WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Another crash-and-grab burglary; plus, 3 reader reports

| Crime | West Seattle news

Four West Seattle Crime Watch reports:

ANOTHER CRASH-AND-GRAB BURGLARY: Five days after the crash-and-grab at Westwood Village‘s Big 5 store, a similar burglary happened early today at the Arrowhead Gardens mini-market El Quetzal (9240 2nd SW). After a reader tip, we went over and found the scene shown in our photo above. A member of the family that owns the store told us the entrance was so heavily damaged, they hadn’t been able to get inside to figure out what was taken. Police told them it likely happened around 5 am; the SPD call log on Twitter shows an alarm call received by 911 around quarter till 5. The store is closed until further notice. The SPD incident number is 2022-329753.

We also have three reader reports received in the past day-plus:

CAR STOLEN, THEN FOUND: This report is from Ray:

We had our 2016 Hyundai stolen from outside our Highland Park house (parked on the street) between 8 pm-10 pm (12/8). We were awakened by police at 2 am who found the car in North Delridge (a neighbor called in the missing car parked in their alley). The back window had been broken by a screwdriver and the ignition had been pulled out to hotwire the car. Just a heads up for other drivers in the area to continue to be cautious of what’s happening in the community.

CATALYTIC-CONVERTER THEFT ATTEMPT: This report is from William:

We live in the Fairmount Park area just a block from the Elementary School. (Friday) morning at 6:15 a large dark-colored pickup backed up to my Honda Element, which was parked in the driveway with the occupants clearly intending to steal the catalytic converter (this would be try #2). Fortunately my wife was sitting at the kitchen table, saw what was happening, ran outside and yelled at the guys, the scum took off but we were pretty surprised at the brazenness of this attempted theft at a pretty late hour of the morning.

PACKAGE SUBSTITUTION: Sindy in Highland Park had two packages taken on Wednesday and trash – including a fast-food receipt and vaping-cartridge box – left behind in their place. “Has anyone else in Highland Park been having similar issues? These were all supposed to be Christmas gifts.”

1994 December 10, 2022 (3:26 pm)

Sorry to hear about the crash smash and grab. This is getting painful and too frequent for the business owners, and so many people who care in the community…. I wonder if a smashed up stolen car will be found that may be connected to this pathetic event?

p December 10, 2022 (3:58 pm)

Stores are starting to react to this trend by sealing merchandise behind
plexiglass and tethering it with steel cables to shelves. Over time we
should expect smash and grabs to decline but also expect the prices we
pay at brick and mortar stores to increase.

Eric1 December 10, 2022 (5:53 pm)

Criminals cause prices to rise everywhere. Every time a porch pirate takes goods that was purchased online and Amazon replaces it for “free”, it really isn’t. All thieves should be sentenced to hard labor until they repay their debts. It might make them stop to think if the $10,000 in damage they caused to steal $100 in goods was really worth it. Only then, would crime possibly decline (many criminals appear to have learning disabilities).
- TT December 10, 2022 (10:07 pm)
  
  I like your idea of having to repay the cost of the damage. Sad to say that I do see people with mental health issues and/or ADHD turn to crime to survive and/or get drugs to self medicate. And now we have people released without evaluations because we (State) won’t hire enough staff to do so
  - JulNJer December 11, 2022 (8:53 am)
    
    People with ADHD have mental health issues that cause them to turn to crime? It’d be great to get a source on that.
    - zark00 December 12, 2022 (11:31 am)
      
      It’s well documented. Men with childhood ADHD are 2-3 times more likely to to be arrested, convicted, or incarcerated in adulthood. chadd.org among the hundreds of other easily found sources. Takes as long to google it as to write your comment.
    - Al King December 12, 2022 (1:33 pm)
      
      ZARK00 has the answer. World’s full of reasons to excuse lawlessness. Guess we don’t need jails or prisons as everyone in one is a “victim”.
  - OneTimeCharley December 12, 2022 (12:36 pm)
    
    But TT, would the state having enough staff to evaluate each individual actually effect any difference at all? I would venture most if not all individuals are already aware they are ADHD, most cannot be further detained because of that evaluation/determination, and ultimately can always refuse medication even in the cases where medication can be beneficial. How would evaluations even help?