WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Weekend followups; prowlers; scammers…

In West Seattle Crime Watch:

WEEKEND FOLLOWUPS: We followed up with police today – no arrests to report in either of two weekend incidents we reported on briefly while police were investigating: The Friday night gunfire in Highland Park, and the Saturday night shoplifting-turned-robbery that led to an extensive search in Morgan Junction.

(Saturday night WSB photo)

We did obtain the report narrative for the latter, which says it started when West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor) employees “… contacted the suspect for shoplifting. They observed him putting bulk foods items, a Starbucks Frappuccino and other unknown items into his bag. The suspect then passed the checkout stands without attempting to pay for anything. They then confronted the suspect to return the items. The suspect refused to give back the items. … At some point, the suspect … lifted his pant leg up to expose his boot (and said) “I have a knife. I will kick you.” (They) feared they were going to get assaulted, backed off and told the suspect they were calling the police. That is when the suspect ran out the back door.” While searching with K9 help, while police didn’t find the robber, just east of the store, under a car in the 6500 block of 42nd SW, they did find a bag he had been carrying, containing food, a toothbrush, a lighter, and the cap he had worn.

Next, three reader reports:

PROWLER: From a reader in Seaview:

The reader says the prowler was caught on camera around 11:20 am Sunday near 42nd/Juneau.

ANOTHER PROWLER: We also received a weekend report of a man prowling from Roxhill Park toward the former Roxhill Elementary: “He then proceeded to walk through the neighborhood and every house he walked through yards. He came to ours and walked right up to our front door and front window. … Even when confronted he did not run just kept walking through.” Police were called.

SCAM CALL ALERT: Thanks to Lisa for the reminder that scam callers are relentless. She emailed us this afternoon to report, “We just received a robocall from ‘Department of IRS,’ stating it was suspending our social security numbers due to suspicious activity. My mother-in-law, who is 88, also received the calls.” Since she sent us that original note, just as we were about to publish this, she sent word of a few more – one purporting to be about her account at Bank of America (where she does NOT have an account), and one pitching asphalt for her mother-in-law’s driveway … which is already paved.

Also today, this reminder:

NEXT WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION MEETING: 7 pm Tuesday, April 16, at the Southwest Precinct (2300 SW Webster), with local police there to answer your questions about local crime/safety concerns, as well as this month’s special guest, a representative from the Seattle Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit.

8 Replies to "WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Weekend followups; prowlers; scammers..."

  • MM April 8, 2019 (3:44 pm)

    The prowler (42nd and Juneau) matches up with the timeline of a suspicious person reported at 47th and Findlay on Sunday (see Crime Blog).

    • AS April 8, 2019 (4:14 pm)

      I’m the person who called in the individual with the blue backpack running alongside the side of my house on 47th and Findlay yesterday.  It’s the same guy for sure (although I thought it was a blue coat and not a backpack when I reported him to the police).

    • Chris April 9, 2019 (9:30 am)

      This guy also walked out from our back yard as my girl friend and I were in the kitchen. He had ran the spiggot in the back for a few seconds then just walked off, definitely saw we were home – this was 35th and Monroe

      • Neighbor April 9, 2019 (4:23 pm)

        Was this on Sunday?

        • Chris April 10, 2019 (9:21 am)

          Yes

  • 1994 April 8, 2019 (9:25 pm)

    I also got the scam robo call ,  in an accent free female voice, that my social security number has been suspended for criminal activity, I need to call this # immediately to clear up the matter.  The  phone # was left on my voice mail, and it matched the phone # that had left the message. I called the phone # and a guy with an accent answered my call. I said I was calling about a message left for me about my ssn, I asked with whom I was speaking, he said his name is Officer Adam with Homeland Security, I asked him what office he is working in and he muttered something about Texas – he said I am under investigation for criminal activity to which I could not control myself and blurted out Bulllshxx. He ended the call.  

  • Calires April 8, 2019 (10:34 pm)

    I would recommend that anyone receiving scam calls/texts/emails check their credit report.  I had been getting a lot of obviously fraudulent texts purporting to be from companies that I have accounts with.  Around the same time I received a notification from my credit monitoring service that my SSN had been used to try to open several accounts.  

  • WiseWoman April 9, 2019 (2:23 pm)

    Thank you to all those people and their diligence to report the person going thru yards and scam phone calls/emails. 

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