West Seattle, Washington
30 Saturday
Seen this stolen car? It was stolen around 4 am today in Highland Park, from 12th SW/SW Holden: “All green, bright green wheels on driver’s side, child’s car seat, iPhone, children’s clothes inside.” Plate number is AIC0067. Call 911 if you see it.
Three West Seattle Crime Watch notes tonight:
MAIL THEFT: Surveillance video caught someone stealing mail on Beach Drive near Lowman Beach around noon Friday:
The victim is offering a thousand-dollar reward if a tip leads to identification. You can refer to police incident #16000087115.
HIT-RUN: Emily reports her vehicle was hit “on Fauntleroy coming off the ferry (Friday). If you see a maroon Mercedes SUV missing its front emblem, with license plate AYJ4***, please call 911 and report to SPD, attn: Officer Johns!”
STOLEN-BIKE UPDATE: We reported Friday on Kim‘s stolen bike. Now, an update: “The boneheads couldn’t ride it and crashed. Found by neighbors where it was ditched. Back home in locked space.”
P.S. Reminder that the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meets Tuesday (March 15th), 7 pm at Southwest Precinct (2300 SW Webster) – bring your crime/safety concerns directly to local police, as part of the meeting.
Three incidents in West Seattle Crime Watch so far today:
BUSINESS BREAK-IN: Pharmaca in The Junction opened late today because of a burglary. Damage was visible to the shop’s door on the SW Alaska side of the drugstore the first time we went by at mid-morning after a tip; we went by again, and someone fixing the door said the shop would open as soon as the repairs are done. No other details about the burglary yet.
CAR PROWL: Joe in Arbor Heights reports his car was gone through overnight in the 9800 block of 32nd SW. Charging cables were taken.
BICYCLE STOLEN: Kim is asking that you be on the lookout for this bicycle stolen from a backyard patio around 9 pm last night in the 8400 block of 8th SW: “Voodoo titanium cyclocross bike. Serial number b115420.” If you have any info, in addition to calling police, you can contact Kim at trendamissoula@msn.com
We hope crime doesn’t happen to you. If it does, once you’ve reported it (911 if it’s in-progress or just happened), let us know so we can get the word out via Crime Watch – editor@westseattleblog.com or 206-293-6302 text or voice – thank you.
Car prowls remain our area’s biggest crime problem – we hear that every time someone from SPD speaks at a community meeting, and we see it in the reader reports we receive and publish. So tonight, the Southwest Precinct is sharing a “crime prevention bulletin” one-sheet with advice on preventing/deterring/reporting car prowls. Click the image above, or go here, for the full-size PDF version; use the Share This button below to e-mail or otherwise circulate it.
P.S. Questions/concerns about crime in your neighborhood? Bring them to the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting at the precinct (2300 SW Webster) next Tuesday, 7 pm.
Two followups and two new reports in West Seattle Crime Watch today:
GUNFIRE FOLLOWUP: We’ve finally obtained the report narrative from Sunday night’s gunfire incident at 11th SW and SW Barton. It says the original call came from the family whose home was hit by a single gunshot; one resident was in the bathroom when she heard what she thought was a light bulb popping, until she found and picked up what turned out to be a .22-caliber bullet. It had gone through the western side of the house, into the wall of what the report describes as “the nursery,” and then ricocheted off the bathroom door before landing on the bathroom floor. Police believe it was fired from 12th SW but none of the neighbors with whom they spoke saw or heard anything. No one was hurt, but judging by the description, it was a close call.
SHOOTING FOLLOWUP: On February 28th, we reported on the investigation of a shooting whose victim was “dropped off” at a hospital but had ties to an address in the 6500 block of 18th SW on Puget Ridge. A commenter today pointed out this seattlepi.com story about charges filed in the case. We’ve subsequently pulled up the court documents. The suspect, 29-year-old Corey X. Brown, is in the King County Jail, in lieu of a quarter-million dollars, charged with first-degree domestic-violence assault and unlawful gun possession. Court documents say the victim is his pregnant 37-year-old ex-girlfriend, shot in the leg by Brown in front of witnesses outside a house in the area mentioned above, described as her family’s home, then driven to a hospital by her current boyfriend. Brown, whose record includes assault, robbery, and car-prowl convictions, was in jail on an unrelated warrant when the new charges were filed.
And two reader reports:
CAR BROKEN INTO, DOG BED TAKEN: From DHS:
Our Nissan Xterra was broken into last night in High Point at 29th and SW Raymond. The window was smashed out. Small items and personal belongings were stolen including our dog’s bed!!!
