At this week’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, police said car prowls remain rampant. And we have more to report here:

INSTRUMENTS STOLEN: Maggie e-mailed that image along with her report that this happened in The Triangle:

My partner and I are musicians who were traveling through Seattle this week, visiting family, and had our car broken into and all our instruments stolen. Among the stolen gear was a rare parlor guitar, handpainted with no maker/label, from the early 1900’s. We are hoping it will surface at a pawn shop or music store somewhere so we can get it back… any help getting the word out would be so appreciated.

OFF-LEASH AREA ALERT: Two readers reported seeing/hearing evidence of multiple car prowls in recent days at the Westcrest Park Off-Leash Area, and the police-report map confirms it.

DETECTIVE AT WSBWCN NEXT WEEK: Also on the topic of car prowls/thefts, Seattle Police Detective Scotty Bach is the guest at next Tuesday’s West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network meeting, sharing expertise on prevention and deterrence. 6:30 pm (April 26th) at the Southwest Precinct, all welcome.

One more reader report:

BIKE FOUND – STOLEN? From Steve, the photo and report:

Early in the morning of April 19th, a bike appeared in the alley behind 63rd Ave SW on the North side of Admiral. It is a Raleigh M20 Aluminum frame Mountain Sport Bike (2005?) with Shimano cranks and shifters.

Steve shared additional details that the owner would know – if this is your stolen bike, let us know and we’ll connect you.

Three West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports this afternoon:

WARNING FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES: Emerald Water Anglers (WSB sponsor) proprietor Dave McCoy says two thieves hit his store on Saturday, “worked as a team, distracted our one employee as the other hid and stashed in his fanny pack some high end merchandise.” – three Hardy fly reels, two Featherweight 4/5s and a Marquis 2. The only description is 20-40 years-old, dark complexions, no surveillance photo at this point; we’ll add any additional descriptive information we get.

STOLEN SUBARU: Melinda reports a stolen car in the North Shorewood area:

I would like to report our 2005 Silver-Gray Subaru Outback, 920ZID, stolen last night from the 112th and 26th Ave SW area (a few blocks south of Westwood Village). Last seen around 11:00 pm in our driveway in front of the house. Inside the car was assorted baseball gear belonging to our son and associated with West Seattle Baseball Club and Baden baseball club.

And from Sunrise Heights, Jay reports:

One of my neighbors had a TORO brand mower stolen off the top of their van between 5:00 am and 6:00 am this morning. The van was parked on 35th in front of Trinity Church, and the mower was well-secured with straps that were cut. It’s believed that the person(s) that took it headed north on 35th, but we have no information to go on at this time.

Again, as we’ve been mentioning, the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council’s next meeting is tomorrow (Tuesday, April 19th) night, 7 pm at the Southwest Precinct (Webster/Delridge) – bring neighborhood crime concerns and questions for local police. There also will be a discussion of parking enforcement – so if you have questions/concerns about that, bring them too.

Another auto-theft reader report tonight – this one is from Andrea in Gatewood:

2007 Black Audi A3 2.0T 4 door hatchback with tan interior stolen from 3500 block Rose St and 35th Ave sometime after 11 pm (last night). WA AJU7551. Faded West Seattle Soccer sticker on back window. Car was in front of our house; neighbors heard nothing.

This theft is one of the 10 currently in view on the Seattle Police crime-report map in default view (our screengrab below is for the view that was sorted only to show this category of crime) for reports filed over the past week:

We don’t know what types of vehicles for the five incidents on which we have not received reader reports, since the map only shows the location and date/time reported, but the locations are, north to south:

*Thursday afternoon, 3200 block Alki SW
*Friday evening, 5700 block SW Winthrop
*Saturday 4/9 (reported Sunday 4/10), 3700 block California SW
*Wednesday morning, 4500 block 45th SW (white Ford van; reader report here)
*Sunday night 4/10, 5900 block 36th SW (black VW Passat; reader report here)
*Thursday night, 5900 block Beach Drive SW (gray Mercedes; reader report here)
*Wednesday afternoon, 6300 block 39th SW
*Thursday night, 3900 block SW Elmgrove (reader report here – found quickly)
*Saturday night, 3500 block SW Rose (the one reported at the start of this story)
*Wednesday afternoon, 8400 block Delridge

P.S. Reminder that the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council‘s next meeting, featuring your chance to bring up neighborhood concerns/problems with local police, is Tuesday (April 19th), 7 pm, at the Southwest Precinct (Delridge/Webster). After that part of the meeting, the spotlight topic this month will be parking enforcement.

Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports this morning:

OVERNIGHT GUNFIRE: We checked with police to find out if overnight reports of possible gunshots in the Admiral and High Point areas led to any confirmation of gunfire. According to Southwest Precinct Lt. Alan Williams, “a few casings” were found at 35th and Raymond, but “no known property damage, injuries, or verifiable witnesses to our knowledge at this time,” and “nothing else from any of the other locations where people reported hearing what sounded to them to be shots being fired.”

COAT STOLEN: A resident at 17th and Cloverdale says a coat was stolen from her car in front of her house between about 8 and 10:30 last night, a “women’s navy Barbour coat with hood and red interior in a size small … the suspect left another article of clothing on the sidewalk, presumably something he/she did not find as interesting.” She thinks that after grocery-shopping late in the day, “I had forgotten to doublecheck all car doors were locked.” Please comment, or let police know, if you happen to see a coat like this tossed aside somewhere.

Four reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch, and a followup from a car theft reported this morning:

ALKI CAR PROWL: From Amy:

When I got into my car today at 2:00 PM, I noticed it had been broken into. I don’t know if it happened on Thursday night or this morning. The car was parked on the street on the 3100 block of Alki Ave. SW.

The door by the driver’s seat was unlocked, though I am always careful to lock it. No visible damage was done and nothing was taken (I don’t keep any valuables in the car), but it was clear the car had been searched (the trunk was popped open, the glove compartment and ashtray were open).

SUNRISE HEIGHTS CAR PROWL: From Morgan:

Unfortunately sometime last night/ this morning our neighbors’ SUV had its window smashed in. Nothing was in the car, so nothing was taken, but it was rifled through. This happened on 34th Ave SW between Webster and Holden. The police have been notified.

HIT-RUNS: A resident of SW Findlay between California and Fauntleroy says their car suffered hit-run damage around 5:30 am and while they don’t have enough evidence to put out a call for a certain type of car, theirs is “light gold/tan” and should have some front-passenger-side damage. They also wish the many drivers who use the street as a cut-through would please slow down.

FOLLOWUP – CAR FOUND: Shortly after we published a Crime Watch report this morning about two stolen cars, we heard from a neighbor who had spotted one of them. Rebecca‘s red Subaru wagon turned up just blocks away from where it had been stolen in Gatewood. She said it was “a mess inside,” but drivable, and shared these words of thanks:

Thank-you, neighbor Bonnie, for reading the blog and reporting back. I feel lucky to live in a community like West Seattle. Thanks to Officer Houston (sp), who came knocking around 3 hours of initial report (I did not even think they would send an officer out for a car theft). And a big shout out to the West Seattle Blog, which serves such a critical role as a conduit of information and a forum for the West Seattle Community. You are the best!

As far as we know, the gray Mercedes also reported stolen this morning hasn’t been found yet.

9:17 AM: The morning began with two stolen-car reader reports. First, from Rebecca in Gatewood:

I just wanted to alert the neighborhood that our car was stolen (parked on the street in front of our house) during the late night/early morning of April 14-15th, between 10 pm-6 am. It is a 1995 red Subaru wagon with a bumper sticker ‘Art Saves Lives’. Lots of nicer, newer vehicles parked on the street, but ours was most likely easy to break into. If you see it, please contact the police. Another reminder to be on alert. Report any suspicious activity.

And from Pamela:

Sometime early this morning, our 2015 dark gray Mercedes SUV was stolen from our driveway on Beach Drive. 2 bikes were left at the top of our driveway, I assume from the thieves.

