West Seattle Crime Watch: 2 reader reports, plus an update

First reader report: Officers with guns drawn earlier this morning at 46th/Andover. We are checking on that. 9:21 AM UPDATE: Sgt. Jeff Durden at the Southwest Precinct says “911 call of a man in a back yard with a shotgun. Turned out it was only an air rifle and the intent was to shoot a woodpecker.”

Second reader report: Burglary yesterday. Here’s what Joe e-mailed to WSB this morning:

We live on the 7300 block 35th Ave SW, I went home from work to meet a service technician at 12:30 pm and found that we had been burglarized. Entry through broken window. two tvs, two cameras, laptop, misc stuff . One tv was lying on floor as if the burglars were scared off before the were done. This happened between 9:oo am and 12:30 pm and nobody saw anything.

Update: A few folks asked about a followup on the two-car crash at 35th/Thistle the other night. It’s close to impossible to get an update on the victim’s condition — privacy laws have tightened in recent years so media cannot just call up a hospital and say “somebody was brought in from a crash, how are they” — but Sgt. Durden says the crash did NOT turn fatal. As for the cause, he says one of the drivers had run the red light, and was cited.

23 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: 2 reader reports, plus an update"

  • Aidan Hadley April 25, 2008 (9:25 am)

    Killing one of our dwindling local bird population should be a crime in itself. With that said, I wonder if I could hire the perpetrator to come over to my house and shoot a population of pesky crows!

  • firwave April 25, 2008 (9:38 am)

    Nice! Shooting woodpeckers! Give me a friggin’ break!

  • JenV April 25, 2008 (9:43 am)

    comedy gold!

  • JimmyG April 25, 2008 (9:54 am)

    Maybe I could get him to come over and get the freakin’ squirels from our backyard.

  • S April 25, 2008 (11:00 am)

    As 35th is as heavily travelled as it is, these thieves must have some rather large cojones or meth addictions.

  • Hamilton April 25, 2008 (11:02 am)

    Maybe he could pay a visit to the person feeding the feral cats and coyotes!!!!!!

  • James April 25, 2008 (12:14 pm)

    Although 35th is heavily travelled, there are alleys between 35th and 36th/34th. We live on the 7300 block 34th Ave SW and try to keep an eye on alley activity…

  • Les April 25, 2008 (1:44 pm)

    Live on 47th and Andover, the woodpecker is eating our house, hope he got the urban terrorist!

  • OP April 25, 2008 (1:55 pm)

    Tip for the air rifleman: If the “woodpecker” is simply pecking away at your house and not making a nest, then it’s not a woodpecker; it’s a flicker. Flickers peck at the siding of wood frame houses as a way of attract a mate. I know, we’ve had the problem since moving to WS. Our pest control person told us to place a deflated red mylar balloon in the area where he’s been pecking to discourage him. So far it’s worked; we have not seen the bugger around.

  • MikeV2 April 25, 2008 (1:58 pm)

    how does someone mistake a bb gun for a shotgun, they don’t sound the same at all.. I wonder if people would report my paintball gun as an assault rifle.

  • Judy2 April 25, 2008 (2:48 pm)

    I come out of my home…police are running around with rifles… I hope that guy something for the trouble he caused. Isn’t it a crime to shoot birds in the city for God sake!

  • denny April 25, 2008 (4:48 pm)

    great – it’s not a woodpecker, just a horny flicker

  • Elmer Fudd April 25, 2008 (6:41 pm)

    Shh, be vewy vewy quiet…I’m hunting woodpeckers

  • rowboat April 25, 2008 (8:21 pm)

    Is this why the two beautiful ‘woodpeckers’ (flickers) have not at my birdfeeder today? Give me a break! It’s nature!

  • comedy April 25, 2008 (8:48 pm)

    OMG… Bird down! Bird down! I relate to the homeowner as these lovely wood-peckers, flickers, whatever… have pecked through the siding on my house. Kudos!