Not sure what kind of lowlife steals a dog bed but I’m very disappointed. Attached is a picture of the dog bed. It’s a hammock style to safely transport your dog in the back seat. It’s bright red and had a red stuff sack, also stolen.
My wife’s Mazda was broken into two weeks ago in the same fashion. After speaking to some of our neighbors this morning, at least 6 other cars have had windows smashed out and personal belongings stolen in the past few weeks.
CAR PROWLER WITH STROLLER: From Jim: “At 12:30 am (Wednesday), our vehicle was broken into using a filed-down ford key. According to the police officer who showed up, this is becoming commonplace and it does not trip the car alarm. Few items were taken. This took place on the 9200 block on 11th SW.” Per a surveillance camera, he added, “Looks like a male with backpack and a dog – Rottweiler mixed – pushing a baby stroller.”
P.S. Next West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting is Tuesday (March 15th), 7 pm @ the precinct (2300 SW Webster).
Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes:
TRUCK BREAK-IN: Early Monday morning, Nancy reports discovering that her husband’s truck had been broken into. “They took about $2500 in tools, mostly Makita items.” This happened in Arbor Heights.
LIKELY LOOT: A Puget Ridge resident wonders if any of this looks familiar, “various socket gears and an ammo (?) box” that appeared Sunday morning:
The tipster suspects it was dumped loot.
SAFETY MEETINGS: Reminders of three – Tuesday night, the Admiral Neighborhood Association hosts a Community Police Team officer, 7 pm at The Sanctuary at Admiral (42nd/Lander); Wednesday night, it’s the student-safety meeting for the Chief Sealth International High School and Denny International Middle School communities at Sealth (2600 SW Thistle); March 15th, it’s the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council, 7 pm at the SW Precinct (2300 SW Webster).
Just back from checking out a tip (thank you!) about a major police response at 11th SW and SW Barton, where officers tell us they are investigating another case of gunfire. A bullet fired from somewhere outside a house (not the one in the photo) went through a wall, reportedly into a bedroom. No one was hit or hurt. That’s all they could tell us so far; we’ll look for the report tomorrow to see what else they find out.
Three West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports to share:
MAILBOX PROWLER: Carolyn says the video above is from 8:48 last night, at 8th SW and Elmgrove, with a would-be mail thief driving up, checking out the boxes, and moving on.
EARLY-MORNING DOORKNOCKER: From D:
This morning at 6 am we were awakened by knocking on our front door. My husband answered and a woman asked if he had jumper cables. She didn’t appear to have a vehicle, so he declined. She asked again, and wanted him to follow her outside, as if trying to lure him away from our house. Later, I was reading the WSB and saw the video John posted about a grocery thief stealing right off his porch. I showed it to my husband and he identified the woman as the same one who came knocking. We are in Highland Park at 18th/Trenton. Our home was burglarized one month ago, during the day while I was picking my daughter up from preschool. Also, in the last 10 days our car has been broken into twice and our tire slashed. Now thieves are knocking on our door before dawn?
BICYCLE FOUND: From Aaron Goss of Aaron’s Bicycle Repair, the photo and report:
One of our customers sent us this picture of bike found in the Gatewood neighborhood. He found it abandoned in his yard.
It is a bike we serviced because it has our service sticker on it. But we cannot find a matching record in our database. The customer that found the bike is out of town, but if anyone is missing the bike, I will put them in touch with the finder.
FYI, We offer a service at our shop now where, for $5 we take a picture of your bike and record the serial number on our server. We have recovered several bikes because of it! About 50% of our customers take us up on it. Those that decline, just mentioning it reminds them to do it themselves. Without a matching serial number, we cannot legally hold a suspicious bike.
Seattle Police urge everyone to keep a record of the serial numbers for valuables – or, when you can, inscribe them with identifying information; if your valuables are stolen, they have to have some way to be able to match them back to you.
Two reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch. First, from Alex:
Just wanted to let the blog know that there was an attempted home burglary at 48th and Graham this afternoon around 12:30. The suspects were 3 Caucasian men who were scared away before the police showed up. … They were seen on my parents’ deck by our neighbors, trying to open windows and our deck door.
And Melissa reports a “suspicious trespasser”:
We wanted to give a heads up to anyone in the area of Spokane/Manning/Admiral of a man in his late 20s/early 30s with chin-length hair, a beanie, jeans, and a dark hoodie, carrying a plastic bag, who at 5 am this morning trespassed onto our property and attempted to look in our garage and in our windows and then came to our front door but was deterred by our motion detector light. Not sure if he was looking to enter or for something easy to steal. We reported the incident to the police along with a photo of the man but wanted the neighborhood to be on the lookout as well.