We’re checking back with both to get the license-plate numbers – although, as with the vehicle in this case last week, thieves can and do swap plates. Please call 911 if you see either of these stolen cars or a vehicle you suspect was stolen and dumped – they are often just used as transportation between crime scenes rather than as something to strip or sell for monetary value.

9:46 AM: Two updates – first, we’ve been alerted that Rebecca’s car has been spotted, not far from where it was taken. The finder has called police, and we’ve e-mailed Rebecca. Second, we have the plate and a little more description for Pamela’s stolen vehicle: 2015 Mercedes ML350, license plate AZE7438.

(WSB photo from Tuesday)

Back on Tuesday, we brought you first word of a Bellevue Police raid at a house in Highland Park. BPD didn’t have a lot to say that day, but now they do:

Bellevue police Tuesday arrested five people suspected of being part of a large identity theft ring that allegedly operated out of a residence in West Seattle. Investigators with the department’s Special Enforcement Team were conducting surveillance on a residence in the 9400 block of Ninth Avenue SW in West Seattle when they saw two people leave the residence and get into a stolen car.

After obtaining a search warrant for the residence and vehicle, they arrested five people in the residence, including the two who had gotten into the stolen car earlier. They arrested the suspects, two women and three men, on suspicion of crimes including possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of stolen property and identity theft.

During the search of the residence, police found credit cards, Washington drivers licenses and personal and financial documents of dozens of people. They also found and seized equipment used to make fraudulent identifications and financial documents.

In the stolen vehicle they found multiple crowbars, suspected stolen credit cards, gloves, screwdrivers and a brass knuckle-shaped stun gun.

(Bellevue Police photo)
Multiple shaved keys and narcotics were recovered inside a small backpack that officers had observed one of the suspects place inside the vehicle. A stolen credit card was also recovered from the center console. Investigators were able to link the stolen vehicle and one of the suspects to an April 7 vehicle prowl in Bellevue.

Investigators are contacting victims, including multiple Bellevue residents, and the investigation is being forwarded to the King County Prosecutor’s Office for consideration of charges.

We’ll keep an eye on the case to see if any local crimes turn out to be part of it.

Be on the lookout for Kit‘s van:

My 2003 white Ford E250 van was stolen between midnight Wednesday and 3pm Wednesday (the 13th) from the covered parking at 4540 45th Ave SW, The Westerly Apartments. The parking area actually faces Glenn Way. It has some body damage on the passenger side, and it has a bumper sticker on the back that says “Film is Truth.”

I have reported it to the police.

Getting followup information on criminal cases often takes a while. This is one example. But now we know a lot more about the suspect arrested on Beach Drive last Wednesday, including where the case stands and how the incident began.

38-year-old Joshua C. Utecht is the man police arrested on Wednesday afternoon, found hiding under a deck/porch, allegedly after crashing a stolen Honda CR-V (described in court documents as having “stolen, swapped plates”) on Atlas Drive and bolting downslope to where he was found with the help of a K-9 team.

Utecht has since been charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and reckless driving. He also is being held on a warrant for escaping state Department of Corrections supervision. Court documents say he has been under DOC supervision for eight years, during which time he was found guilty of two robberies and a burglary. He had been under supervision since getting out of prison less than two years ago. And he is a fugitive from Louisiana.

The probable-cause document and police report say this all started with a call to police when a man and woman were seen acting suspiciously earlier Wednesday afternoon in the 6700 block of SW Holly and near 48th and Eddy. An officer arriving in the area spotted a suspicious vehicle in an alley between 47th and 48th, Juneau and Raymond. The officer checked its license-plate number and discovered the plate had been reported stolen. He spotted the woman who had gotten out of the car and yelled at her to get back into it; she just kept walking. Meantime, the car took off, headed northbound “at a high rate of speed” and went down Juneau to where it turns into Atlas, crashing into a garage, car, and pole in the 5900 block. Passengers pointed police to where they said a man had fled the car and headed downslope toward Beach Drive, dropping a folding knife – locked in the open position – as he ran.

