WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Burglary search; car vandalism x 2; more…

| Crime | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

We start West Seattle Crime Watch with the incident that led to a police search late last night:

AWAKENED BY A BURGLAR: We got a couple texts about a K9 search near Delridge/Juneau late last night and have now obtained the incident report with details. Around quarter to midnight, a woman called 911 to say she woke up to find an intruder standing over her bed. She told police she screamed and the burglar fled. She locked herself in her room and called 911. The burglar was described only as “an unknown-race male in dark hooded clothing.” He apparently entered through an unlocked sliding door; nothing was taken. A K9 team joined the search but didn’t find anyone.

One reader report so far today:

CAR VANDALIZED: Emailed by Mary, “Reporting property destruction – smashed car windshield, rock thrown through (it). Found damage this am, cross street 41st Ave SW & SW Hinds.” Police report filed.

(added 12:46 pm) Just received a similar report:

MORE CAR VANDALISM: Adrianne reports, “Parked car on Oregon and 48th Ave sw windshield was smashed with a brick. Car alarm and noise from driving vehicle woke us out of bed.” She sent this photo:

(back to original report) And a reminder:

PAWS ON PATROL: Second informational meeting for this new SPD program is tomorrow (Tuesday, November 5th), 6:30 pm at the Southwest Precinct (2300 SW Webster). From crime-prevention coordinator Jennifer Danner:

You can help prevent crime while you are walking your dog! Paws on Patrol encourages dog walkers to serve as extra eyes and ears for the Seattle Police Department. This program trains pet owners to prevent crime, as well as recognize and report suspicious activity.

Well-behaved dogs welcome. Meeting includes brief training and Q&A. No RSVP required. Free dog tags while they last. (Here’s our coverage of the first meeting in September.)

J Street November 4, 2019 (1:44 pm)

Maybe if SPD didn’t ticket dog-owners who find quiet areas to let their dogs run around off-leash they would get more cooperation. Dog-owners can be/are an asset to building community…

WSB November 4, 2019 (3:22 pm)

Did you get ticketed by a police officer? More often we get complaints of non-enforcement but when there is enforcement, it’s usually one of the Seattle Animal Shelter officers, not SPD.
Gene November 4, 2019 (4:31 pm)

How about just follow the law-if you don’t like it- gather like minded dog owners & work to revoke it.
Seattlite November 4, 2019 (10:56 pm)

Do you mean like the two off-leash pit bulls in Lincoln Park who charged toward me? The irresponsible owner barely got them to obey him to stop so he could put their leashes back on. This happened a year or so ago in the middle of Lincoln Park. There are lots of reasons for leash laws. Think about it.
- J Street November 6, 2019 (11:26 am)
  
  Totally irresponsible behavior by that owner, and one I would be glad to see ticketed; I’m sorry you had to deal with that. It’s exactly where it would make sense to have enforcement directed (and yes, why leash laws are good).AND ALSO – if the city were willing to designate a part of Lincoln Park as an off-leash area, even for a small set number of hours per day, dogowners could (and most would) go there, and people who don’t want to deal with dogs could simply avoid that part of the park for those hours of the day. People are much more likely to violate the rules when the rules seem unreasonable, and the city’s response to dogowners for years now has been unreasonable.Your experience and the city’s need to do more can both be true,
  - Arty November 8, 2019 (8:02 pm)
    
    Lincoln Park is a natural area. Letting dogs run loose scares wild animals away. It makes the park worse for everybody except the dog and its owner. Super selfish.
Rumbles November 5, 2019 (3:12 pm)

“Quiet place” to run your dog off leash? You can run your dog off leash in your fenced yard all you like. If you are in public, not so much, no matter how “quiet” the place is.

Jon November 4, 2019 (2:58 pm)

My car window was similarly smashed in last night at 45th and Andover.

Kathleen November 4, 2019 (3:25 pm)

Our car was smashed in the same way. 49th/Charlestown. SO FRUSTRATING.