Once you’ve called police, share the alert here … editor@westseattleblog.com, or 206-293-6302 (text or voice) if it’s urgent.
From the WSB inbox, an alert from Kevin south of The Junction tonight:
Sometime between 4:00 pm and 5:30 pm today someone tried to break into our house on the 5200 block of 42nd SW [map]. Two neighbors were outside most of the afternoon but didn’t see anything. The people did not get in, apparently outsmarted by 90-year-old locks.
That involved a deadbolt key the burglar(s) couldn’t grasp even after breaking glass, and another door where they “only managed to bend the handle awkwardly.”
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports this morning, starting with another stolen car to watch for:
STOLEN SILVER SUBARU: From Rebecca: “My car was stolen from in front of our house last night. 3700 block of 34th Ave SW near Manning. It was a silver Subaru Outback. We reported it to the police, incident number 16-75829. I don’t know the license plate, it had a car seat inside and a STEM sticker on the back window.” SPD asks that you call 911 if you see this (or any other) stolen car – the thief could still be in the area, and auto thefts aren’t always standalone crimes (they might be used as transportation between burglaries, for example).
HIT AND RUN: If you’ve seen a blue Volvo with a missing passenger side rear-view mirror cover, Laura hopes you’ll report it – here’s why:
I would like to report a hit and run on the west side of the 5400 block of 48th Ave SW (traveling south). In the evening we discovered that our van had been side swiped on Tuesday 3/1. After notifying our neighbors of the incident, two of them mentioned a blue car parked in front of ours around 9:45 am. We later discovered a rear view mirror cover from a blue Volvo in front of our car.
Here’s a photo of the damage done to Laura’s car.
P.S. Set your calendar reminder early – this month’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, including your chance to bring issues and questions to local police face-to-face outside an emergency situation, will be at the precinct (2300 SW Webster) at 7 pm Tuesday, March 15th.
In Crime Watch tonight – a stolen car to watch for. It belongs to Stacy‘s neighbor; Stacy says it was taken in the 9400 block of 18th SW [map] early Tuesday, just after midnight, a 1991 silver two-door Honda Accord with Washington plates AMF1330. If you see it, call 911 – the case # is 16-073069.
(WSB photo, taken this morning; remaining top half of vandal’s marking has been blurred – bottom half was painted over)
12 days after we first reported on this vandalized mural in The Junction, its future remains unsettled. Paint has been used to cover the lower half of the big black-paint markings with which it was defaced – the part that was not on the mural itself. But while West Seattle Junction Association director Susan Melrose was hopeful at first that a graffiti-paintout firm would be able to handle the rest, that turned out not to be the case. We asked her about it at today’s Junction Historical Survey event; she tells WSB she has called in a muralist to evaluate it. After taking a first look this past weekend, she says, the muralist concurred that it’s major damage without an easy solution – the mural already was too faded, and the vandal’s paint just soaked right in. They’re still talking to see what can be done, but in case you’re wondering why the tag is still partly visible – that’s why.
BACKSTORY: The mural is “The First Duwamish Bridge” by Robert Dafford, and is on the north side of 4740 44th SW, facing The Junction’s southernmost 3-free-hours parking lot. It dates back a quarter-century now, along with nine others noted here.
Thieves and scammers to tell you about tonight in West Seattle Crime Watch:
GROCERY THIEF ON VIDEO: John in High Point, near Lanham and Graham, sent this video:
He says that person took two items off his porch including a bag of groceries that had been delivered, and appeared to join an accomplice on the sidewalk, pushing a shopping cart away. If you have any leads on the thief’s identity, HP’s Community Police Team Officer Kevin McDaniel is on the case; his contact info is here.
SIGN THIEVES/VANDALS: Jane in Delridge shares the photo and report:
Well, this is pretty sad. One would think that in a racially diverse neighborhood like Delridge, this wouldn’t occur. But, I put up a “Black Lives Matter” sign in my front yard, and after about a week, my neighbor found it in his trash. It made him mad, so I put up another one and we got him one too. Every couple of days, one or the other would get knocked over or stolen and we’d just replace it. A third neighbor also got into the act so the signs were on three houses in a row. Finally, after having about six or seven signs stolen, I put up the signs you see in the photo. Two days up and so far, so good. I haven’t been home today — the sign may have gotten blown away in the wind. But I have a bunch more. It’s hard to think of who might have done this, but I hope at some point he or she finds some peace in their own life.