Meantime, police discovered the stolen plate – missing since early March – didn’t match the car, whose ID number revealed it to have been stolen in January. After Utecht was found hiding on Beach Drive, he told a sergeant that the car was “borrowed.” He also said the woman who he had left behind in Seaview wasn’t involved in anything bad, while describing himself with an unflattering expletive. His last known address, as listed on the police report, was in the Alki area. He’s being held without bail on the escape charge, while bail for the new charges was set at $30,000. (We also looked up the case related to the escape charge. The “escape” – which, when related to supervision, is more like “not reporting in” – isn’t described, but the case itself traced back to November 2009, with Utecht found in White Center in a car stolen from Beacon Hill, then eluding a King County Sheriff’s Deputy in a high-speed chase, which ended with the car abandoned in Seola Beach and Utecht found by the Guardian One helicopter after running through a ravine and hiding in a shed.)

Four reader reports in tonight’s West Seattle Crime Watch update:

BURGLARY: From Dani in High Point: “My husband and I were burglarized on Saturday, April 9th around 8 AM, on Raymond & Lanham Place. I left with my dog and locked the door behind me. My husband was home. I was gone for roughly a half hour, and came home to a busted door (as though someone used a pry-bar or just kicked it in). Two wallets, my purse and cell phone were noticeably taken. A neighbor returned the purse and wallet (no contents missing but some sparse change), which were found in the High Point Commons Park. My husband then followed the trail of evidence and picked up several receipts from his wallet. He went up towards 30th & Graham St., and noticed his wallet had been tossed over someone’s fence. A minimal amount of cash was taken, but everything else in place but his ID. We are looking for ANYTHING that will jog memories.”

ATTEMPTED BREAK-IN: From Melissa: “Just wanted to let the blog know that we caught a man wearing a backpack and no shirt or pants attempting to break into our shed in the North Admiral area at 830 pm. After being unsuccessful he moved onto our neighbors’ shed. He was caught by police after a neighborhood search near the intersection of the West Seattle Bridge and Admiral.”

CAR PROWL/VANDALISM: Meredith says this happened at 19th and Austin: “Someone smashed in my rear car window with a brick last night between 3:30 am and 7 am. Nothing was taken. My car was parked just off the street in my driveway.”

PLAYGROUND VANDALISM: Over the weekend at Ercolini Park, someone defaced a fence with obscenities and play equipment with a vulgar sketch. Paul, who e-mailed us about it, reported it to police; we didn’t get to check with Parks today on whether it’s been painted over/removed yet but will tomorrow.

Out of the WSB inbox this morning, from Jen:

We just reported our car stolen. It was stolen from our driveway sometime between 10pm and 5am this morning. It was a 2012 black VW Passat TDI; WA license plate AWL8083. We live on 36th and Juneau [map]. Please let us know if you see it!

Don’t even think about leaving your purse/wallet or another personal item in your cart while you grocery-shop, warns a reader who just sent this report: They made a brief visit to Trader Joe’s on Saturday when “a woman … started engaging with me to distract me. In minutes my wallet which is essentially my purse was gone. In about 10 minutes this group of people were making purchases at the Target in Westwood Village for hundreds and hundreds of dollars on all 4 of my cards. There was definitely a group of people involved in this scam. The cops were called to Trader Joe’s and immediately called a squad to Westwood Village. They were able to identify two suspects based on the time stamp of the transactions. We never caught this person but this person has all my information from where I live to the business I own. I wanted to let you know so people can become aware since these people have a plan, and (I) don’t want it to happen to anyone else.”

Three West Seattle Crime Watch notes:

CAR BREAK-IN: The victim of a car prowl in the Admiral Safeway lot around 4 pm yesterday called from her home phone to report this – she couldn’t e-mail because she would usually do that on her phone, and it was among the items stolen, along with a burgundy-colored Coach purse, “the large satchel type,” with a large gold emblem. It was “partly covered” on the passenger seat, and the thief broke out the passenger-side window to get it.

WHEELS/TIRES TAKEN: Tahira says her sister was visiting overnight Thursday/Friday when they woke up to find her car on blocks, wheels and tires taken:

It happened in Gatewood, next to Trinity Church at 35th/Austin.

