WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Tire/wheel stolen; shared-car vandalism; packages taken

| Crime | West Seattle news

The latest West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports:

TIRE/WHEEL THEFT: The photo and report are from Matt in Alki:

I live on the corner of 59th Ave SW and Admiral. When I went out to my car this morning to leave for work I came upon this. Someone had jacked just one entire tire/wheel with bolts. Has anyone else in the area had this happen or did any of my neighbors notice anything unusual last night?

SHARED-CAR VANDALISM: Last night, somebody smashed the window of a car2go vehicle left parked outside Ben‘s house on 8th SW in Highland Park:

He says 911 told him he couldn’t file a report because he wasn’t the victim. After multiple tries, he reached car2go, which said they would report it and send someone over to clean up and get the car.

PACKAGE TAKEN: The video and report are from Isaac on Puget Ridge:

16th Ave right across from South Seattle College. Happened today 4/25 at 12:32 pm.

PACKAGES, MAIL TAKEN: From Adam in the 3000 block of SW Avalon Way:

We have had two packages stolen from our home, one on 4/10 @ 3:35 AM and also on this Saturday @ 02:11 by different people. Both are outgoing food delivery coolers to be picked up by FEDEX in the morning which is why we place them outside before we go to bed.

Also last week our mailboxes were ripped open and the mail stolen.

MEETING REMINDER: Neighborhood crime/safety concerns? The West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network meets at 6:30 pm at the precinct, with new Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Burbridge as guest speaker. All welcome. (2300 SW Webster)

Argonautter April 25, 2017 (10:05 pm)

Matt, is that a Honda Fit? There have been several cases in the past year of people having their Fit wheels taken. Apparently there’s a hot market for them for street racers. Maybe something scared the perps before they could finish the job. Locking lug nuts…

22blades April 26, 2017 (5:34 am)

We’ve had our wheels stolen twice in 2 years. They also have a way of opening the doors electronically. I just don’t leave anything in there and hope they don’t damage things. I’ve been hit a couple times with that too (Admiral).

I don’t get the stock Fit wheels though… They’re aren’t what a modded car would want. Then again, I don’t get a lot of this stuff.

Swede. April 26, 2017 (7:47 am)

It seams to be a trend. Found a ton of articles like this when looking: http://www.10news.com/news/why-thieves-target-this-car-050916

And Honda charges A LOT for the rims so there is that too…

Mark Schletty April 26, 2017 (8:24 am)

The most troubling part of this article to me is the statement by Ben that 911 wouldn’t let him make a report because he wasn’t the victim. If this is standard procedure, it is a really bad one. So, if i see someone breaking into my neighbors house i can’t report it? Or if i notice that their house was broken into last night but they are still out of town i can’t report it? Or worse yet, if i see someone beaten unconscious across the street, i can’t report it because i’m not the victim? No report until the victim wakes up and calls 911 personally? I know 911 is supposed to be for emergencies and broken car windows are probably not an emergency. But if my neighbors door has been kicked off the wall and laying on the floor with the house wide open, like that car was, is that an emergency? It seems to me that, to avoid confusion about reporting criminal activity, 911 should take all crime reports and pass them on to the on-duty police. Just of note, each time i have called the nonemergency number i have been on hold for at least 20 minutes. Not really a usefull option.

WSB April 26, 2017 (8:55 am)

Depends on what’s happening and when. This is similar to, if you see graffiti vandalism on a Parks facility, Parks needs to report it. If it’s a life-safety issue, yes, of course you call 911, those kinds of dispatches happen all the time, same with people seen looking into car windows or prowling a house *now*. I don’t believe the report was made while it was happening.
- Shaoleung April 26, 2017 (9:34 pm)
  
  To clarify – I called the SPD non-emergency line. I didn’t see it happen so because it wasn’t a crime-in-progress and I wasn’t the owner, no statement would be recorded and no officer dispatched. The Car2Go person I spoke to said she would make a note requesting that their Seattle office report the incident, but she also said that wasn’t part of their protocol.. as crimes go, this one probably won’t make the stats.