WALLET THIEF: Lindsey wants to remind you to “watch your pockets.” She says a pickpocket stole her man’s wallet and keys while they were at a Junction bar recently, and he apparently wasn’t the only one targeted.
PHONE SCAM: David at Moondrop Coffee e-mailed today to say they’d been targeted by the relentless “City Light” scammers – and wanted to remind their fellow businesspeople, in particular, to be vigilant. We’ve reported many times on these scammers – who call and insist a bill is overdue and that shutoff is imminent unless money is provided. As the utility reiterates here, they don’t work that way.
As reported here on Saturday, Alki Elementary‘s principal sent a letter home to families (read it in our previous report here) about a suspected luring attempt. We’ve obtained the full report narrative from Seattle Police this afternoon, with more details than the letter had included:
[On February 26Lh, 2016 at 1500 hours, was picked up by his mother from AIki Elementary School; as school weather was clear but overcast they decided to walk home a short dístance away. (The child) was walking slower than his mom and sister as their distance extended a block ahead. (The child) explained that he was walking N/B on 59th Ave SW approaching SW Spokane Street when he stopped for a vehicle to drive by. As the vehicle slowly drove past, the passenger inside this vehicle looked at him and asked, “Do you want to get in?” (The child) stated he replied, “no thanks.” The vehicle drove off and made a turn and drove off in an unknown direction.
(He) describes the vehicle as a red pick-up truck with lifted suspension and a canopy. He stated two subjects were on board. The male passenger is described as a black male 18-25 with short hair and medium complexion. He wore a goatee and a dark brown jacket. He was smoking a cigarette during the encounter.
I asked (the boy) if he was fearful from the encounter. He stated,”No.”He really didn’t think too much of it. He reported the incident to his mom when he arrived home. (She) stated this incident caused her alarm and wanted to report the incident to law enforcement.
(WSB photo)
Police were in the 6500 block of 18th SW on Puget Ridge earlier tonight to investigate a shooting. It wasn’t the standard massive fire/police response because the shooting had happened sometime earlier and the victim was no longer at the house. We haven’t been able to obtain details yet, but emergency-radio discussions indicated they were following up on the case of a woman who was dropped off at Harborview Medical Center around 5:30 pm, reported to be suffering from a gunshot wound to the leg, and she has some association with the house where police was following up. We’ll update with anything more we find out, even if it’s not until tomorrow.
Overall, it’s been a busy night for police – two other sizable responses we’ve been asked about include one on 35th and Cloverdale, where police were investigating a report of someone screaming, and found a person having a mental-health crisis, and an investigation at a house near Delridge and 17th, with a report of items being carried out of what was described as a vacant house.
Hey, package thieves! If you’re reading this … we have messages from two recent targets. First, JL:
I had an USPS package stolen from our stoop Friday afternoon. We are near 34th Ave SW and SW Andover [map]. It was delivered Friday at 3 pm while we were still at work. I didn’t report it until now because I thought there was a possibility that the package was delivered to the wrong address, as the USPS has been having this growing problem with us and our neighbors the past few weeks. But it’s not looking like that’s the case.
The contents weren’t anything very valuable, just a record from a now-defunct local band. If anything, I’m annoyed that it was a record that took me a little while to find, and even more annoyed that we have someone in the neighborhood whose morals are low enough to steal anonymous packages.
To the thief, if you are reading this: Do me a solid and go sell the record to Easy Street Records. They’ll give you about $5 for it. Then they can turn around and sell it to me for $10. I’m happy to pay it, and you’ll be helping stimulate our local economy and support a West Seattle business. It’s a win-win! You get $5 and I get my record. Come on, buddy.
Just as we were about to publish JL’s report, this one came in, from Rusty:
Wednesday afternoon I had 3 packages delivered to my house (close to 41st & SW Rose St.), each containing cast-iron weights, and each weighing approximately 80 lbs. The mailman parked one house away, delivered the packages, then continued to the adjacent block on foot. When he returned to his vehicle, he noticed that someone had attempted to steal one of the boxes, but only made it 1/2 block before giving up and dropping it on the sidewalk (very close to his truck) and partially ripped open. The other 2 boxes were strewn about close to my door, as if they had tried to move each one.
The mailman left a mail theft notice on my door and I figured out that I was missing one box, so on Saturday I went to the post office and was able to retrieve the missing box. I would like to sincerely thank the conscientious mail carrier for being pro-active, and also let the loser who tried to steal my mail know that they might want to get a set of their own, as they are currently too weak and soft to steal them from others.
