Three notes in Crime Watch tonight:

CAR PROWL: The latest one for which we received a reader report is this one from Anne, who’s west of California/Graham:

We had a break-in of our car last night, sometime between 11 pm and 7 am this morning. I think they were just looking for anything valuable to take; took the $20 from the glove box but left the change on the floor. The car has a steering-wheel lock so they couldn’t take the car.

Anne says car prowlers have hit them a few other times in the past 10 years.

CAR PROWL FOLLOWUP: A 40-year-old man remains in jail tonight, in lieu of $2,500 bail, after being arrested in the Alki area early Friday. SPD Blotter reports that officers responding to a call of a suspicious person lurking near a pickup truck at 61st/Admiral found the suspect asleep inside the truck. They say he told them he had permission to be there; the truck’s owner, whose home was steps away, said he did not. Officers “arrested the suspect and found he was carrying someone else’s tax forms, which had been stolen in another car prowl earlier that morning,” per the SPD Blotter report. The suspect is being held for investigation of criminal trespass and receiving stolen property. The jail register shows that he spent a day there a week earlier in connection with a failure-to-appear warrant in a drug case.

PACKAGE-THEFT VIDEO FOLLOWUP: Last night, we published Roger‘s very clear security-cam video of a package theft that happened March 9th. Since then, we’ve heard from multiple tipsters who believe they recognize the man in the video and are talking to police.

P.S. Another reminder that you can bring your neighborhood crime/safety concerns/questions to police on Tuesday night, 7 pm, at the monthly West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting (Southwest Precinct, 2300 SW Webster).

The photos and video are from Roger, who belatedly discovered a package theft from a little over a week ago:

47th and Graham. Just wanted to let you know that we had a package thief on March 9th, we just tracked down that it was stolen, first time in 5 years this had occurred here.

He took the package at 2 pm, after the UPS man dropped it off at 11 am. Luckily it was just a cheap door mat that day. He was definitely on a mission looking for packages, parked his truck hitting the curb, jumped out, sprinted back and forth from our front door. Doubted he even saw our cams. …

Keep on the lookout, didn’t appear to be anyone from our immediate neighborhood but please pass around.

P.S. Next West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting – to which you are invited to bring neighborhood crime and safety concerns, so you can talk with, and hear from, police – is on for Tuesday, 7 pm March 21st, at the Southwest Precinct (2300 SW Webster).

Another auto-theft report this morning. From Rachel:

My 1998 Honda CR-V was stolen from the street in front of my home on the 4500 block of 48th Ave SW. It’s silver with the license plate #921-ZVK. Here’s the police incident # 2017-83889. Additionally, earlier this week and on the same block, our neighbor’s car was rummaged through.

Please call 911 if you see it.

In Crime Watch tonight:

ANOTHER STOLEN CAR FOUND: Pat e-mailed tonight to say that “we recovered our Subaru Forester today. We are very grateful that it was only a mile or so from home and completely unharmed.” It was taken last Saturday night in The Junction. Pat didn’t mention where it was found, but SPD’s Twitter log includes a stolen-car recovery in the 4000 block of 40th SW today, and that would fit. (UPDATE: Different recovered car. Pat says theirs was found “in an alley near 35th/Alaska.”)

E-MAIL SCAM WARNING: Thanks to Susan for sharing this e-mail warning from the Seattle Public Library:

We wanted to let you know about an email scam that began yesterday afternoon and disguises itself as an official communication from The Seattle Public Library.

Several people in the area have reported receiving scam emails from “Joann” at the address “joan@seattlepubliclibrary(dot)com” that include subject lines about overdue and lost Library books. These emails are used to spread “malware,” or malicious software, to recipient computers.

Please note: any official communication from The Seattle Public Library will always come from our official domain: spl.org. The Library does not own or use the domain seattlepubliclibrary(dot)com.

If you receive an email claiming to be from The Seattle Public Library and it is NOT from an spl.org address:

Please DO NOT click on any links or attachments.
Please DO mark it as spam or junk and delete it immediately.
If you receive it at your work account, please also notify your I.T. department.