Asking November 4, 2019 (3:27 pm)

J street. Have you worked on getting leash laws revoked??

Payton November 4, 2019 (6:17 pm)

My car windshield was also smashed in the same way on 40th and Dakota. Windows of Madison middle school were broken as well

ttt November 4, 2019 (7:23 pm)

Windows on Schmitz Park Elementary, which is used for aftercare, were also smashed.

Jieb November 5, 2019 (12:00 am)

Man, off leash dogs have been a problem for as long as I have been following wsb, over 10 years. I’m seeing more people concerned about it in the comments but there still isn’t the political will to enforce in a significant manner. Too many scofflaws or ignorant people and only a handful of animal control officers. I’ve watched the problem get worse, not better.

J Street November 5, 2019 (9:46 am)

I’ll collect all of my comments on the dog aspect here, since I then have to go off for the day.

* Yes, myself and others I know have been ticketed by both SPD and Animal Control. Anecdotally it seems to be Animal Control when someone living nearby calls in a complaint. My issue is simply that this often is a poor use of resources: animal control should be for out of control animals posing a threat, not two retrievers playing together on an unused grassy field.

* My original comment was motivated by the attempt by SPD to use dogowners as resources when the city puts so little resources into dogowners, and even targets them for enforcement. I think dogowners can be a tremendous resource. When my dog is allowed to play, I spend that time talking with other dog-owners (neighbors!) about our concerns, local politics, the Seahawks, you name it. We get to know each other, and the city should be encouraging it, not suppressing it.

* I trust that every single person posting that dogowners should follow the law comes to a full and complete, not rolling, stop at every stop sign, and never drives so much as 1 MPH over the posted speed limit. If not, I have some suggestions where you can take your entitled attitude, that only you are allowed which laws can be broken without endangering public safety. [I’ve seen this entitled attitude come out most strongly vs. dog-owners and bicyclists. Don’t know what the connection is there.]

* I don’t think leash laws should be revoked any more than I think all stop signs should be removed from the city. I do think if the city provided more places where dogs were legally allowed to be off leash, even if only at certain hours of the day, dogowners would use them and there would be fewer issues. And yes, myself and many other people have made this request of the city many times.

That’s all I’ve got.
- Nolan November 5, 2019 (3:11 pm)
  
  It’s a poor attempt at deflection to demand perfection from others before they can point out your flaws.
  
  Follow the laws that were put in place to protect others from your irresponsibility, and respect locations that are not explicitly off-leash areas. It’s really that easy.
  - J Street November 6, 2019 (11:35 am)
    
    One might say the same to you – pointing out dogowners’ flaws without considering your own complicity. I pay the ticket when it happens and act respectfully to the officer; I don’t think it’s deflection to point out the flaw’s in the city’s policies, nor the flaws in people who are quick to say ‘follow the law’ except when it’s not convenient for them.To assume without knowing anything about me that I’m acting irresponsibly shows how entitled you are. But I know it’s more fun to get on your high horse than to actually acknowledge that a single
    ‘explicitly off-leash area’ in all of West Seattle is woefully insufficient. As I noted above, people are more likely to break rules when they seem unreasonable (hence the people going 30 in a 25 mph zone), and the city’s attitude towards dogowners has been unreasonable for years now.

MJ November 5, 2019 (8:37 am)

Headline I want to see: Vandal(s) caught by SPD and ordered to pay for all damages they caused plus compensating the vehicle owner for any lost time they incurred due to the vandalism.

sam-c November 5, 2019 (8:52 am)

Plus- pay for the damages at the SPS properties. Beyond infuriating !!!

MG November 5, 2019 (1:12 pm)

Dear J Street I do not own a dog and I do not want anyone else’s dog come close to me. It’s bad enough when your in a store and someone doesn’t watch what the dog is doing. I have had to kick them numerous times to get away. I do carry a walking stick when I’m out and about and not afraid to use it. I treat all dog advances as aggressive. For your dogs sake and mine keep it leashed.