WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Morgan Junction mini-mart hit again (and again, and again); Kia break-in; theft victim finds bike

| Crime | West Seattle news

Four reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

MINI-MART BURGLARIZED AGAIN, REPEATEDLY: Thanks for the tips. Customers report that the mini-mart at the Exxon station in Morgan Junction was burglarized not once, not twice, but three times overnight. Archived police audio and the incident log confirms the multiple burglaries reported in the 2 and 3 am hours. One partial description: Man in his 30s, dark complexion, black ski mask, khaki boots. Items stolen reportedly included cigarettes and lottery scratch tickets.

KIA BREAK-IN: This report and photos were sent by Hunter:

I wanted to report a car break-in at the intersection of Lander and 42nd Ave (next to the tennis courts at Hiawatha). I’ve been driving a rental for work this week. Parked it for the weekend and when I returned this morning I noticed the driver’s side window had been smashed in.

Nothing was stolen (nothing was in the vehicle).

Police report has already been filed but I wanted to let the community know as well! The incident most likely occurred sometime last night.

ANYBODY MISSING THIS CAR? Bill sent this report and photo:

Likely stolen car dumped on Avalon. Plates are spray painted. Damage to front right fender. Reported via Find It Fix It.

BIKE-THEFT FOLLOWUP: We published Dan‘s bike-theft report on Friday. This afternoon, he emailed this update:

Great news, I found my bike! I was walking to the bus on Saturday night in front of Westwood Village and someone was walking down the street with it. It was not the same person from my ring video footage and I talked to them and they said they had purchased it earlier that day. After explaining that it had been stolen from me and calling the police, they gave it back to me with very little resistance.

Robin October 8, 2023 (7:19 pm)

Same MO on our car last night. Same area. Nest cam showed car around 4am. No plates or features from car on the video. Looked like it wasn’t the first time they had done it. They had a flashlight, drove right up, stopped, did it in 90 seconds, and drove off. Nothing stolen. Just a damaged car frame and window.

Heavy Hearted in Morgan Junction October 8, 2023 (7:53 pm)

How does this keep happening? Apparently, the police did respond, but somehow the burglar convinced them that he was an employee there and that he had been the one to call it in (??). I don’t understand why the police allowed him to leave without checking out his story more thoroughly. Its crazy. I feel terrible for the owners, they are such kind people. I worry for their safety, and for other shops that are being robbed/burgled repetitively and with no recourse but to install more cameras, bars, locks, plexiglass and have to file yet another insurance claim to try to recover some of their losses. I wish I felt like I could help, but other than kind words and well wishes (which are nice but not really “helpful”), I don’t know what to do. So, so sad.

Byron October 8, 2023 (7:56 pm)

I actually stopped by the mini mart around 10 last night to pick up some beer. There was a man outside who said the doors open but nobody was inside. He was on the phone with some non emergency line to get the owners, shame nothing came of that.

WS Resident October 8, 2023 (8:55 pm)

Spoke to the owners today. They said that the person that burglarized the store is a regular customer. The owners said that the police had the burglar in custody, had the video surveillance and apparently couldn’t do anything.
- 1994 October 10, 2023 (8:17 pm)
  
  Mind boggling isn’t it? The police apprehend the burglar and let him go. Some people should not be roaming free and need supervision to keep them, and the rest of us, safe.

Brian October 8, 2023 (8:09 pm)

Last week someone broke my neighbor’s car window with a brick and stole nothing from it. Just kept walking (neighbor had him on camera down the block stumbling). This was also in MJ.

iheartwestseattle October 9, 2023 (1:43 am)

What the hell is going on around here, genuinely. And why do I miss COVID lockdown?! This is just getting annoying and scary at this point. Why can’t people just leave everybody else alone omggg

Seattlite October 9, 2023 (12:14 pm)

What do you think is going on? There is a police shortage and certain city policies that have emboldened criminals to commit crimes. Crime will keep increasing as long as the city doesn’t address the police officer shortages and their policies. Period. I cannot imagine why anyone would want to be locked down and unable to be free.

Sorry, comment time is over.