BURGLARY FOLLOWUP: If you didn’t see this in comments yesterday – the surveillance image of the burglar who broke into Meeples Games (WSB sponsor) early Thursday has led to an ID, according to Laura Schneider from Meeples. No word of an arrest or stolen-property recovery yet, but knowing who it is was the first step, and she thanks everyone for both tips and for the expression of support.

P.S. Next crime-prevention-focused community meeting is the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council on April 19th, 7 pm, at the Southwest Precinct (2300 SW Webster).

4:34 PM: That video just released by Seattle Police, 14 hours after the early-morning Highland Park Way crash that killed two people – including the driver of the stolen vehicle an officer was pursuing – shows the two minutes leading up to and including the crash.

Also new, via SPD Blotter, police say the driver of that car, a Honda taken at gunpoint in Beacon Hill about three hours earlier, was a 16-year-old boy. The update says that while a handgun was found in that car, detectives “do not yet know what role the 16-year-old played in this morning’s carjacking,” which happened on Beacon Hill.

Along with the video we have embedded above, SPD’s update also includes an audio clip from radio communication going back to the officer who first spotted the stolen vehicle near the Southwest Precinct.

The King County Medical Examiner did not release the teenager’s identity today but did identify the 21-year-old man killed in the westbound car he hit, a 1996 Honda Acura Integra, as Devin Francis. A dog found in the Acura was seriously hurt and rushed to an emergency vet but also died.

The SPD Blotter update quotes Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole as saying, “The collision that took the lives of two people this morning is devastating to the families of the deceased and the officers involved. My thoughts and prayers are with them all. SPD is conducting a thorough investigation around the circumstances that led to this event.”

SPD’s pursuit policy is online here.

ADDED FRIDAY MORNING: Kathleen sent this photo overnight showing a roadside memorial:

ADDED 3:47 PM FRIDAY: The Medical Examiner has identified the 16-year-old who was killed as Kenneth Dion Williams, Jr.

Another business burglary overnight … this time at Meeples Games (WSB sponsor). Co-proprietor Laura Schneider shares the photo above from their surveillance camera, and a partial list of what the burglar stole:

This guy has been here before and knew exactly what he was doing so he may be identifiable by a reader. He’s small – a little over 5’ tall. He climbed around to the balcony and broke in the back.

Stolen:

Booster packs for Magic including OGW, BFZ, Origins, DTK, FRF, and KTK. Also YuGiOh! packs of Clash of Rebellions, Dimensions of Chaos, Breaker of Shadows and Dragons of Legend.

All of our FNM and Buy a Box promo cards, all of our red, green, black and white singles. He left the blue and the lands. A box of about 400 full art lands. Various other singles we are working to name, but here are a few:

A judge foil Dark Confidant
2 full art game day promo Languish
the WotC holiday promo Goblin Sleighride
foil Blightsteel Collasus
2 expedition Eye of Ugin
8 Eye of Ugin
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 GP Goblin Guides

various other cards we are working to identify

If you recognize the burglar and/or have any other information, please contact police. The incident number is 16000119105.

It’s the type of theft that thieves hope you won’t notice – taking one or both of your license plates. They might even leave a replacement behind. We heard from a plate-theft victim on Wednesday night:

We had the rear license plate of one of our cars stolen sometime (Tuesday) night. We have reported it to the police. L.P. is AZL3335. We are on 48th between Andover and Dakota. … The sad part is we had just, literally, put the plates on the car last night!

We had some interesting info on this crime category in this late-2014 Crime Watch report.

Two bicycles in this Crime Watch report:

STOLEN: That’s Tony‘s bicycle, stolen Sunday night from “inside my apartment building” at California/Mills [map] – Tony is a relatively recent arrival to the area, so the theft is an unpleasant “welcome.” A police report is filed. If you’ve seen it, please contact SPD, and let us know too.

FOUND: In case you hadn’t seen this posted in the WSB Forums, a black mountain bike turned up at 37th and Trenton [map]. Almost always, that means “stolen and dumped.” We already checked – not Tony’s bike. This one is Specialized brand, for starters.