WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Stolen gray 4Runner (update: found)

| Crime | West Seattle news

James hopes you can help find his stolen Toyota 4Runner:

ORIGINAL THURSDAY NIGHT REPORT: My 4Runner was stolen in front of my house (Brandon and 45th, near West Seattle Nursery) early Wednesday morning at 2:17 am. Maybe someone will see it and report back. It’s a gray 1988 4Runner with a cracked windshield. My son and I have put a lot of time into restoring it and we’re all sad about it.

The vehicle now has Washington plates, BTS2702. Here’s security video from right before the theft:

7:44 PM FRIDAY: James just emailed to report, “Good news! SPD found at motel in Georgetown and I got it back today. The interior is pretty bashed up and they decided to paint the dash blue. Still, so happy to have it back.”

Srivilai Thai April 1, 2022 (1:51 am)

I’ll keep an eye out for it, and I always notice 1st Gen 4Runners. Is that RX8 in the foreground the thieves’ car? Have you posted anything on the Yota Facebook groups? You’ll probably get more help from the enthusiasts than the police, given the current state of things.

Terrible news April 1, 2022 (6:48 am)

So sorry to hear about this! For what it’s worth, could there be fingerprints on the car? The thief tried the door handle.

CarDriver April 1, 2022 (4:56 pm)

Doesn’t matter. @20years ago a KNOWN car thief tried (but failed) to steal my car from Alki. SPD was sympathetic but said prosecutor would not touch the case because the identifiable prints they got were on the OUTSIDE of the car. They have to be on the inside to be prosecutable.

1stGenEverything April 1, 2022 (7:38 am)

I recently admired that fine machine and will keep an eye out as well. Second on the Facebook groups especially if there’s a local one. Distinctive automobiles are easy to pick up on the police scanner (if you want to listen for it being used for any nefarious activities) since dispatch always calls out the make/model/color. Good luck on recovery.

CarDriver April 1, 2022 (5:02 pm)

Many years ago had my show(and go) car stolen from Alki. Called it in to SPD right away. Even with a custom paint job and unique wheels it wasn’t found for 10 day’s. Where was it? In a businesses parking lot where it had been dumped a couple of day’s earlier. Business had called it in for impound. That’s when it was discovered by Bellevue PD to be stolen. Moral of the story is that even with a unique one of a kind vehicle it doesn’t guarantee a quick recovery.