WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Tool theft

| Crime | Delridge | West Seattle news

The photos and report are from Nicole:

Our work van was broken into (Wednesday) night sometime between 5:15 pm Wed and 9 am (Thursday) morning when we discovered it. All of my husband’s tools were stolen including his toolbox set, toolbag and his cordless Pex toolkit, all Milwaukee brand.

The Milwaukee toolbox and toolbag contained many tools – all had his name, “Julio” written on them in black marker, except the Pex toolkit. Even the bag and toolboxes have his name written on them. All the tools inside the Milwaukee bag and toolboxes were Dewalt and most are yellow/black. There were impact driver, hammer drill, saw tool, batteries and battery chargers.

The van was parked next to our complex office at Lighthouse apartments on Delridge Way SW. A couple small HVAC tools were found on the grounds and returned to us but all the expensive drills and tools within the toolbox and bag are gone. We’ve reported to Seattle Police and are waiting for the police report number.

Mark47n May 22, 2020 (2:59 am)

Being an electrician myself I feel your pain. I had my tools stolen twice. It’s really hard to the psyche since it’s how you earn your living coupled with they are quite expensive!I hope that you some luck in recovering them.Do you have the serial numbers? I keep a list of the serial numbers of my power tools and test equipment for this very reason now.

Alex S. May 22, 2020 (12:42 pm)

Lazy thieves add insult to injury when they take away the means by which productive members of society earn their own way and support their families.

rmkensington May 22, 2020 (6:26 am)

You cant leave anything in your car these days. I work with expensive construction equipment and I have to unload it everyday I get home.

Friend O'Dinghus May 22, 2020 (8:05 am)

I am so sorry this happened to you and your husband. I’m sure many others reading this feel the same way too. I wish there was a way that we could all contribute a few dollars each to replace all of Julio’s tools so he may get back to work supporting his family, and put this horrible event in the past. If a donation page of some sort is set up, please let me (and hopefully others) know where I may make my donation of a few dollars. May many blessings fall upon you and your family, Nicole and Julio.

Kram May 22, 2020 (10:23 am)

I share this feeling too. I had my tools stolen once and many of them were from my great grandfather who was a woodworker. It felt like dealing with a death. It is also your lively hood so it hurts even more… I’d contribute to a donation page! These types of stories really get under my skin.

kim May 22, 2020 (10:20 am)

@Friend–count me in. Nicole and Julio, I want to help. Awful loss.

ScubaFrog May 22, 2020 (10:59 am)

That’s awful, Nicole and Julio. I can’t even imagine the cost of those tools. The predators in our community are taking everything. Cars, bikes, tools, etc. You’re certainly in my prayers: Watch craigslist, any pawn shops you can look up, and they may even turn up at work site.If you do a GoFundMe etc, I’m in.

Js May 22, 2020 (11:19 am)

Check offer up. Im in the trades and we found some of our stuff with company name still on it for sale on Offerup. Its the new fencing app. These thieves are from the shallow end of the gene pool.

Nicole May 22, 2020 (12:04 pm)

Thank you all for your kind words! I’m hopeful we may recover something but either way, his boss who owns the van has filed a claim with his insurance company. The tools belong to us and have been collected over a period of 10 years so it does really hurt to have this happen. We are trying really hard to buy a house so we can have his tools more secure. Unfortunately there just isn’t any space to store anything here. We will update with the SPD report number as soon as we have it. Meanwhile we are searching OfferUp and have reached out to local pawn shops.

Alex S. May 22, 2020 (12:39 pm)

If the owner finds them on OfferUp, they can work with SPD to use back channels with that company to arrest the tweakers/junkies who steal to support their habits. Also, when you are searching on OfferUp and Craigslist, don’t use exact spelling. Members of the criminal subculture are not known for their spelling skills.

David R May 22, 2020 (1:36 pm)

I can’t stand thieves… taking away your means of supporting your family makes it even worse. Lowlife ‘s

Ken May 22, 2020 (7:15 pm)

This is awful. But, never leave ANYTHING in a vehicle that wasn’t there when received from the manufacturer.

A few years ago in the parking lot of Carkeek Park, I had a short conversation with a police officer who was also there at the time and she said don’t even leave so much as a used tissue in the car. Never give the thieves any incentive whatsoever to want to break in. Yeah, it’s super inconvenient to clear out every item from the car each and everyday, but better safe then sorry .

Susan May 22, 2020 (8:56 pm)

So very sorry Nicole and Julio. As if there’s not enough challenges these days. I can’t imagine stealing something that someone so obviously depends upon for their livelihood. Best of luck, I hope good things are on their way for you both soon.

Hammer in Hand May 23, 2020 (7:09 am)

Ya this sucks, after a long days work the last thing you should need to do is unload your van, and some of the comments seem to suggest he was a victim of this crime because he left tools in his van. Well that’s like saying a women was assaulted because of what she might have been wearing.After 40 years in the trades I too have been stolen from, the box that had a lot of hand tools and the speciality tools for the once in awhile task. So frustrating, karma has a way of setting things straight.

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