Your data privacy and security are very important to us and we want to assure you that the Library’s database of users has NOT been compromised. At this time, it is unclear where scammers collected their recipient email addresses and how many email addresses they have sent to, but there has been no security breach of our Library systems. Many recipients of this scam are not Library patrons. This is simply a malware scam disguising itself as Library business.

DAYTIME CAR PROWL: Most of the time, car prowlers work at night. Not the one Pete e-mailed to tell us about: “I live on 44th Ave SW between Brandon & Dawson. Between 3:30 & 4:45 this afternoon, someone came up our fairly long, steep driveway and broke into our SUV which was backed in up against the garage door while my kids and I were inside just 20′ from where the car was parked. The perp took various items including a box of valuables from the trunk. Brazen! Watch out, neighbors!

BOOKS STOLEN: The person who prowled Keri‘s car went away with unusual loot: “Sometime last night between 12 am-7 am, someone smashed my driver’s-side window and stole the box of books from my publisher that I had in there to re-sell. So, if anyone finds a bunch of copies of ‘Rain Gardens for the Pacific Northwest,’ please post, or take one home and build a rain garden!”

CITYWIDE STATS: SPD had another SeaStat briefing today; you can see the slide deck here. The categories of crime tracked in SeaStat are down, year to date, from the same time last year, except for two: domestic-violence aggravated-assault and arson.

Three notes in West Seattle Crime Watch tonight:

CAR FOUND: Amanda‘s Mitsubishi Diamante, stolen in Highland Park last Friday, was recovered in South Park. “So glad it’s been found and in ONE piece!” she e-mailed to say.

CAR BROKEN INTO: Dan says this happened Monday night near 37th and Thistle in Gatewood:

The center console was rifled, though there was nothing of value. The only thing missing was a set of keys to my mom’s old place.

POLICE RESPONSE ON 36TH SW: We checked out what was reported as a sizable police response in the 6000 block of 36th SW just before 7 pm tonight. Police were getting ready to leave when we arrived, but did tell us that they rousted a trespasser who was sleeping on/in an outdoor hot tub at a currently vacant property. This type of situation is often the subject of questions at community meetings, and police have said they are continuing to work with the owners of vacant properties to get authorization to order obvious trespassers to leave – without pre-authorization, it’s more complicated than you might guess.

P.S. Next West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting – your chance to bring concerns and questions to local police, and hear their updates firsthand – is next Tuesday (March 21st), 7 pm, Southwest Precinct (2300 SW Webster).

That image shows the burglars who drove up to, and broke into, Hal‘s shipping container on Beach Drive SW around 12:30 am today and stole tools. The burglary was caught in its entirety on a neighbor’s security camera – it’s not embeddable but you can try watching it here (it worked for us on Mac Safari but not Chrome) – the actual break-in starts just after two minutes into the clip. Hal says, “What was stolen was SnapOn tools, engraved “Snyder” and a SnapOn special edition (Rick Mears) toolbox I believe it is one of 500. Also other tools in the Husky bottom box.” If you have any information about the burglars and/or the stolen property, you can contact SPD and refer to incident #2017-88925.

Auto theft continues to be one of the major current crime problems on the peninsula, police acknowledge, so we’re going to start putting the makes/models in the headlines when we can. Starting with Pat‘s Subaru Forester:

Last night, my car was stolen from in front of my house on 41st Ave SW between Edmunds and Hudson sometime after 6 PM. It is a 2015 blue Subaru Forester; the license plate number is ARP1994. If anyone sees it, please call (911).

Police say more cars are stolen to get from point A to point B than to be resold or stripped, so you really might spot one simply abandoned on the roadside or in a parking lot.

Two car break-in reports:

WINDOW SMASHED: From Mark:

Our SUV had its rear window smashed in our driveway last night sometime between 6 pm and 12:30 am. Near California and Webster. Nothing taken, just window smashed, apparently just for “fun.”

