WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Stolen blue Dakota pickup (update – found); another catalytic-converter theft

| Crime | West Seattle news

ORIGINAL REPORT, 11:34 AM: From JC:

I just wanted to give a heads up of another vehicle theft in the neighborhood.

My blue 2005 Dodge Dakota was stolen from Brandon, near 41st Ave SW, last night or early this morning (Sunday 1/30). It has black racks and the bed was currently super full of construction debris for the dump. Washington license plate C99823V. Police incident #22-024965.

Call 911 if you see it.

(6:05 pm update – JC has the pickup back – see comments.)

1:40 PM: Just got another reader report, this one from Kat:

We wanted to let the community know that at 5:30 am on January 29th my wife woke up to an odd sound, and she went to the window to see that two individuals were stealing our catalytic converter from our 2007 Toyota Prius. She ran out to stop them but they quickly fled in a gray sedan with very dark tinted windows and a small shark fin on top of the car. This happened at 41st and Raymond. A police report was filed.

Kravitz January 30, 2022 (3:48 pm)

Hi JC – I’ve spotted your truck and have been on hold with the Seattle Police non-emergency line for 15 minutes, but can’t wait any longer. It’s located on the corner of 45th Ave. SW and Dawson (near Erskine). Maybe you can call the police and wait for them to help you get your car back. Good luck!

WSB January 30, 2022 (4:37 pm)

Thank you but PLEASE CALL 911 if any stolen vehicle is seen, not the non-emergency line. That’s why we write that in every stolen-car report. It’s not something I made up. It’s advice directly from the police themselves, repeatedly. – TR
- Kravitz January 30, 2022 (5:03 pm)
  
  I did call 911. They bounced me to the non emergency line where I waited until I couldn’t wait any longer. I even tried calling again after I returned home from errands but had the exact same experience. Luckily I also found JC’s post on Nextdoor and reached out directly to him there, since it was clearly not a priority with 911 operator that handled my calls.
  - WSB January 30, 2022 (5:21 pm)
    
    Thank you, I emailed him as well to point out your report. Whoever’s call they’re responding to, police were just dispatched and are en route. Sorry to hear they bounced you over because by multiple reports the non-emergency line is a non-thing at the moment; the call center (which is no longer part of SPD) is also dramatically understaffed … anybody want to be a calltaker or dispatcher? Lots of openings. – TR
    - WSB January 30, 2022 (5:24 pm)
      
      … and in a demonstration of how police staffing works these days, the dispatcher briefly diverted the officer off the stolen-vehicle call because they have to deal with somebody threatening deadly violence to someone else elsewhere in WS; then they managed to rustle up two other officers to respond to the fight/threat call instead, and the original officer is back on the stolen-truck call …
JC January 30, 2022 (5:52 pm)

Thanks so much! I just wrapped up with the police and I’ve got the truck (minus some tools and all the paperwork in the glovebox) back. Thanks for this great platform and to the awesome people who use it and helped me out!

Sorry, comment time is over.