WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Truck stolen, again (update – found); assault arrest

| Crime | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

Two notes in West Seattle Crime Watch:

TWICE-STOLEN TRUCK: From Andrea:

Last night my truck was stolen for the 2nd time in 2 months from in front of my house on 45th SW. It was locked and had a club in it. License number B30800H. Red F250 HD with a matching canopy and a black construction rack. Attached is a picture. (When stolen) ot did not have the Kayaks or the bike rack on it.

Call 911 if you see it. (WEDNESDAY NIGHT UPDATE: A commenter spotted it and called it in; we have confirmation from Andrea that they got it back.)

ASSAULT ARREST: A reader asked about the sizable police response to an encampment area near 1st Avenue S./S. Cloverdale near the southeast edge of West Seattle. The preliminary SPD summary says a woman was arrested for assaulting a man who lived there. She was there to visit another man, described in the report as her boyfriend, but instead barged into the structure where the victim was sleeping. Police say she woke him up, hit him, and demanded he leave, then tried to stab him; he suffered a finger injury while fending off the attack. Police responded and told her to come out and surrender; she did, and was booked into King County Jail.

Al King June 7, 2021 (4:33 pm)

Note to all. The club is useless as steering wheels are plastic and easily cut through. Learned that years ago when my stolen car was recovered with a slit wheel and the locked club on the floor.

bridger June 7, 2021 (4:38 pm)

Sorry to hear about your truck. Assuming you’ll get it back, in the short term, you can immobilize it by removing the fuel pump relay. Not positive on the year of the truck – looks to be a 99 or thereabouts. Quick search shows that the relay is under the hood and there are three identical relays; two are needed to run the car. You’ll want to pull the one adjacent to the fuel pump relay, too, because, in the unlikely event the thief has a brain, they will plug it into the fuel pump relay socket and the car will run. Bring them into your house. (Don’t pull fuel-related fuses if you are told that that works, too – it’s too easy to borrow one from another circuit. Maybe I’m giving thieves too much credit, though…) Meanwhile, go on YouTube and search chrisfix kill switch. If you aren’t up for installing one, find a friend to help. Be sure to buy a steel, high quality switch. Alternatively, if your dash has an unused switch (for, say, fog lights that you don’t have), you could use that switch. Also consider installing a double-pole switch that disconnects power to the relay while simultaneously connecting power to the horn — when the thief tries to start the car, the horn sounds instead. For a rig that age, this is a cheap way to keep it from being stolen a third time.

Bubby June 7, 2021 (10:33 pm)

Buy this guy a beer already!
Brian June 8, 2021 (7:00 am)

I’m going to copy this entire post to a note and make it happen. Great advice!

East Coast Cynic June 7, 2021 (9:57 pm)

Double sorry about the truck–if a car alarm can be installed, try it. Usually, some thieves won’t bother if they have to do the extra work of getting around or attempting to disarm an alarm.