WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Crash-and-grab burglars hit nail salon

Thanks for the tips. The latest West Seattle business hit by crash-and-grab burglars is Tulip’s Nail Salon in Jefferson Square. According to archived police-radio audio, it happened just after 4 am, with the burglars using two vehicles to back into the storefront – a black SUV and tan pickup, last seen headed south on 42nd SW.

When we went over this morning after readers told us about seeing the damage, we found a police officer back for a followup, though store owner/staffers weren’t there. The officer said they’d been told the burglars stole “a small statue of Buddha” (its former spot is in our second photo) and a “small amount of cash.” If you have any information, the SPD case # is 23-167367.

Chris June 16, 2023 (11:13 am)

I wonder if these were/are the same vehicles described by neighbors associated with breaking into the new building under construction on California between 3 and 330 am? If the perps are caught on video, I wonder if it’s a group of five+ teens.

WSB June 16, 2023 (11:19 am)

The call log on Twitter shows a trespass call in that area but not a burglary. Will go back to the 3 am archive to see if the dispatch/officers exchange had anything further.
- WSB June 16, 2023 (11:38 am)
  
  The construction-site call was dispatched as “five juveniles running through a fenced area.” So far haven’t heard any description of who was in the two vehicles reported to be involved in the Tulip’s Nail break-in.

Niko June 16, 2023 (11:31 am)

So at what point do we decide the police are ineffective hold politicians accountable and form a militia

James June 16, 2023 (11:46 am)

Maybe when CEOs and politicians start pushing for higher wages and UBIs? We need more money as a floor or poverty continues and thus crime continues.
- Spooled June 16, 2023 (12:41 pm)
  
  Higher wages to pay more in taxes to fund your UBI’s. Got it.
  - James June 16, 2023 (1:58 pm)
    
    Yep. Rich pay more to the poor. Problem? Got it?
    - Leon Jackson June 17, 2023 (6:07 am)
      
      Plenty of work to be had. You have to get your stoned butt to work. I worked three jobs in my 20’s to get what I have in this world. Put down the video games, put away the pipe and find a job. Nothing is free. So many jobs we can’t fill them.
- Niko June 16, 2023 (12:54 pm)
  
  Or here’s a novel idea maybe they could stop taxing everyone to death It would certainly help bring the price of rent down. Or maybe they should stop allowing every affordable piece of property to be torn down and turned into luxury condos and apartments.There’s a house right off of California not far from pagliacci Pizza $725,000 house they tore it down after letting it sit empty for a year and built three condos in its place. Just throwing money at it has not worked. How do you expect people to want to provide jobs and invest in this community if there’s multiple smashing grab robberies and shootings going on every day practically?! I’m not One of those people claiming Seattle has become completely dystopian but the city is in a major trouble spot right now rapidly approaching the point of no return.
- Byron James June 16, 2023 (2:35 pm)
  
  Thieves come from all income levels. Poor and low income people are not predisposed to crime.
  - Melissa June 16, 2023 (4:51 pm)
    
    No one is suggesting that low income folks are “predisposed.” However, the gap between the well-off and the poor in this country becomes ever deeper. Poverty breeds desperation, so we should not be surprised by an increase in petty crime.
    - Baloney June 17, 2023 (11:23 am)
      
      Yes, actually previous commenters were bringing politics and taxes into this burglary. These are not crimes of subsistence. The idea that the people caught on all these cameras stealing plants, cutting front door deadbolts and breaking into businesses are doing it to put themselves through school or supporting their families is laughable.
    - Byron James June 17, 2023 (11:31 am)
      
      Although there aren’t a lot of crime statistics from the era, most historians agree that crime rates did not increase during the Great Depression. Some suggest that crime even went down.
Ferns June 16, 2023 (12:38 pm)

I know it’s like aren’t we paying Police to guard every single small business and home 24 hours a day and they’re just not doing it? I think you should volunteer your time and guard tulips nail spa against the next vehicular assault. Thanks for the offer!
- Niko June 16, 2023 (1:23 pm)
  
  No one is expecting police officers to prevent 100% of crime but Jefferson square isn’t exactly a deserted area. And it would have made an incredible amount of noise. The way things are set up right now between lack of personnel because of how they’re treated and public policy that’s what’s making the police ineffective. When there’s very little if any repercussions for doing this sort of stuff It doesn’t help either
45:33 June 16, 2023 (12:49 pm)

Niko it sounds like you want to start a gang
Anne June 16, 2023 (2:08 pm)

What exactly do you expect the police to do about crime like this – post a car at every shopping center /convenience store all night?

Frog June 16, 2023 (11:38 am)

Nothing quite like stealing a statue of the Buddha. Criminals have no sense of irony.

John June 16, 2023 (11:46 am)

So sad! This is an awesome place, I get my eyebrows done here periodically

BNelson June 16, 2023 (12:27 pm)

Utterly insane. It won’t get better either until there’s policy changes that’ll make hiring replacement officers for the 400+ we lost even remotely obtainable. Would you want to be a cop in Seattle? Or a Metro Driver? Probably not, and that’s a big reason why we have dire shortages of both.

