WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: 35th/Avalon 7-11 hit again

9:47 PM: Police are back at the 35th/Avalon 7-11 after another robbery in the past 15 minutes or so. Three people are reported to have gotten away with the store’s register. Two are described as Black, male, black face masks, black shirts, blue jeans, 5-9, 170, and the third is described only as female. The two male robbers are said to have implied weapons but none were actually seen.

10:08 PM: Officers just told dispatch the store will be closed for a while because Robbery Unit detectives are going there to investigate further.

ADDED: One more bit of info – they might have gotten away in a black Kia headed NB on 35th.

WS Res November 13, 2024 (10:01 pm)

This has become an absolute joke. Criminals run Seattle, bottom line. Really don’t know when people are going to wake up and face this head on. How has this become acceptable? Thats the scary part.

Derp November 13, 2024 (11:20 pm)

Sounds like you have ideas on what to do. Please share these never thought of ideas.
- WS Res November 14, 2024 (12:24 am)
  
  More police, more patrols, keeping criminals in jail, consequences, accountability… How about yours? I honestly would love to hear another realistic solution for once. I would be onboard.
  - Waiting to hear other things that actually work November 14, 2024 (3:28 am)
    
    I want to be a Pollyanna but all we’re seeing is an escalation in car thefts, carjackings, robberies and shootings. I want to believe increasing community interventions and diversion works. But I’m an evidence based person and evidence shows crimes of these types are increasing, yet reports we hear about other parts of the country report crimes are down. We seem to need to get the perpetrators off the streets and securely detained and perhaps then we can get prevention results and get caught up. And yes, a good sized chunk of that is doing something about the easy availability of weapons.
  - capital won November 14, 2024 (11:45 am)
    
    And how do you propose we pay for the perpetual housing, feeding, and medical care of said incarcerated criminals? Until we address the root cause of crime in our country, which is deeply tied to our sickeningly disproportionate income disparity, this will continue and the majority of us that are poor and not commiting crimes will continue to foot the tax bill while billionaires creep ever closer to being trillionaires. Simply sweeping criminals away to a whymsical punishment land where we never have to see them again is not an effective long term solution, fiscally or ethically. We need to address the cause.
    - CarDriver November 14, 2024 (12:32 pm)
      
      Your solution is government set wages? So, whether you’re a surgeon or corporate executive or a janitor or cab driver everyone will make the exact same wage?? Isn’t that the magic solution to your “sickeningly disproportionate income disparity”??
    - Waiting to hear November 14, 2024 (12:43 pm)
      
      I fully agree, we need to address the root causes. That’s very complex and will take a very long time. I don’t really think people are putting forth specifics, mostly it’s values statements. Anyhow, it’s very long term. Short of locking people up and attempting to rehabilitate them while they are forced to stop committing crimes for a while (vs release on low or no bail, sentenced to home detention that’s frequently violated, etc) what do you propose to do to dramatically reduce crime swiftly? Systemic problems take a long time to fix, meanwhile it seems like the crime keeps escalating.
    - SoLongDelridge November 15, 2024 (9:23 am)
      
      Give them money to stay home and out of trouble.
K November 14, 2024 (7:30 am)

Well, a criminal is about to run the country, so it would seem 70 million people are cool with criminals being in charge.
- Oerthehillz November 14, 2024 (9:54 am)
  
  way to go bringing politics into it. If the right pushed the way the left has, I’m sure there’d be plenty of criminal behavior exposed there too.
  - SoLongDelridge November 15, 2024 (9:24 am)
    
    What!? This post is politics.
- ML November 14, 2024 (1:23 pm)
  
  Spot on, K.

Curious November 13, 2024 (10:13 pm)

I’m no Dick Tracy, but why aren’t cops watching 7-11’s a bit more closely?

WSB November 13, 2024 (10:19 pm)

We have six 7-11s in West Seattle alone (if I’m not forgetting one …). Station one officer at each, and you’ve pretty much decimated the force of 911 responders to West Seattle and South Park. Plus – these robbers struck almost three hours earlier than the ones earlier. You’d have to up that to a 24-hour patrol. But that said, I know they’d done some “watching” – remember the “interrupted” one at Harbor Ave a few weeks ago …
- Curious November 14, 2024 (10:28 am)
  
  That’s where intelligence operations come into play. You identify through trend analysis where and when it is likely to happen again, rather than just trying to blanket 24 hour coverage over an entire area. They could even extend this into determining motivations,methods,and connections to other groups It’s not perfect by any means, but it is generally far more effective and works more often than it doesn’t. If we can afford to do this in overseas conflicts,we should be able to afford it here.
Dpilon November 13, 2024 (10:20 pm)