CAR PROWLED: From Martine:

(Friday) night, between midnight and 6 am, someone went through my car and took some items like my sunglasses and workout gloves. However, all my music CDs, phone charger, and loose change were NOT taken. My car was parked in front of my house on 34th Ave SW between Andover and Charlestown. I have reported this incident to the police.

Even if little or nothing is taken, you can file a report online here, so police at least have accurate records of where car prowlers are hitting. If the incident is happening now – or just happened (e.g. you just spotted someone leaving the scene) – call 911.

While some categories of crime are on the decline, per Seattle Police briefings at the community meetings we have covered lately, auto theft is not, and here’s the latest reader report: The silver Mitsubishi Diamante in the photo, license plate AZX8929, was stolen from 16th and Holden in Highland Park at 2 am, last seen eastbound on Holden. If you have any information, the SPD incident # is 2017-85119. (They DO turn up, as was the case with this one spotted by a WSB reader last weekend.)

Four reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

CAR STOLEN: Some types of crime are on the decline in West Seattle, but, police have said at recent community meetings, auto theft is not. Here’s a reader report from Nicole:

My 2000 white Honda CRV was stolen from my house (in the 3000 block of) 38th Ave SW in the middle of the night last night. It has a Seahawks license plate and a Seahawks 12 sticker.

The plate number is BCW4412.

CAR PROWL FOLLOWUP: We published Sara‘s car-prowl report yesterday, and now she’s discovered one particular stolen item that she hopes you will be able to watch for:

After getting a thorough look through the car – it looks like they took my work keys. There are quite a few keys on on an Oregon lanyard (black with green and yellow writing). This won’t help them get into anything as they are for an internal office.

The theft happened near 35th SW/SW Dakota.

Now, FOUND items that likely were stolen from somebody:

FOUND BICYCLE: Mike reports, “Found a beautiful 1-speed Raleigh bicycle in Pigeon Point. Hoping to return to the owner.” Let us know if you’re missing a bicycle that might match that description.

FOUND MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS: From Paul:

I found a tackle box, fishing bag, and brown jacket on the corner of Edmunds and 51st last night while walking my dog. It seemed really out of place and may be related to the prowler reported two nights ago in the alley on 48th and 49th.

Two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports this morning:

STOLEN CAR: From Michael near 42nd SW/SW Bradford – “Our silver 1997 Acura 2-door was discovered stolen this morning. License AOL6520 in case anyone sees it parked in their neighborhood.”

CAR PROWL: From Sara:

Just wanted to let you know that our car was rifled through on 35th and Dakota last night between midnight and 5 AM. They took the change they could find, cheap sunglasses, makeup, and some cheap jewelry. The only thing of value that they were able to get was a Kate Spade wallet that only had rewards cards and receipts in it. I would love to get the wallet back if anyone sees it dumped anywhere.

We start this West Seattle Crime Watch roundup with a reader report:

CAR PROWL: From southwest of The Junction, Kyle reports:

My fiancée woke up to her car open and rummaged through this morning at 730 am. The neighbors’ car was also open. No damage was noted and only minor beauty products were stolen. Incident happened in the alley between 48th Ave SW and 49th, and between Hudson and Dawson.

And the following four recent West Seattle incidents now have narratives available via the Seattle Police website:

‘BB’ SHOOTINGS: Police were called last Saturday (March 4th) night at 7:22 pm to a “disturbance” reported at 60th SW/SW Stevens. They found the callers at their nearby home and talked to a victim who said “he was playing at the park playground with his two friends,” when he noticed an “unidentified adult male behind the bushes near him and his friends … (he) felt that he needed to leave the area because he was not sure what the unidentified male was doing …” As soon as the victim started running home, he told police, out of nowhere “three unidentified males started to chase after them” and the victim heard “loud repeating noises as if someone was shooting at them with a BB gun.” A BB, he said, struck his backpack, and he heard “pinging” noises as if vehicles were being hit. The victim and his friends said they didn’t get a good look at the people chasing them, except to describe them as “three males wearing dark clothing.” Police subsequently searching the playground area were flagged down by two residents who said they heard BB gun shots while having dinner at their home; they went outside and noticed a “black 4-door sedan-type Acura or Lexus driving by their house very fast.” One of the residents told police someone in that vehicle “shot at him” and that he was hit in the left arm but he declined medical attention because the BB didn’t break his skin. The other resident said the person shot toward a window of their house, but there were no signs of damage, and police didn’t find any damage anywhere else, either.