Ferns June 16, 2023 (12:49 pm)

It seems to me that for this type of crime you really need to get the lowlifes off the street who are willing to steal cars and crash them into buildings for small amounts of cash. It’s so cruel and stupid. That takes legal and political will beyond even a fully staffed police force to keep people willing to do that off public streets. It also takes investing in boring, unsexy, long term things like tax supported early childcare and education, support for low income parents and communities trying to raise the kids who become these crash and grab thugs. Drug treatment, prevention, and I argue prosecution. Hard to believe a sober employed in well-adjusted person chose to do this with her time. So, I really hope these a-holes are caught quickly and locked up until they can prove they’re capable of contributing constructively to the community. what do you think any of us here are frustrated at seeing is that the police do identify and catch the suspects to over lenient prosecution or judges. They are released quickly and recommit these crimes, or are imprisoned and not rehabilitated, and released and recommit these crimes.
- The King June 16, 2023 (3:40 pm)
  
  There are so many programs for children and low income families right now. SPS’s head start program is federally funded so it has very secure backing. Low income families have programs like the Refugee cash assistance, SNAP, low income energy assistance, I could go on and on here with the acronym programs. They’re all still around and being used. Generations before us grew up in poverty, yet didn’t go smashing into businesses and destroying the community they lived in. Until the drugs are gone and the criminals are actually incarcerated, it’s going to get worse.
  - respectfullnessgone June 17, 2023 (7:06 am)
    
    @The King, I agree. I was just telling my husband we never did or thought of doing things like this when we were young. I grew up in the 60’s/70’s it was all about having fun with friends and it was also called RESPECT for others and yourself, so many people do not know what RESPECT is. My Father was 40 yrs older than I so he grew up during the depression never thought of stealing anything, he just worked hard for what little he could have, that’s another thing these thieves don’t know HARD WORK and how good you’d feel about yourself by doing so!
  - Josh June 17, 2023 (5:05 pm)
    
    Prior generations in fact committed crime at much higher levels. Violent and property crime rates just before the pandemic were at all time lows and property crime rates have fallen back to lower than before the pandemic. It’s just with people having access to instant reporting of everything via the internet combined with a boomer sense of superiority and entitlement it feels like things are worse then when you guys and those before you were out doing all the crime. The early childhood education stuff and support for poor families won’t help the Gen z, millennial and gen x people who the boomers and their rich overlords hoarded all their resources from but will help to continue to drive down crime rates over time. But you guys are right Bezos and Musk and them surely earned his yachts and spaceships through grit and hard work alone and not at all through taking advantage of socialized infrastructure and insanely low tax rates for the rich. I mean why else would a small capital gains tax in this state have resulted in an extra 400 million more dollars than expected if the rich were paying their fair share.

Kevin June 16, 2023 (2:01 pm)

My heart is full of sadness after seeing this story. The owner, Lisa, is an amazing woman who is a Vietnamese immigrant. She has worked so hard for so long to become a successful business woman. Shame on the punks who are responsible for this cowardly criminal act. Please support Lisa by scheduling a spa pedicure or manicure! Tulip Nails can be reached at 206-937-8446.

Curious June 16, 2023 (2:49 pm)

Are they currently operating with this damage to the building?
- Gay June 17, 2023 (10:12 am)
  
  They are open today and I’m happy to see every pedicure chair is full for now, but Lisa and crew are fast and do high quality work. Come on out and support them.

wsres June 16, 2023 (2:16 pm)

That is the second car crashing into this building in a month. I hope there is a structural engineer that checks to make sure it is still structurally sound while repairs are being done.

RayWest June 16, 2023 (2:17 pm)

In addition to the other suggestions, there needs to be more physical barriers in front of these stores–crash-proof bollards along the walkways, and steel roll-down gates covering the building fronts. Funding is an issue, but the cost of repairs affects us all through higher insurance costs and also for more security and policing.

Sanity Lives Here June 16, 2023 (5:36 pm)

Amazes me that there are comments on here blaming lack of funding for early education or no barriers and bars on windows, not enough taxing of the rich, poor policing, etc. and shifting blame to everyone else except the criminals. No amount of money will fix this problem, that has been proven over and over again. Kevin said it best “she WORKED HARD to become successful”. None of that is emphasized today. Instead we tell kids that they are victims and that it’s ok to steal because there will be no consequences.Guaranteed Lisa had a good 2 parent upbringing with life lessons they taught her about right and wrong. I will continue to support her in any way possible.
- Zipda June 16, 2023 (8:14 pm)
  
  Who exactly tells kids that it’s ok to steal? A bit bombastic.
  - Sanity Lives Here June 16, 2023 (11:05 pm)
    
    Every time you don’t prosecute a crime, you tell everyone it’s ok to steal. Seattle’s poor track record speaks for itself.
- RW June 17, 2023 (8:50 am)
  
