WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Plumbing crew bear-sprayed by tool thieves

A neighbor sent that photo, tipping us about this incident that happened southwest of The Junction around 9 am, near Erskine/Hudson, dispatched as a work crew attacked with bear spray. The crew was from O’Neill Plumbing (WSB sponsor), whose co-owner subsequently published this alert in the WSB Community Forums:

Just wanted to let everyone know that three employees of O’Neill Plumbing were sprayed with bear mace when two men attempted to steal tools out of the back of their trucks. When the men were confronted, they drove away at first, made a U turn, came back and assaulted the three employees. they sprayed the three employees directly in the face with Bear Mace and made threats against the employees’ lives, stating, “We will come back and kill you!”

The 2 men were driving a light gold Toyota Camry LE 4-door early 2000s model, regular wheels, and non-tinted windows. a light-skinned heavy-set male was driving the car and a darker-skinned heavy-set male was taking tools and equipment out of the O’Neill truck. The car had Missouri plates that were covered with a fake paper license plate. Police are looking for them so if you see a car fitting this description, please call police.

Tradesmen, please take precautions while at job sites, these guys used a Sawzall to hack the pad lock on the back of the truck.

The SPD incident # to refer to is 26-034797.

Admiral2009 February 5, 2026 (12:20 pm)

I wish the headline read: thieves attempting to steal tools bear-sprayed by plumbing crew.

brian February 5, 2026 (12:28 pm)

It’s interesting how we are an awesome community of amazing people peppered with interspersed examples of human garbage. The tapestry is rich.

Chelley February 5, 2026 (12:46 pm)

I’m so sorry for the workers and O’Neill plumbing. Just trying to do their job. Scary and sad that this type of thing happens in broad daylight, or any time.

KWest Seattle February 5, 2026 (2:02 pm)

I hate this story so much! I will hope that the hard working plumbers receive some kind of justice from the lowlifes who felt entitled to their tools and then added physical harm to the insult

North Admiral Cyclist February 5, 2026 (2:23 pm)

So sorry to hear this. O’Neill Plumbing was just at our house last Monday and they did a great job on a minor repair. We’ve used them several times over the years and recommend them.

T Rex February 5, 2026 (3:27 pm)

Completely unacceptable! This could have been a completely different story had they gotten the crap beat out of them by those hard-working men. Would not have bothered me one bit. They obviously are not in the graduation class of 2026 at the UW, so hide and watch you losers, paybacks are you know what.

Green gurl February 5, 2026 (8:09 pm)

So sorry to hear that the hard working Plumbing experts at O’Neill Plumbing were attacked by these low life individuals. We have had O’Neill Plumbing do some work for us and they did an excellent job. Hope that they will recover from the affects of the bear spray. That is a dangerous thing to have sprayed at you. Hope they did not get any of your tools. Take care everyone.