Because they don’t have enough officers for that
BigJer November 14, 2024 (7:39 am)

How about the 7-11 franchisees take all these thefts as a MASSIVE clue that they and their staff would be well served by hiring professional security services for their stores.
- RightMeow November 14, 2024 (9:10 am)
  
  Makes sense. Everyone who has a house should also have a security guard full time since cameras and alarms don’t work. Would be too late by the time cops show up. Maybe a trained dog while they are at it. Everyone should know to protect themselves if the city can’t.
- WSzombie November 14, 2024 (9:28 pm)
  
  Cost of security > cost of theft.it’s cheaper to let the criminals just take the money. A $200 theft every few weeks is basically just racketeering at this point. The cost of doing business in seattle.
Tom November 14, 2024 (10:30 pm)

I’m also no professional, but maybe not accepting cash if you are 7-11. Or like any business. It’s an expensive solution, but it has to be cheaper than getting robbed every week. And if every cash only pot shop can station a private security guard, so can 7-11. Yes, it’s stupid that we have to live like this, but there are solutions. And if the city can’t hire more officers, they can at least help subsidize private security for businesses.

Bob November 13, 2024 (10:25 pm)

We were passed by a police car as we headed up Avalon this evening around 9:30. It was traveling at a high rate of speed with lights flashing and sirens sounding. I could help but think was the 7-11 was being robbed again? Sure enough, the police car was parked in the 7-11 parking lot as we waited for the light at 35th and Avalon.

Steve November 14, 2024 (12:05 am)

It’s just getting too easy. Why don’t you start reporting when they don’t get robbed?

Joe November 14, 2024 (1:09 am)

I have worked in a office in Lakewood since 2015. Its in a shopping center with about 20-30 tenants of mixed use from a Regal Cinema to small bakery. The landlord has always had a security service that patrols the property. We gladly pay for it as part of our rent. The 711’s could do the same if they shared the cost.

Solution November 14, 2024 (4:59 am)

Do we know what they are robbing? This might not have to do with the cops, but more with the 7-11.There can’t be much cash, can there? If they are stealing items like vape/cigs/alcohol, then clearly this stuff needs to have a more”locked away” storage capacity with an arduous opening. 1. Scan id 2. Wait 2 minutes while age identified (for example) 3. Provide a hidden SOS button right next to the ID scannerJust some ideas

aa November 14, 2024 (5:34 am)

It seems we need to look to the 7-11 owners or corporate to provide better safety measures for their employees. Police only arrive after the crime has been committed. Should it be different? Maybe but constantly griping about what the police should be doing isn’t keeping these people safe.

Pauline November 14, 2024 (7:41 am)

Poor 7 eleven. Most likely the black Kia is stolen too…

Frustrated November 14, 2024 (8:38 am)

How long before these stores start closing because it’s not worth it to stay open if they keep getting robbed and seemingly nothing gets done about it? I understand the shortage of police puts certain patrols and certain crimes on the back burner because there’s no one to respond. I saw a story on the news last night that on average robberies are down this year, while that may be it’s likely due to quite a few business closures or some that never reopened. Robberies may be down over the entire metro area, but they seem to have increased exponentially in certain neighborhoods.

K November 14, 2024 (9:24 am)

The company is closing a bunch of stores anyway because changes in consumer habits make it not profitable. What’s interesting is that they seem to keep targeting 7-11s instead of a variety of convenience stores. Curious what makes 7-11s a particularly easy or appealing target.
- Gw November 14, 2024 (6:27 pm)
  
  They are the highest volume convenience stores around. That’s what makes them such an attractive target.
  - K November 15, 2024 (4:31 am)
    
    I don’t think that’s true. The Super Deli Mart at 35th and Barton always has way more people shopping there than the 7-11 across the street. The Super 24 on Delridge does good business too.
    - WSB November 16, 2024 (9:34 am)
      
      The Super 24 is long closed.

HighPointish November 14, 2024 (1:15 pm)

What does the Kia look like? Someone mentioned it’s black in color, but what type of car?

T Rex November 14, 2024 (2:26 pm)

Keep it up boys, if you continue to do this it will not end well. That is not what I wish, but you only have so much luck. Get a job, get into a trade school, go to school, do something with your lives, and have some GD self-respect and respect of others and the laws of our land. But if you choose to live this lifestyle and want to go to jail, then you will have no one to blame but yourself.

Sorry, comment time is over.