SHOOTING THREAT: In the 7100 block of 18th SW at 11:41 am last Saturday (March 4th) morning, police got a call about someone allegedly pointing a gun at a person who had yelled at them as they sped by. The victim reported it was a “dark-colored, 4-door Camry, possibly 2008 model, with dark-tinted windows.” He got a partial plate (redacted in the report). He said he yelled at the vehicle as it spend by; the car stopped a short distance away and someone got out, pointing a handgun at the man and threatening to shoot him, while also calling him the N-word. Then the person got back into the car and drove away. The victim told police the man was black, 20s-30s, 6 feet tall, short black hair with possible dreadlocks, and a black hooded sweatshirt.

BURGLARY: In the 6700 block of 21st SW around 3:30 last Thursday (March 2nd) afternoon, police were called to what originally was described as “suspicious circumstances” but turned out to be a break-in. Someone noticed a gate had been cut and “items strewn all over the yard.” Officers found a sliding door had been pried open at the back of the house, which had been ransacked. Several sheds on the property also had been broken into. Power tools were missing from a shed. Police found possible fingerprint evidence at several points around the scene, including a “coconut drink in the kitchen that may have been removed and touched by the suspect.”

The fourth now-available report is about an incident we covered the day it happened:

ROBBERY DETAILS: We reported on an armed robbery at the Shell station in The Triangle (Fauntleroy/Alaska) last Saturday afternoon. The full police report is now available. It says the cashier noticed a green Honda Civic in front of the business; the robber got out of the car, went inside and up to the counter, put a black backpack on the counter and pulled “what appeared to be a black semi-automatic handgun” from it. The robber demanded money; she took cash from the register and gave it to him. He demanded that the safe be opened and she explained there’s no safe. He then demanded Newport cigarettes, and she “handed him an unknown number” of packs. He then ran out and drove away in what turned out to be a car that had been stolen the day before. The robber was described as an Asian man, 5-7, slim, short black hair, black jacket, black scarf over his face from below his eyes to his neck. Police ran the plate number from the getaway car, meantime, and discovered it was stolen (the plate is redacted on the report, but the incident number listed checks to a theft reported early Saturday morning in West Seattle, in the 5400 block of 34th SW).

(Editor’s note, 10:15 pm: Dates corrected for the first three police-report-narrative recaps)

When Kristin e-mailed about the theft of her in-laws’ car from outside her house in Fauntleroy, she wasn’t very hopeful it would be found. But it was, about 3 1/2 miles away, thanks to WSB reader Susie, who e-mailed to say, “I stopped by my boyfriend’s house today (4000 block of 32nd Ave SW) and noticed Kristin’s family’s stolen red 1998 Honda CRV parked out front. We notified police and Kristin; SPD showed up minutes ago. … Appeared to be a large amount of stolen mail and other belongings in the vehicle and they had obviously gone though the open glove box. … Did not appear to be any damage to the doors, windows, or ignition so maybe there’s a silver lining.”

A former South Delridge dispensary owner was sentenced today to nine years in prison and five years of supervised release for gun and drug crimes, some of which happened in West Seattle. Federal court documents say 24-year-old Devontea Rosemon owned People’s Choice Marketplace, formerly located in the 9400 block of Delridge Way SW, with some of the crimes happening there, and one at a local park. From the U.S. Attorney’s Office news release:

Rosemon pleaded guilty to four felony charges in November 2016: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm. Between January and June 2016, Rosemon repeatedly sold guns and drugs to a person working with law enforcement. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik said, “Truly dangerous weapons were being trafficked in a community where a rise in shootings is simply shocking …. There must be consequences for funneling weapons into the hands of people who commit violent crimes.”

