Back from three-plus hours at the Southwest Precinct, starting with the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, then moving on to review the latest reports. From the WSCPC meeting – the February crime stats, announced by Lt. Steve Paulsen: 2 armed robberies, down from 5 in January; strong-armed robberies were up to 7 for February, described by Lt. Paulsen as largely “afterschool stuff” – youths getting iPods and money stolen, and he says they’re “working with the schools on that issue” – residential burglaries down to 37 in February (usually averaging about 50/month); 26 car thefts in February, down from 33; car prowls down dramatically in February, 83, from January’s 127. More from the Crime Prevention Council meeting in a separate story; first, on to some of the latest reports from the precinct, including more than a few car crimes, starting with a theft that ended in arson and a store clerk scaring away a would-be robber – plus a burglary from today, reported by a local Block Watch — read on:

First, from Karen and the Hansen View Blockwatch:

There was a burglary in our Blockwatch area today, in the 5000 block of 37th Ave SW. It happened near the north end of the block (close to Hudson Street), on the east side of the street. It occurred sometime before 3:30 PM. The burglars approached from the alley behind the house & came in through a back door. Police have been notified.

Now, our summaries of some of the reports on file at the precinct from the last several days (there’s usually a lag, so incidents since Monday morning weren’t available yet — aside from the Sealth vandalism report we published earlier, procured separately):

CAR STOLEN, THEN TORCHED: Around 4:30 am Monday, police answered a call in the 3300 block of 31st SW about two cars having been set on fire. They found a gold four-door Acura Legend with extensive fire damage, missing its license plates; they contacted the car’s owner, and found out it had been stolen from the 2400 block of Boyer Ave E. (map) sometime in the preceding seven hours. When her car was set on fire, it spread to a pickup truck parked in front of it. Two plastic gas containers were found at the scene, one of which was described in the report as “melted.” A nearby resident thought he might have a suspect on surveillance-camera video – “dark, hooded sweatshirt,” seen with jug in hand. Police were planning to review the video. It also turned out that the stolen car was involved in a hit-and-run crash in the 3000 block of Admiral Way – again, while the owner hadn’t even realized it had been stolen; police say its rear bumper and license plate had turned up at that scene.

WORKER SCARES AWAY WOULD-BE 7-11 ROBBER: Late last Thursday night, a man, white, in his 20s, 6-1, slender, blonde or strawberry hair, with glasses and a dark hoodie, red bandanna, tried to rob the 7-11 on Avalon. An employee said the man came in and yelled “empty the register” and showed what looked like a small black gun; the employee thought the gun was a toy and picked up a baseball bat and told the would-be robber to leave at which point, the man bolted out the front door. A K-9 officer tried tracking the suspect but lost the track near Avalon and Genesee.

BUSINESS BURGLARIZED: An automotive business in the 4800 block of California was broken into Saturday night. and a 44-year-old man was arrested. A witness spotted the burglary in process because a tire was rolling across the street. Officers responded and saw a man throwing tires over the fence. The man told them he was taking the tires “to do the business a favor by getting rid of them so the business wouldn’t have to pay a disposal fee,” according to the report. He insisted it wasn’t a crime and was quoted as saying “do you really think I’d be out here stealing these? That would be stupid.” He was cuffed and taken to jail. A gate was broken at the site holding a sign that said UNLAWFUL TO REMOVE TIRES FROM THIS PEN. ALL VIOLATORS SUBJECT TO PROSECUTION. The tire that rolled across the street came to rest alongside the 7-11 at Erskine/California. The business owner told police he had been repeatedly hit by tire thieves. He sells the tires for $5 each. The suspect insisted he wouldn’t have stolen anything because he just got off home detention that morning. He turns out to have been arrested more than 20 times and found guilty of robbery and theft. We just checked the King County Jail Register, and he’s still behind bars, bail set at $15,000.

THREE THURSDAY BREAK-INS, AT LEAST TWO APPARENTLY RELATED: First, a woman in the 5900 block of 45th SW arrived home last Thursday afternoon and discovered her home had been broken into. Someone used a ladder to get to, and break, a kitchen window, and that’s apparently how they got in. Then, in the 5400 block of 40th SW, a woman came home to discover the burglar alarm had been activated but wasn’t going off. In this case, too, it appears the kitchen window was the means of entry – but nothing was taken, so it’s suspected the burglary might have been interrupted just as the resident came home. And another one happened sometime Thursday in the 5600 block of 34th SW. The burglar’s believed to have gotten in through a balcony door. Items that were stolen included electronics; a purse was found behind bushes outside the home, and it turned out that purse belonged to the burglary victim in the 5900 block of 45th SW.

CAR STOLEN: Sometime last Thursday night in the 7500 block of 13th SW, a 1991 Honda Accord was stolen.

CARS STOLEN, THEN RECOVERED: First one — In the 900 block of SW Holden last Thursday night-Friday morning, a 2003 Dodge Neon was stolen – it then turned up, minus tires/wheels/rims, in the 300 block of 1st Ave West, late Friday morning. Second one — a 1992 Honda Accord stolen in King County jurisdiction turned up in West Seattle on Saturday afternoon, in the 5200 block of 18th SW.

CAR PROWL: Last Thursday night or Friday morning in the 4300 block of SW Donovan, someone stole items from inside an unlocked car.

ANOTHER CAR PROWL: In the 4300 block of SW Concord, also Thursday night or Friday morning, someone broke into a car and went through it, but wound up not taking anything.

METAL THEFT: Last Saturday morning in the 4500 block of SW Willow, a woman reported that three men stole scrap metal out of her parents’ yard and left in a blue Chevy van with a license plate ending in SVN. The victim said it happened while she was at the house cleaning it out and getting it ready to sell. Her son spotted the men; she went out and talked to them, they said they were collecting metal scraps, she asked why, they didn’t aanswer, she said she would call police. One man insisted they had permission from “some old guy,” but they refused to describe that man. The van was stopped in the 6500 block of 35th SW. Officers saw a “great deal of scrap metal and other junk” inside the van, according to the report. Turned out there were warrants out for one of the men and a woman who also was inside the van. All four were all booked into jail on suspicion of theft.

HIT AND RUN CRASH: Late Saturday night, police answered a hit-run call at Harbor/Spokane. They traced the suspect vehicle, a 2008 Lexus, to a condo building in the 1300 block of Alki SW, where they found its driver apparently under the influence and admitting to two glasses of wine. Her white car had red paint chips; the car hit in the crash was a red Honda.

BEACH DRIVE PUMP STATION TAGGED: Police answered a call last Thursday afternoon from a woman who pointed out tagging on several walls at the pump station in the 3500 block of Beach Drive SW.

GOING TO GREAT LENGTHS (OUTSIDE CITY LIMITS): Police work doesn’t always stop at the city limits. Southwest Precinct Officer Patrick Chang (who you might recall from this case last year) learned about warrants for two brothers whom he was “familiar with … from previous investigations and arrests.” He and three other officers went to their home in Burien late Sunday night to arrest them; one of the warrants turns out to have been related to a somewhat notorious case outside the Fry’s store in Renton involving a parking-lot car prowl, a security guard, and gunshots. The jail register shows both brothers still in jail at this writing.