Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes:

STOLEN BICYCLE: Travis hopes you will be on the lookout for his bicycle, stolen from the back patio of his house between 10:45 pm Friday and 9 am today near the corner of 38th SW and SW Hinds. The serial number starts with M13; the bags were not on the bike at the time; a report is filed with police, so call 911 (and then comment here!) if you see it. (8:38 PM UPDATE – it’s back.)

FIRE EXTINGUISHERS RETURNED: Back on Tuesday, we published a report that two fire extinguishers had been stolen from SFD Engine 32 while its crew was out on an emergency call. Last night, we received word that they’ve been returned to the station – with a note of apology. (We added that info to the original story last night, but are mentioning it here since most probably wouldn’t be checking back for an update.)

We don’t often hear about two motorcycle thefts in one day – but here’s the second reader report we’ve received today. From Alicia:

Sometime between Monday at 11:00 pm and Tuesday at 2:00 pm our motorcycle was stolen out of our backyard, near 17th and Trenton, close to Westwood Village. It is a 2007 Yamaha YZF-R6, license plate number 8C5298, gray/blue in color. Please contact Alicia if found at 425-891-6248 or at aliciawimmer@hotmail.com

Motor-vehicle theft – which includes motorcycles – is holding steady in our area, neither increasing nor decreasing, the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council was told tonight – our report from that meeting is coming up.

ORIGINAL TUESDAY REPORT: Be on the lookout for two extinguishers like that – stolen from the Seattle Fire Department in West Seattle today, according to SFD Lt. Sue Stangl:

Fire Engine 32 from West Seattle’s largest fire station had two firefighting extinguishers stolen early this morning while they were on a medical incident near the intersection of Alaska and California. … It would be great to be able to retrieve them, not to mention that stealing from the people that are in place to help anyone in need is in poor taste.

Call 911 if you have any info. (Station 32, by the way, is in its interim location on 40th north of Edmunds while an all-new station is being built at its permanent site.)

FRIDAY NIGHT: We have word the fire extinguishers were returned – with a note of apology.

UPDATED 2:52 PM: *Four* items in West Seattle Crime Watch this afternoon – first, a stolen motorcycle:

VINTAGE MOTORCYCLE TAKEN IN GATEWOOD: From Jackie:

Last seen at 9 pm on 9/14/2015 in West Seattle on Myrtle and California SW. Police report made, but please contact us if you know of anything pertaining to this bike:

1974 Honda CB 550 Four

Original (faded) olive green tank
Original black frame
Chrome fenders, shocks and tailpipe
New custom light brown leather long, flat seat with diamond pattern stitching
Light brown leather grips with galvanized pipe looking caps
Gold/brass tail light, 3″
Black “bullet” style Rizoma turn signals

Call 911 if you see or have seen it. **WEDNESDAY MORNING UPDATE: Found, thanks to a watchful WSB reader! Thanks! Jackie reports tears of happiness.**

ARMED STREET ROBBERY: The SPD map indicates someone was held up in the 4800 block of Fauntleroy Way SW just before 11 last night. We have a request out for details from the report and will add them as soon as we get them. (added 3:31 pm) SPD says a man in his 40s reported being held up by three people, one of whom had a gun, near 40th and Edmunds just before 11 pm. They made off with several items including his bag, wallet, and phone. They were last seen fleeing westbound on Edmunds. The only description so far: All males, white or Hispanic, with dark bandanas over their faces, and dark clothing.

CAR PROWL FOLLOWUP, AND STOLEN CAR FOUND: We reported Betina‘s car break-in in Arbor Heights the other day. We’ve since received a followup about both the break-in AND a stolen car that turned up nearby. You’ll recall that whoever broke into Betina’s car left the hood partly open Turns out that the radiator hoses were taken (and they weren’t even new). Meantime:

… (Also) I called the police a couple of days ago to report an out-of-place vehicle in front of our house. It was missing the driver’s door and was getting soaked by one of our rare summer rain events. It turned out to be a stolen car. The owner arrived a couple of hours later grateful to have the car and its contents back (unfortunately, minus a door). It turns out that it was the green Honda that WSB reported missing on Sept. 4th.

