A small family business remains without its work vehicle and tools after a theft reported here last month. Now a friend has set up a crowdfunding campaign in hopes a community boost will get them back in business. From Brenda:

Hello! I am writing to ask for support from the West Seattle community for a West Seattle couple who had their work van and tools from the street outside their home near Westwood Village. (Reported on WSB here)

The early days of COVID hit their family hard, making their family of five sick and putting Alejandra and Obed out of work. Once everyone was healthy, they started a small outdoor window washing, power washing, landscaping, and odd-jobs business to get caught up on bills during COVID Phase 2 when service workers were not allowed in homes. This business has been growing through recommendations and referrals for the last two years.

Spring is the busiest time of year for them and now they don’t have the tools to run their business and make this income for their family. We’ve put together a Home Depot list of the tools they need and it totals over $7,000 without taking the van into account. We’re setting the goal for the GoFundMe campaign at $4,500 so that we can quickly get them the ladders, power washer, and landscaping tools needed so they don’t miss out on work during this busy season.

Please consider supporting this family-owned business by donating to the GoFundMe campaign. Thank you!

(WSB photo)

6:08 PM: Thanks for the tips. Police are at Bellevue Rare Coins in The Junction right now, investigating a robbery. No details available but looking inside the store, we could see that at least one of the cases was smashed. It’s been just three weeks since the business had windows smashed by a person described in the police report as a disgruntled client.

7:57 PM: SPD spokesperson Det. Valerie Carson tells WSB that three robbers “took cash and merchandise” before leaving “in a dark-colored Honda sedan.” They are described only as armed, male, and in their late teens/early twenties. No injuries reported.

2:34 PM THURSDAY: A few more details from police today: “(The robbers) forced the employees to lay face down on the ground. (They) then forced the employees to take money from the cash registers and a back room safe … they also smashed several jewelry display cases and took several jewelry items. It was estimated (they) stole twelve thousand dollars in cash and additional jewelry. All three (robbers) fled in a black, mid-1990s Honda Accord that was parked nearby. One of the (robbers) walked with a distinctive limp.”

2:47 PM THURSDAY: The store has sent this announcement saying it’s closing immediately for a security update:

Beginning today, April 7, 2022, Bellevue Rare Coins will be closing their West Seattle location for remodeling and updating their security measures. This closure will be effective immediately and last through July 2022.

In light of recent events we will be taking this opportunity to not only improve the aesthetics and layout of our store for a more satisfying experience for our customers. This remodel will also improve the safety and security for our customers, as well as our staff. As safety for all is our top priority, we will also be utilizing this time to improve security at all other Bellevue Rare Coins locations, bringing all protocols and equipment up-to-date with state of the art security. During this time of closure, all West Seattle staff will be relocated to surrounding locations to better serve our community and meet the needs of our customers.

We look forward to serving our West Seattle customers again in July, with a safer and updated environment.

Three incidents in Crime Watch today:

TRUCK TAKEN IN HOME INVASION: From Lauren, who says this happened in unincorporated North Highline near 1st SW/SW 102nd [map]:

I want to let everyone know of a serious and scary thing that happened Monday afternoon around 2 pm to my brother’s family.

While my brother and his wife were out of town celebrating their wedding anniversary, a red-haired man with a British accent and a gun forced his way into my brother’s house. Three of my brother’s children, ages 11, 14 and 17, were home at the time because Highline District is on spring break this week. The intruder herded the kids into the bathroom at gunpoint and told them to stay there. Then the intruder took a laptop computer, cash, and a large key chain that had house keys and vehicle keys, which he then used to steal my brother’s pickup truck that he uses for his business. The truck has a large locking cap in the bed where tools are stored, but of course, the key to the cap was also on the key chain, so the robber will be able to access all the tools in the truck.

We are grateful that no one was physically injured, but the family is understandably traumatized. King County Sheriff responded and is investigating, but if my fellow West Seattleites could keep an eye open for a 2013 dark gray Ford F-150 with extended cab, A.R.E. tall gray cap in in the truck bed with a ladder rack on top, plate C62081H, we would appreciate it! KC Sheriff’s Incident number is C22011202.

UPDATE: The truck’s been found.

MAN HURT IN STREET CONFRONTATION: A neighbor of the victim let us know about this incident, and we just obtained the police-report narrative. Monday night just before 8 pm, police responded to the 9000 block of 4th SW [map] for a report of a “fight.” The victim said he was driving southbound on 4th when he encountered two vehicles “partially blocking the road” and got out of his car to ask them to move. He told police he was then confronted, with one man pointing a gun at him, and the other shoving him, causing him to fall and hit his head on the pavement. He was taken to a hospital by private ambulance. He couldn’t provide much descriptive information except that one of the cars was a red Toyota Camry and he thought both men were white; a neighbor who called police described the two men as Native, with the one who pulled the gun having long dark hair. The neighbor said there were five other people not involved in the confrontation and that everyone got in the cars afterward and headed southbound – but first some items were thrown in his recycling bin. Police say one was the registration for a red Camry; as of the time of the report, they had not been able to reach the registered owner.

RIVERVIEW GUNFIRE: A short summary from police says they checked out a report of what sounded like eight shots near 12th SW and SW Othello [map] just after 11:30 last night. Officers “found evidence of a shooting on the grass.” No injuries or property damage reported. Nobody in the area saw the shooting but police were told a blue Jeep was seen heading southbound on 12th right after the shots.