READER REPORT: ‘In the interest of warning other early-morning runners/walkers’…

| Safety | West Seattle news

In the interest of warning other early morning runners/walkers, I had a disturbing encounter this morning around 6:10 while running north on California between Genesee and Charlestown.

A vehicle moderately slowed down beside me just north of Genesee and must have circled the block and did it again north of Dakota, but this time paced me for a few seconds. I then noticed the vehicle pull off to the side north of Charlestown as I approached that intersection. I crossed the street to the 7-11 and watched the vehicle proceed south on California after slowing in front of the 7-11. It was an old (’70s/maybe early ’80s) two-tone brown large “SUV” with the rear window rolled down or missing. Be alert, runners and walkers!

Special thanks to the 7-11 employee and Vanpool at the gas pump for being so helpful to me!

Apey September 17, 2018 (7:20 pm)

On September 4th there was an eerily similar account posted on the Nextdoor website. Different vehicle description, but otherwise sounds very similar, and happened on California near the old PCC in the early morning hours. Be safe everyone!!

upbeforethesunrises September 17, 2018 (7:48 pm)

i walk near salty’s and the boat ramp every morning and it’s odd but something similar was going on today as well. i walked past a car that was an suv model (bronze in color? hard to tell in the dark.) as i walked past, i turned to look into the car and saw the driver on a cell phone. that seemed normal. what didn’t seem normal was that about 1/2 mi up the road, the same car was parked, with the same driver on a cell phone when i passed it. this happened three times during the course of my walk and has never happened before. i sometimes see police heading to alki (starbucks for early morning coffee?) so i may stop them in the next couple of days and mention this so they are aware.i found the fact that i passed this vehicle 3 times strange. the last time i saw it, it was headed southbound on alki ave towards the main beach, from anchor park. that was about 6:05am.thank you for sharing this. let’s all stay safe and be aware of who is walking, running and driving around us, especially when it’s still dark out.

Carrie September 18, 2018 (9:37 am)

When you say “on a cell phone”, do you mean talking/with it up to their ear, or, just looking down at it? If it’s the latter, I have to present the possibility that they may have been playing PokemonGo, possibly on their way to work. There are a number of PokeStops & PokeGyms along Alki, spaced in such a way that a person would need to pull over or slow down quite a bit, for the game to register. Being vigilant and aware is important, but hopefully the person you saw was simply getting in some geeky fun times before heading off to the daily grind. ;)

Karenr September 17, 2018 (9:07 pm)

Please don’t wait to contact the police. This sounds too creepy!

sw September 17, 2018 (9:11 pm)

Get license plate numbers and send with vehicle description to the police. The more info they have, the more they can do. Be safe, all.

Al September 17, 2018 (9:52 pm)

Good morning to all. Take a pic , act like your texting and really try and get plate numbers. You can always call 911 at that time and get a fast response. Don’t wait. Al Semple with awsda =American women’s women’s self defense association

Swede. September 17, 2018 (10:22 pm)

Get and carry a goid, high power flashlight now when it gets darker and you’re planing to be outside. Are an effective defense ‘weapon’ and obviously make identify vehicles, people and such much easier.

John Q Lincoln September 18, 2018 (10:02 am)

This is disturbing. I’m a frequent runner and am often out early or late, but never had a bad experience. Don’t wear headphones when running and stay alert to your surroundings. Watch out for each other out there.

Shawna September 18, 2018 (10:49 am)

I posted on Next Door about this a couple weeks ago. Your experience sounds too similar to what happened to me. Do you have a discription if the man? I believe the car window in the back was rolled down, but t was a different car. Thank you

anonyme September 18, 2018 (5:16 pm)

I just saw a story on the news about an attempted abduction in Olympia. The vehicle and driver match the descriptions above.

heartless September 18, 2018 (6:00 pm)

I doubt it. Would you provide a link to the story you just saw?
- Sd September 19, 2018 (9:16 am)
  
  I don’t know if this is the story anonyme, but I saw it today (9.19). It was Shelton, so near enough.https://komonews.com/news/local/police-investigating-2-attempted-kidnappings-of-young-girls-near-shelton-school

Jethro Marx September 19, 2018 (6:38 am)

Just to sum up, we have two different accounts of vehicles driving slowly and passing pedestrians more than once. Many have recommended calling the police, yet no crime has occurred. Maybe we could all just relax a little and stop assuming the worst of our neighbors’ intentions. There are so many more non-nefarious explanations for this than the stalker/rapist/serial killer y’all seem to lean towards.

awomyn September 20, 2018 (9:54 am)

Congratulations on not being a woman, Jethro and John!

anonyme September 19, 2018 (10:05 am)

Yes, that’s it – thank you SD. My mistake, it was Olympic High School, not Olympia the city. It’s not the distance that makes me now doubt they could be the same guy, but the fact that one seems to be targeting women, the other children. Not unheard of (Ted Bundy?), but unusual. What is more disturbing is that so many of these attempted abductions are taking place at the same time – and these are just the ones that have been reported.