WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Police alert about mail-theft suspect

| Crime | Delridge | West Seattle news

Southwest Precinct police have sent an alert about a mail-theft suspect who they say is active in North Delridge, 37-year-old Jason A. Turner:

Turner is a repeat offender who continues to victimize the residents of West Seattle. Turner continues to steal mail and packages from mailboxes and porches, most commonly in the area of 4800-5200 Delridge Way SW.

Turner has 3 arrests for mail theft since 2020. Turner’s most-recent arrest was Feb. 3. He was released the following day and returned to the area, where additional mail was stolen. Residents are fed up with his actions.

Turner has been witnessed following USPS and UPS drivers and stealing mail and packages that were just delivered. He does this in broad daylight, often in the morning hours before noon, showing no concern for being witnessed.

Turner has no felony record but as noted by police, has multiple misdemeanor theft arrests. If you have any information about the suspect, contact Det. Nick Kartes at nick.kartes@seattle.gov.

Auntie February 11, 2021 (8:48 pm)

Why isn’t mail theft a federal offense? And why does this guy keep getting out of jail so quickly? Does he have a bunch of Monopoly “Get Out of Jail Free” cards, or what??? But seriously, why wouldn’t they put a high bail on this repeat offender? Another case of our revolving door justice system that helps criminals and harms the rest of us.

Lani February 12, 2021 (10:04 am)

His bail was $25. I kid you not.
- WSB February 12, 2021 (8:43 pm)
  
  You have to look back at the entire history of a municipal court case to see what the bail really was – the jail register never reflects that (and is often inaccurate, for example defaulting to ‘bail denied’ when people are first booked and haven’t even had a hearing yet. But I digress. In the two muni court cases in which Allen was charged, one had $2,000 bail originally, one had $1,000.
David February 12, 2021 (12:56 pm)

Could you please define quickly? How long was the suspect in jail for last time?You say that the suspect wasn’t held accountable, but they were convicted for misdemeanors, does conviction and jail time not count?
- JES February 12, 2021 (1:35 pm)
  
  Being arrested then released the following day qualifies as quickly to me. Committing felonies but being charged with misdemeanors and then released to commit more felonies isn’t being held accountable. Do you just like to play devils advocate or what?

flimflam February 11, 2021 (8:56 pm)

“repeat offender” – such a common phrase.

Jamie February 11, 2021 (9:53 pm)

Isn’t mail theft a felony?https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9A.56.370

Steve February 11, 2021 (10:10 pm)

This guy is a pos. He walks into any place with a tip jar and takes it. I know him well. He spends a lot of time at the Delridge Deli mart on delridge and Andover

Insane in the Membrane February 11, 2021 (10:30 pm)

Repeat offenders because Seattle keeps reelecting city officials that keep allowing this to happen with their policies. When Seattle residents want to stop being victimized is when they’ll start electing different officials. Insane=keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results! That absolutely describes the residents of Seattle!

Danica February 23, 2021 (4:23 pm)

It’s the same in every city I’ve lived in stop blaming Seattle. They can’t hold these nonviolent offenders to clog up the jails.

mjh February 11, 2021 (10:53 pm)

What happened to mail theft being a Federal crime?!?!

Jamie February 12, 2021 (1:21 am)

It is!https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9A.56.370
- David February 12, 2021 (12:58 pm)
  
  That’s a state law. Please try again.
alki_2008 February 12, 2021 (4:43 pm)

The USPS website is odd for Mail Theft. If selecting Mail Theft on this page: Report Mail Fraud & Postal Fraud | USPIS
Then it requires entering a tracking number. It almost seems like non-tracked packages do not matter?
It is odd though, because I’ve often heard people say it’s a federal crime to open other people’s mail – but maybe that’s just a deterrent message with no real teeth behind it.

M February 12, 2021 (7:10 am)

Does he follow the delivery trucks in a car or by foot?

Lindsey February 12, 2021 (5:36 pm)

I saw him rendezvous with a large dark green van, but he’s mostly on foot.

anonyme February 12, 2021 (7:16 am)

Why are detectives asking for information about him when they had him and let him go – multiple times? Why is the community expected to be responsible for watching over him, if there is nothing they can do to stop him? The Seattle justice system is anything but just.

Anne February 12, 2021 (7:28 am)

The detectives let him go?? Are you serious?
- WSB February 12, 2021 (7:51 am)
  
  The police did not ‘let him go.’ He was arrested and jailed. The bail or conditional release etc. decisions are up to judges.

Beto February 12, 2021 (7:33 am)

Thanks for posting his picture. Very often we read about these lowlifes but we don’t know what they look like.