“This defendant was a one stop shop for multiple firearms, including high powered assault style weapons,” said U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. “I commend ATF for their ongoing work to identify and stop sources of firearms that end up being used to harm our communities.”

According to records filed in the case, Rosemon repeatedly sold cocaine from a marijuana dispensary he operated in Seattle and from his car. After a few of the sales, Rosemon offered to sell a firearm. Rosemon first sold the person working with law enforcement a .38 caliber pistol. Between March and June 2016, Rosemon sold the informant several more firearms including a Ruger with an extended clip, a Century Arms rifle, a Smith and Wesson .40 caliber pistol, a Walther PPK .380 caliber pistol, a Canik55 pistol, a Sig Sauer .38 caliber pistol, a Zastava .762 caliber pistol and a Springfield Armory .45 caliber pistol. Rosemon also sold body armor. When law enforcement searched Rosemon’s apartment after his arrest, they found a Norinco MAK 90 Sporter 7.62X39mm assault rifle, equipped with a 100-round drum. The weapon was simply stored on the floor of a bedroom closet where Rosemon’s two nieces (both under the age of 5) could have accessed it.

Rosemon is prohibited from possessing firearms due to three prior robbery convictions. Rosemon was arrested in June 2016 following the last of the gun sales.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Seattle Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg.

We looked up some of the federal court documents; they list a White Center address for Rosemon’s apartment and also say that the last firearms transaction between Rosemon and an undercover agent happened in June 2016 at Roxhill Park. The documents say that in that transaction, Rosemon sold the agent two guns – described as pistols, .762 and .45 caliber – for $2,300 and 18 cartons of cigarettes.

Reader reports, plus a community-safety meeting, in Crime Watch this afternoon:

MAILBOXES TARGETED: We have two reports today from one Arbor Heights neighborhood – 41st SW between 102nd and 104th. First Denae e-mailed to say thieves broke into their mailbox while they were at work, and then Tommy messaged us to say theirs also was broken into: “After talking with the post office – they told us that a lot of other people were broken into on 42nd Ave. I think it would be good for people to keep a lookout for suspicious people near mailboxes.” If you experience mailbox/mail-related crime, report it to SPD (911 if it’s happening NOW or just happened) as well as the Postal Inspection Service.

CAR WINDOWS BROKEN: Two reports of this, from different areas. First, from Darren, with a photo: “Happened sometime last night/this am. We live on 60th between Admiral and Stevens. Police report filed.”

And from Isaac:

Just a quick FYI – Police woke us up around 2 am last night to let us know that someone had broken the drivers side window out of our car parked on 34th just in from the corner of SW Roxbury. Nothing was taken and it didn’t look like the car was ransacked at all. Just a busted window…

ABANDONED (STOLEN?) BIKE: Dennis sent the photo at midday today:

If you can’t tell – that’s the business parking lot on the northwest corner of Delridge/Andover.

COMMUNITY SAFETY CONVERSATION: Received an announcement today of a meeting Saturday afternoon facilitated by the Seattle Neighborhood Group for people in and around the 5400 block of Delridge Way SW. It’s set for 3-4:30 pm Saturday (March 4th) at the Delridge Library, which is in that block (5423 Delridge Way SW).

In West Seattle Crime Watch tonight:

FROM THE ‘THEY’LL STEAL ANYTHING’ DEPARTMENT: Kathy reports a car prowl in North Admiral:

We discovered our car was entered last night. They rummaged through glove box and arm rest, took prescription sunglasses, new socks to go to homeless folks, and one of two bags heading to drop off at Goodwill. Do these people have a way to hack remote entry vehicles? There was no sign of forced entry and we’re pretty careful about locking. 1300 block of 44th AV SW.

Short answer, yes.