P.S. – Final word of reminder – the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council resumes its monthly fall/winter/spring meeting schedule TONIGHT, 7 pm, Southwest Precinct meeting room (Delridge/Webster) – police updates, a discussion of self-defense devices, AND neighborhood Q/A if you bring it.

(ADDED 2:52 PM) STOLEN CAR: Just got word of this:

Our car was stolen this morning between 5:30am and 11:30am today from 12th Ave SW and Kenyon Ave. It is a green/blue 1997 Honda Accord, license plate WA 880YZC.

Call 911 if you see it.

Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports:

BURGLARIZED AGAIN: Two people texted to let us know it appeared Café Osita at 7349 35th SW had been burglarized again – they saw the door getting boarded up – and even before we could get over to check, we heard from proprietor Andrea, saying, “We arrived this a.m. to find the front (glass) door smashed in. No one was hurt; the place was ransacked and items were stolen.” Police are reviewing evidence, and Andrea says Café Osita is closed today because of the break-in. Her shop also was broken into in August, as reported here.

HIGHLAND PARK PROWLER: From Evan:

I live in the 16th/Kenyon area of West Seattle, and spotted a guy wandering up and down the alley looking into people’s back yards. He would stop at each house for 1-2 minutes and look around the yards, once even climbing up onto the fence.

My neighbor recently had his motorcycle stolen from his yard, so if you can warn those in the neighborhood to watch out for this guy, that would be awesome. I called the police to report him and gave them his description.

Evan says police arrived to search the alley within 15 minutes of his call. When you call 911 about a prowler or burglar, the response time – depending on what else is happening – hinges on whether you are seeing them RIGHT NOW, moments ago, or whether it’s something that might have happened hours ago, so they advise always being clear on the time frame. (If you scroll through the automated tweets on our Crime Watch page, for example, you’ll see classifications such as BURGLARY, I/P OR J/O, which means “in progress” or “just occurred.”)

Three reader reports:

STOLEN CAR: Tanya reports her mom’s car was stolen in the 7100 block of Fauntleroy Way SW, outside The Kenney (WSB sponsor), where her mom, who works in home care, was visiting a patient on Wednesday. It’s a 1993 green 4-door Honda Accord LS that resembles the car in this photo (except for the hubcaps). No plate number to share – her mother had changed plates recently and “did not yet memorize or save the data on the new plate.” But if you see this type of car seemingly abandoned in your neighborhood, please alert police.

SUSPICIOUS ENCOUNTERS: Two reports of incidents that weren’t crimes – so we’re not labeling them Crime Watch – but stirred concerns:
Read More

Two car break-ins in this West Seattle Crime Watch report:

IN HIGHLAND PARK … That break-in happened in an instant while a parent was at Ages In Stages Child Care in the 8600 block of 9th SW last week picking up her child. We’d been hoping for a closer look at the thief, from the surveillance camera, but apparently this is all they have, so we’re showing it at least as a reminder that this can happen so fast. The victim’s husband says, “The guy broke the window and took off with a phone and a purse within seconds. Looks like he knew exactly what he was doing . . targeting drop-off cars at the daycare . . and he was very quick. I’ve actually been able to track down a few purchases that they made with my wife’s stolen card. I contacted the store managers, and they may have video . . I’m still tracking that down.”

IN HIGH POINT … The photo and report are from Drew on High Point Drive:

My wife’s car was broken into via the passenger window; looks like they basically just wedged the window down to unlock the car. Didn’t take much more than an iPhone charger and some sunglasses, which is good considering the sound system was left intact.

