,nothing visible EVER. I learned that rule from a friend who had seen a smash-and-grab for a quarter. One twenty-five-cent piece! I told friends and family to do the same, keep everything out of their vehicles. Unfortunately, they didn’t listen and had a smash-and-grab right in their carport just off of Aurora (Freemont). I have seen them in broad daylight, right downtown, called the police and they showed up about 2 hours later so don’t count on them for this stuff. In fact you probably will have to pay for most of the damage out of pocket.

sbre April 2, 2017 (4:26 pm)

To the ‘new parents’ who had their Forrester stolen;

If you’re needing any assistance obtaining a new NEW stroller for your NEW baby, please get a hold of me and I will help in any way possible.

swimbikeruneat gmail com

JanS April 3, 2017 (1:28 am)

SBRE…bless you, you are a good man :)

Robin Snyder April 2, 2017 (6:03 pm)

Wow. On the way to church this morning (9:15 am) I saw 4 or 5 police cars surrounding the SUV I believe? I couldn’t imagine what could be going on so early in the morning on SW Dakota between 47th and 48th SW. Hope that was the culprits and everything was returned!

jenilynn30 April 2, 2017 (10:51 pm)

Also to ‘New Parents’

I have no idea what type of stroller was stolen from you but if it happened to be a jogging stroller we have one in good shape that you would be more than welcome to have.

GetaLifeCrooks April 3, 2017 (7:09 am)

Any thieves reading this. Hope to see you on my property since we shoot intruders.

Mark April 3, 2017 (9:53 pm)

At 7pm tonight we witnessed the 2009 Forester license plate 862-YTG being dropped off in front of our house by a group of 4 people in 2 cars. They left in the other car. Your car is currently in front of our house and we contacted the police at around 9:30pm after seeing your post on the blog. We suspected it was stolen because of the rag tag crew that dropped it off.

WSB April 3, 2017 (9:59 pm)

Mark – thank you – did you get through to an operator and did they say they would be able to send someone soon? There’s been a case or two lately where a spotted stolen car has been “stolen again” (or reacquired by the same thieves) before police were able to arrive because of life-safety calls so I’m just wondering. – TR
- Mark April 3, 2017 (10:35 pm)
  
  Police arrived a few minutes ago. They are taking prints. I’m forwarding photos and videos my wife took of the criminals. They said I can post them on the west Seattle blog also.
  - WSB April 3, 2017 (10:41 pm)
    
    Thanks – if you are able to send them soon, they can be in the Crime Watch I’m finally finishing soon. If not, we’ll publish it separately in the morning.
- Mark April 4, 2017 (7:03 am)
  
  Here is a photo and two videos of the criminals.
  - Todd April 4, 2017 (7:23 pm)
    
    That is our Honda Civic that was found today. Crazy. I guess I know a bit more about who may have stolen our car.
    - Chris April 13, 2017 (9:21 am)
      
      Hey Todd, Did you recover any stuff in the Civic? Perhaps some of that stuff came from our car? If so, please give me a call at 206-486-6149 Thanks.

Heidi April 4, 2017 (9:54 am)

Mark – Thank you so much for keeping a lookout for our car and calling the police. The car is back in our custody.

Chris April 5, 2017 (12:09 am)

Thanks Mark!

Thanks to the West Seattle Blog posting, the observant neighbor was able to quickly find the notice about the stolen car and rightly contacted the police. Within 48 hours of the theft, our car (minus personal items) was recovered about 10 blocks from where it was stolen after it was driven around King County. The car now is in need of quite a clean after all the smoke and hypodermic needles left behind. Thank you West Seattle Blog, local police and helpful neighbors!