STOLEN CAR: No reader report on this, and @getyourcarback doesn’t match announcements to locations/incident numbers, but we did hear this broadcast across police frequencies as having happened in “William sector” (western West Seattle): 1996 red 4-door Honda Civic, plate BAJ8248. If you see it, call 911.

SPD’s online reports have added the narratives for two recent crimes, so we’re summarizing them here:

THE 42-SECOND THEFT: That’s how long it took two thieves to steal merchandise from the Rite-Aid pharmacy south of The Junction one week ago tonight, 8:20 pm Wednesday, February 22nd. The report says the thieves jumped over the counter, grabbed “two white square bottles of unknown liquid substance,” and ran out, last seen westbound on SW Dawson north of the store. Police got conflicting descriptions but eventually got surveillance video which showed that the two “were in and out of the store in approximately 42 seconds.” No one was hurt.

STORAGE UNIT BREAK-IN: The other local case with a narrative report now available online happened last Thursday night or Friday morning at a storage unit in the 2900 block of Avalon Way. Its manager called police to report that a unit had been pried open, but the tenant said nothing had been disturbed or taken.

Once you’ve reported a crime to SPD – 911 if it’s happening now! – consider letting us know for Crime Watch, via text (206-293-6302) or e-mail (editor@westseattleblog.com) – thank you!

No special guest at last night’s West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network meeting at the Southwest Precinct, so it was a chance for attendees to talk more extensively with police and each other:

Capt. Pierre Davis‘s message was the same as recent community meetings:”We’ve made a ton of arrests. (Now) we’re struggling with the judicial system,” to be sure the suspects stay behind bars. And he reiterated that whatever happens, it needs to be reported. “What hurts us the most is when things go unreported … we have to give our officers the best kind of data possible, and that’s via (incidents having been reported and getting into the system).” And to continue to dissuade car prowlers, “don’t leave your valuables in your car.” (That was also underscored by this recent info sheet distributed via the precinct – we included it in our report on last week’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting.) SPD continues to work with its data via SeaStat, a citywide meeting every other week to review trends and stats – today’s the next one. Read More

Here’s the latest news in West Seattle Crime Watch:

CAR PROWL: From Brittany in Seaview:

Our car was broken into last night, around 3:30 am we think (the car alarm woke myself and some neighbors but no one saw anything when we looked outside) we’re on 45th Ave between Graham and Raymond. Broken back window on our vehicle and a stolen chop saw. It was a quick smash and go from the looks of it. The cops let us know that this has been happening pretty frequently so I thought I would help spread the word to keep an eye out if anyone seems suspicious to call it in!

SIGN VANDALISM, AGAIN: Mark Ahlness from the Seattle Nature Alliance says this sign (shown below, pre-vandalism) has been the target of vandals for the second time in three months:

“The ‘Forest Floor’ educational sign near the north parking lot has been defaced, with the words ‘Please keep pets on leash’ deeply scratched. The sign was pulled up and left on the ground in November, but this is permanent damage,” he reports. SNA paid for the sign, which was installed a year ad a half ago with the help of Seattle Parks and Friends of Lincoln Park. FLP forest steward Sharon Baker wrote about the vandalism, with photos, here.

REPEAT-OFFENDER FOLLOWUP: Last weekend, we reported on four repeat offenders, including convicted burglar Jessica Detrick, who was wanted on a warrant for not complying with reporting requirements after three months in treatment as part of the Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative (DOSA). We then noted that police had arrested and booked her last Sunday in connection with the warrant. King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Dan Donohoe tells WSB a hearing was held Friday, and Superior Court Judge Susan Craighead ordered Detrick back to residential treatment. She’ll remain in jail until a bed opens at the treatment facility; she’s still on the register there tonight.

Thanks to everyone sharing information for Crime Watch, so your neighbors all around the peninsula will know. If something (sizable police response, etc.) is happening RIGHT NOW, best way to let us know – once you’ve called 911! – is via text or voice, 206-293-6302.