From the SPD reports map, here’s where car prowls were reported in the past week:

Two months after pleading guilty to murdering his ex-girlfriend’s mother, 21-year-old Jose Gonzalez-Leos has been sentenced. His sentencing was on hold until September but then suddenly moved up to this past Friday, when, court documents show, King County Superior Court Judge Mary Roberts sentenced him to 320 months. That’s the top of the standard sentencing range, just over 26 1/2 years, counting time already served. He’s been in jail since his arrest in March of last year, more than two months after he killed 46-year-old Nga Nguyen at her home in High Point. Prosecutors say he strangled and beat her on December 14, 2013, after breaking in through a bedroom window, and that she had had trouble with him before, as had her daughter. Evidence linking him to the murder included a DNA match from saliva found on the victim’s body; that had led to a charge enhancement that the murder was committed with sexual motivation, but that was dropped as part of his plea bargain. According to a document filed by Gonzalez-Leos’s lawyer, he had been high on meth for a week at the time of the murder, and had killed the victim out of “sheer uncontrollable anger.” He had no prior felony convictions. (WSB photo, December 2013)

The weather has calmed and we’re on to other news. First, two quick West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports:

STOLEN BICYCLE: Derek first posted this in the WSB Forums:

My bicycle was stolen from my yard at 46th & Charlestown. Let me know if you see it?

Blue old-school mountain bike. Gary Fisher Hoo Koo e Koo. Bike pump, rear mountain rack with fender, and cat-eye headlight & tail lights.

It’s not worth a lot of money, but it’s been my main ride since 1993.

He hasn’t turned up a photo to share, but says his bike looks a lot like this.

STOLEN MAIL: From Nathan:

I live in the condos at 3271 Avalon Way and it appears that someone broke into our mailboxes last night. I’m on the HOA board, and someone else on the board has already contacted police about it, so I assume there will be a police report about it eventually.

It appears that someone used a crowbar to pry into the mailboxes. Hopefully other condos/homes were not affected.

The man accused of shooting his brother in their Junction apartment last Saturday night is now charged with first-degree domestic-violence assault. The charging documents say 19-year-old Rony Miranda-Guity shot his 25-year-old brother in the chest, point-blank, because his brother threatened to break his video-game system. Miranda-Guity is quoted as telling police that he was playing a game when his brother came home, slapped him on the neck, and picked up the system as if he was going to break it: “My reaction is my reaction, which was fast after he touched me and tried to grab my X-Box. Like, that’s the only thing that I got that I love.” Police say he also acknowledged that he didn’t call for help for his brother, who, the charging documents say, “staggered to the door of a different apartment unit to get someone else to make the call.” Though Harborview Medical Center was not releasing information about the victim’s condition, the court documents say he was in the Trauma ICU at Harborview “awaiting further surgery” as of yesterday, but is expected to survive. The documents also note, “There is a history of unreported assaults between the two” and that a .25-caliber handgun and shell casing were found in the apartment. Miranda-Guity remains in jail in lieu of $500,000 bail, awaiting arraignment on September 9th.

We start this West Seattle Crime Watch roundup with a business-vehicle theft from just south of WS:

BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR CRAWFISH HOUSE PROPRIETORS’ TRUCK: We’ve reported this on partner site White Center Now but since the restaurant is just blocks south of West Seattle, the truck could turn up here too. The proprietors of Crawfish House at 9826 16th SW reported via Facebook that their truck was stolen from the alley behind their restaurant late last night:

It’s a 2005 TOYOTA TUNDRA ACCESS CAB SR5. The license plate is B90959S. It’s a dark blue but a little lighter than navy blue truck. It’s our only transportation for the restaurant.

If you see it, call 911.

ANOTHER ADMIRAL CAR PROWL: From Callie:

My can was broken into around 3 am this morning. I was woken up to a noise and then the sound of a car speeding off. As far as I can tell, all that was taken was my gym bag. … My car was parked on 39th between Forest and Lander.

We’re checking with Callie for a description of the bag; (added) here it is- “It was a light blue/grey lulu lemon gym bag with a rose gold zipper. It had a pair of shoes, a white blouse, and navy women’s work pants in it. It looks very similar to this bag, but a different color they no longer carry.” (back to original report) If you see one discarded somewhere, do report it – as did the next reader:

RECOGNIZE THIS? From Pam:

Saw this purse this morning on Lander behind Admiral Mail building in alley. Someone may be looking for it.

We always recommend that if you find something like this (or an abandoned bicycle, etc.), contact police as well as us – it might be evidence of a crime; if SPD picks it up, people can still get it back by contacting them (or they might contact you if it was reported as stolen in the first place and is traceable).