  Sanity Lives Here – Your argument is simplistic and mostly non-sensical by making false equivalencies. No one except other criminals tells kids that it is “OK” to steal and they are the “victims.” Sorry to tell you this, but it does take money to solve these problems and saying it only takes teaching kids “right from wrong” falls on deaf ears of those families who are mired in low-wage jobs, suffer from drug and alcohol addiction, mental illness, and have broken, unstable homes that generally lack the same resources and educational opportunities more affluent people enjoy and take for granted.
  - Sanity Lives Here June 17, 2023 (11:09 am)
    
    More excuses….. I also find it interesting that you want to blame crime mostly on low income people. The majority of who have good morals and will succeed in spite of their circumstances. This city spends millions on opportunities for those that want them, so again, it is not funding, but the city is also not prosecuting these types of crime. THAT is what tells criminals that it’s ok to steal. You want to admonish “affluent” people for working hard for their families and then claim they take it for granted. You do realize that includes the victim in this story, Lisa and her salon.

Steven June 16, 2023 (2:32 pm)

And you ask why businesses are going cash-free?

Sharon June 16, 2023 (2:38 pm)

I work in Jefferson Square and saw 2 police SUVs and a fire truck at 5am. They moved the door frames which were in the middle of the parking lot. They left all the glass through out the parking lot. The police left the nail salon WIDE open until around 9am when the owners finally showed up. Stealing a Buddha is bad luck. Karma.

Anne June 16, 2023 (3:58 pm)

Wow I feel for police & fire- they’re dammed if they do – damned if they don’t.

Buncake June 16, 2023 (3:09 pm)

Most burglarys happen between 2 and 5 a.m. you’d think police would be driving around or servalece systems at places like Jefferson square would be good enough to see live feed of the parking lot/ storefronts apparently the criminals know every beat that cops have it’s so dumb they are letting our city suffer so badly while the thieves are laughing

RyanL June 16, 2023 (3:40 pm)

It seems like every business needs those cement barriers in front of their business now.

Gay June 16, 2023 (4:21 pm)

This is heartbreaking! Lisa and all of the employees are amazing. And it’s the best deluxe spa I’ve ever had…anywhere! I hope it is covered by insurance. What a shameful thing to do. We need to support her rather than ranting on about the problems. This has to be terrifying for her. Show her some love.

WSresident June 16, 2023 (8:23 pm)

So dumb! A nail salon? Like what did they expect to get?

Nwe June 16, 2023 (10:41 pm)

My thoughts exactly.
RayWest June 17, 2023 (9:12 am)

I was thinking the same thing as it seems an unlikely place to be randomly robbed. I wonder if the thieves had some information that there was something worthwhile being kept inside. Certainly not the Buddah.
- DOF June 17, 2023 (11:24 am)
  
  I don’t think it’s random either. I believe it’s more like a “broken windows theory.” The AT&T store got crashed in earlier is just right next to them. And for some reasons, Kimco just leaves the broken parts not fixed. What kind of signal is this sending to the criminals? They are going to do the same thing to other stores.

1994 June 16, 2023 (9:06 pm)

Karma – the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences…..

Admiral-2009 June 16, 2023 (9:52 pm)

It’s past time to make perps accountable. Hitting a nail salon is really about as low as it gets. I hope the perp(s) are caught, convicted and made to pay restitution to the salon. And then get to spend a lot of time behind bars!

Libra June 16, 2023 (10:49 pm)

I agree,,,,build more jails and lock up these criminals. Until there are consequences, nothing is going to change!

Ts June 17, 2023 (6:44 am)

If new construction needs to be live/work then there will be more places to do this at that has people living above who are endangered or left homeless if the building fails. Yes preventive measures, free pre k and childcare (staffing?), counseling services (staffing?), mental health care (beds and staffing?), I understand giving youth a second chance and not treating them like adults when they have undeveloped brains but when you endanger so many people and their livelihoods then the plenty needs to be more then a smack on the hand. It shouldn’t take someone accidentally being killed before a real penalty happens

Jazz June 17, 2023 (10:18 am)

These are all teens, I own a business in West Seattle. They get stolen credit cards information from online and try to use them/ arm robberies police won’t do anything. But it’s matters of time when these teens runs with an owner that is armed. Most of owner I’m taking with now are getting armed. It’s sad but enough is enough. City need to step up the game.

Cindy O June 17, 2023 (5:12 pm)

I was the first customer there at 9 am, and Lisa was in shock. Amazingly, she swept aside the glass and continued doing pedicures, but the clients were trying to assist her in reaching the property manager, who wasn’t answering her phone calls. When he finally called back, his first comment was that, per the lease, the property owner would not be covering her damage. Devastating, if true. The property’s security team also couldn’t be reached. A police officer came about 10 am and gave her a copy of the police report. He was kind and respectful, but couldn’t offer much in the way of help. He did say he was going to check with Safeway about the parking lot security cameras. First covid, now this! I truly hope the community will support Tulip’s Nails during this difficult time. The manicures/pedicures are the best, and Lisa is the hardest working person I know!

Mr Henry June 18, 2023 (7:31 am)

Cindy O,I agree with you 100 percent. Lisa is the best of the best. I have been going to her for over 20 years and with continue to do so.I want these punks caught and put away for good.

Sorry, comment time is over.