WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Another business burglary; cars vandalized

| Crime | West Seattle news

Three West Seattle Crime Watch cases:

BUSINESS BURGLARY: A customer of West Seattle Nursery told us they were burglarized overnight, and we subsequently requested and obtained the police-report narrative. It says the break-in was discovered by an employee arriving early this morning. “Several areas of the nursery had been ransacked,” police wrote in the report, with the burglar(s) gaining entry to the buildings by drilling out/otherwise removing the locks. They left behind a mess, the report says, mentioning “several file cabinets and drawers had been tossed around the offices.” If you have any information for police, the case number is 19-231377.

And two reader reports of vandalized cars:

ADMIRAL: Kevin reports this happened last night:

Frustrated! While eating at Pizzeria 22 (California and College) with the car parked on the street nearby, we got keyed. Deep gouges in front quarter panel. Note on window from a kind witness: “Your car was keyed by blue Subaru YUX—-.” Why do people do this? SPD online report filed….and Mr Subaru— we’re looking for you!

NEAR LINCOLN PARK: Marie reported this last weekend: “The rear window on our SUV that was parked on Faumtleroy near Kenyon was smashed for no apparent reason (besides meanness!) on Sat night or Sunday morning. Car was locked…nothing of value inside…wasn’t even rifled through. Someone just got their jollies by destroying the window (and costing us $ and aggravation).”

Lola June 26, 2019 (8:20 am)

Do any of the WS Businesses have Alarm’s? I just saw the other one that had been broken into was Jan’s Beauty Supply and It did not seem like they had an alarm as they casually took their time in stealing the 300 # safe. I know it is frusterating but I think something with a loud noise like an alarm might alert the police faster than the employee coming in and finding it ransacked. Even a silent alarm would work. Maybe these theives know they do not have an alarm?

dsa June 26, 2019 (12:03 pm)

I too have wondered why not more alarms. But reading through Beats by Tweet, there is a likely answer. I think too many false alarms cause the owner to be fined. Here is a recent example of a false alarm:

SeattlePD William1‏ @SeattlePDW1

Jun 24

Beat:W1, ALACAD – COMMERCIAL BURGLARY (FALSE) at 24XX BLOCK OF 53 AV SW reported on 6/24/2019 1:44 PM, Call# 19000230300
Sarah June 26, 2019 (1:57 pm)

In my experience, police do not respond [quickly] to alarms. There are too many false alarms and too many other tasks for the police to handle. Your best bet is that the alarm simply scares thieves away because by the time the police come they will be long gone.