WSB February 12, 2021 (7:48 am)

Police sent it. That’s one of the three circumstances in which photos are accessible: Circulated by law enforcement; served time in state prison; photographed at court hearing.
- Tiro February 12, 2021 (3:24 pm)
  
  I’d be curious about which pictures are circulated by law enforcement. It seems that a lot of the photos I see are of Black Americans, enabling Beto to dogwhistle “these lowlifes”. (Intentional or not, it’s a clear dogwhistle – and a sign of how deeply embedded racism in our country is if it was not intentional.) I wonder if this is just another way that we have two justice systems in this country.
  - WSB February 12, 2021 (8:41 pm)
    
    Actually, no.
    We have been asking police for more info/photos for oh, more than a decade now.
    This captain, the fifth to lead the SWP since we started WSB, is the first to respond to that request by sharing “bulletins” like these.
    Going back in the system a few months, I find six cases, including the story above, with suspect photos sent by police.
    https://westseattleblog.com/2020/11/west-seattle-crime-watch-business-burglar-search-auto-theft-suspect-jailed/
    https://westseattleblog.com/2020/10/west-seattle-crime-watch-stolen-custom-bicycles/
    https://westseattleblog.com/2020/11/west-seattle-crime-watch-police-ask-for-help-iding-package-thief-plus-auto-theft-alert/
    https://westseattleblog.com/2020/12/crime-watch-alki-shooting-followup-apartment-peeper-baseball-bat-burglar/
    https://westseattleblog.com/2020/12/west-seattle-crime-watch-2-street-robberies-burglary-suspects-sought-2-followups/
    Four of the six photos (or sets of photos) showed white people.
    - LoveWS February 15, 2021 (2:59 pm)
      
      Ibram X Kendi’s really got it down in his book “How To Be an Antiriacist.” Accusing people of racism does not make you an antiracist. Fixing bad policies, (in my mind including stopping theft from minorities), would be categorized as anti-racist. Love WSB.
  - Pessoa February 12, 2021 (9:29 pm)
    
    Tiro: Intentionality is a fundamental legal principle and a crucial ingredient of any decent society. It is one of the deliberations that goes into criminal sentencing decisions, for example. Not taking into consideration intentionality when talk about an alleged racist act and the alleged perpetrator, leads to a frightening place in society – for everyone.

Concerned Citizen February 12, 2021 (7:35 am)

He is exactly the reason our catch and release/don’t prosecute misdemeanor (although mail theft is a FELONY?!?!) will never work. No punishment at all is not a deterrent. We need to address the loopholes before our experimental justice can ever be put into practice.

Pessoa February 12, 2021 (7:51 am)

Not normally one to comment on these types of stories because I don’t want to pile-on, but the lawlessness I’ve observed here is just jaw-dropping. Not just the nonchalance of thieves, but people’s readiness to accept it, and law enforcement’s passiveness in dealing with it. For some perspective, in LA you see security guards everywhere from mom and pop stores, to big chains. And you don’t violate someone’s casa, you just don’t do it.

KT February 12, 2021 (8:45 am)

Hmmmm, I wonder why?“Turner has been witnessed following USPS and UPS drivers and stealing mail and packages that were just delivered. He does this in broad daylight, often in the morning hours before noon, showing no concern for being witnessed.”

anonyme February 12, 2021 (11:52 am)

My sentence was poorly written. I am aware that it was neither police nor detectives who “let him go”, but rather our lame justice system (judges). My point was, why bother asking the public to help keep an eye on him when the system will not hold him accountable, no matter how many times he is caught? It’s a waste of time for everyone. The community cannot take the place of judges who won’t do their jobs, except in the sense that this promotes vigilantism.

David February 12, 2021 (1:00 pm)

What evidence do you have to this effect? Please link it.
- flimflam February 12, 2021 (2:06 pm)
  
  why do you seem to be defending these repeat repeat repeat offenders in your posts?

David February 12, 2021 (1:15 pm)

There’s no information in the alert itself as to why this is being sent now.

What’s the reasoning the police have for issuing this alert about this person?

Pessoa February 12, 2021 (3:26 pm)

Has this been an exercise in Socratic-style interrogation, David? Sure, false assumptions can be uncovered through this kind of questioning, but in the end it’s a lazy game to play
John February 12, 2021 (4:06 pm)

As one of the residences being targeted, I can speak to that. Amongst our townhouse complex residences’ security cameras, we know that he’s come back casing our doorsteps and mailboxes at least four times now since he was released on Feb. 4th. It’s a significant uptick that we’ve all been reporting to SPS.
Lindsey February 12, 2021 (5:39 pm)

My husband called the cops on the 9th after seeing him walking with a ton of mail, like both arms so full that he was dropping mail all over the street. Before the police drove by, he had returned to pick up the dropped mail. The cops drove by but he’d disappeared into the woods by then. So that may have something to do with it. We frequently have discarded mail dropped in our yard on 26th.

Chris February 12, 2021 (4:00 pm)

This guy is a punk piece of $%&@! I witnessed him taking something from a mail box belonging to the house just north of the Shell on delridge. I yelled at him to put it back but when I saw what was in his hand I was a little irritated. The resident had put put food in the mail box and left a note saying “help yourself.” I felt like a tool for chasing this loser down onky to see an apple in his hand. I believe it is still a federal offense.

Steve February 12, 2021 (4:48 pm)

For the record, he isn’t being charged with anything yet. Got an email from the detective today. He also has a very large knife. So nobody go running after him.

Junction Dude February 13, 2021 (4:36 am)

Yeah well, what do you do..

genesee February 19, 2021 (8:39 am)

I am unaware if this is related to this man or someone else, but our mailboxes on SW Genesee between Delridge and Avalon were raided last night (2/19/20201) just before 1:30am. I could hear the vehicle stopping at each house, but as a disabled veteran was unable to get up and get eyes on it in time. The mailboxes were all open this morning. In my opinion, there needs to be a street cam placed at the top of the hill (SW Avalon Way & SW Genesee St). There are too many incidents on it and this street needs to be avoided too often to leave it unobserved by DOT.