  • DALYDBL April 25, 2008 (9:42 pm)

    Sounds like they’ve got a crazy neighbor!!! My mother-in-law lives in a gated community and always talks about the “drug house rental with 100 cats and teenage boys that wear black hoodies”…jeez. I wear a black hoody! Some people have no idea about real threats to society. Pretty hilarious really. As far as the actual burglary is concerned, I wish people would get to know their neighbors. We’ve got an excellent block watch, it is very comforting and lovely. I love this neighborhood!

  • The Perp April 25, 2008 (10:27 pm)

    Ok. I’m the guy that shot the bird. A couple comments:

    1. Bravo Seattle Police. My house was surrounded by a SWAT team (not kidding!) in less than ten minutes from the murder. My wife awoke to 6 cops with assault rifles in our yard. Sorry to my next door neighbor btw, you didn’t actually need to hit the bricks when the cop gave you the ‘get low’ hand sign.
    2. I have sinned. I do feel really feel bad about putting a cap in that horny pecker/flicker. I realize a 28 foot tall version of the pecker/flicker may be standing at the gates with St. Pete upon my demise. All I can say is that I will do everything possible to rebuild my pecker/flicker karma. May you rest in peace Woody.
    3. That bird had it comin. We’ve spent $300 bird proofing the side of our house (grates, hole filler, etc.). The horny pecker/flicker punched holes in our siding, pecked us out of bed at 6 am daily and pooped on our house (a lot). I gave him a number of warning shots. To no avail.
    4. To the lady that narced on me. Thanks for the wine and flowers. You don’t have to move out of the neighborhood. I would like to suggest a quick check up at the eye doctor or an NRA primer on gun types.
    5. To my wife. You’re welcome! Cops with assault rifles, the ire of our neighbors, the sight of our son huddled over the dead bird’s body…all worth it. You’ll thank me when you wake up at 8 am instead of 6 am tomorrow. And no you don’t get ‘spa time’ for your troubles today.

  • Chippah April 25, 2008 (10:49 pm)

    This guy sounds like a public menace…he should be locked up for endangering birds, neighborhood dogs, small children, iguanas, slugs, the elderly, bus riders, PCC customers, veterans, illegal immigrants & everyone else who might have been caught in the cross fire.

    Next thing you know he might be picking off squirrels for encroaching the bird feeder or neighbors for peering over the fence. Pellets can get under the skin & cause a nasty infection.

    Thank goodness for block watch – now we need to disarm these crazies…

  • Dr. Fadorawitz April 25, 2008 (11:21 pm)

    Chippah,

    It would be very hard for a pellet to punture the skin. Fist of all, it would most likely have to penitrate clothing. Any Seattlight knows that we are 98% covered in fleece and denim. If it did penitrate the clothing, it would be highly unlikly to punture the skin.

    Your comment is no very good.

  • Perp's Friend April 26, 2008 (8:30 am)

    I am friends with The Perp in this incident, and can vouch that he is a great guy and decent law abiding citizen! In fact, I’m inspired. I’m new to West Seattle and these moles are really getting on my nerves. A few pellets may just do the trick. Thanks, Perp!

  • boris April 26, 2008 (8:37 am)

    Sheesh, I like birds and all, but in this case it sounds like everything else was tried and the animal nuisance couldn’t be abated any other way.

    You people who are calling this guy a “crazy”, and crying buckets of tears for every single one of God’s creatures need to go hug a tree for a while or something.

    Do you get this worked up over a squirrel trap? Cripes.

  • The Neighbor April 26, 2008 (9:55 am)

    The woodpecker shooter is my neighbor and he is not a nusance at all. He’s actually a guy you would all probably like to have as a friend. He just tried to scare the bird away from all our houses that it has ruined. The origional story never said if he hit it or not. Quit being so freaking judgmental! Be nice. Thanks neighbor!

  • jissy April 26, 2008 (11:24 am)

    Hey “Perp” — first, my applause, second, you available for hire? I’ve had one of these woodpecker/flickers peck through the siding on my new house (twice in the last month) that I haven’t even moved into yet!

    The expense to have the siding replaced and re-stained is ridiculous. I’ve begged my husband to kill the thing, hope an airsoft rifle will do the trick.

Sorry, comment time is over.