Got a message for a criminal? Or even just a basic “here’s what happened” report? Send Crime Watch info to us at editor@westseattleblog.com – after you have reported to police, of course. Thanks!
Four West Seattle Crime Watch reports this afternoon:
MORGAN JUNCTION SEARCH: Not a lot of details on this but it’s happening right now – the AT&T Wireless store at California/Fauntleroy/Morgan reported an iPad was stolen by three “young male” suspects. So if you’re seeing police in the area, that’s what they’re responding to.
LURING ATTEMPT REPORTED: Thanks to the Alki Elementary parent shares this letter that families received last night from principal Shannon Hobbs-Beckley:
Dear Alki Community,
I want to share with you information about an incident in our neighborhood today. This evening, we received information regarding a male stranger in a red truck near Alki Elementary School at the end of the school day. As a student walked by the vehicle, the student was asked if he wanted a cigarette and a ride in his vehicle. The student refused and the driver left. The student immediately reported it to his parents. They notified staff and Seattle Police.
The student did everything right, immediately getting away from the stranger, reporting the incident and giving a specific suspect and vehicle description to SPD. They will continue to investigate.
The safety of our students is a top priority for Seattle Public Schools. You can help your children stay safe by talking to them about personal safety. As a reminder, please talk to your child(ren) about walking in pairs or groups and being aware of their surroundings at all times, as well as not talking to strangers or getting into their vehicles. Having these conversations, especially with younger children, can be difficult. We encourage you to be sensitive to your child. This link to the Seattle Police website offers some valuable information which may help you with your discussions.
We’ll look for the police report on that Monday – the only incident logged on Tweets by Beat that might correspond is a “suspicious person” call from 59th/Spokane last night.
BURGLARY THIS MORNING: A house at 16th and Cambridge was broken into this morning, according to a relative of the victims, who weren’t home at the time. The relative says an alarm was set off and police got there fast, but the burglar made off with a laptop.
CAR PROWL LAST NIGHT: Around 7 pm Friday along 19th on Pigeon Point, a smash-and-grab car prowl happened, with a purse and iPhone stolen. The victim’s friend says they tracked the phone to a gas station on Delridge; they say the suspect (whom they describe as “a black man in his 40s, stocky build, 5’9”) was there trying to use a stolen credit card, in a gold 2005 Elantra, license plate starting with ANW, which police later told them was stolen. As of our last check, they hadn’t heard whether the car and suspect had yet been found.
In West Seattle Crime Watch today – Amber at Freshy’s in The Admiral District has a heads-up for fellow businesspeople:
I had an attempted break-in last night (luckily they failed), and I just wanted to get the word out and warn others. I know there has been a lot of this going on, and businesses are most likely already prepared, but just a reminder to make sure no one leaves cash in their register, etc., and that this happened right in front on California. They obviously tried pretty hard, and my security camera showed that they went to great lengths, so just to reiterate their boldness.
We asked – sorry, no images of the actual burglar(s). Amber did get video of a burglar several years back that she says helped convict him – so yes, cameras can make a difference.
Just this morning, we were talking about illegal dumping. Since then, two cases to report:
RV DEBRIS: The RV in that photo, which Al says had been parked for weeks in the SW Marginal Place cul-de-sac under the West Seattle Bridge, is gone this afternoon. Al took the photo above last night, after noticing the sudden profusion of junk strewn outside it. He said it had been tagged and at one point even booted, though that, he said, was gone by last night. We went over for a look an hour and a half ago and discovered the RV was gone – but not the junk:
(WSB photo)
We have no idea whether the RV was towed, or moved by its owner. We can tell you the debris includes syringes and broken glass.
(WSB photo)
As our photo shows, the junk is nominally surrounded by a square of “POLICE LINE, DO NOT CROSS” tape, but it’s in the street, on the sidewalk, and blocking the end of a public stairway down from SW Charlestown on Pigeon Point, so we started making calls to find out what will be done to clean it up – it’s a health hazard at the very least. As noted in this morning’s (unrelated) story, Seattle Public Utilities is the city’s lead agency on illegal dumping. So our contact there is checking around to find out if this is on their radar. In the meantime, you’ll want to avoid the area – which is right along the bike path to and from the low bridge, among other things.
FRIDAY MORNING UPDATE: SPU told us this was scheduled for cleanup today – so we went by around 11:30 and found it was gone. Separate update to come.
(back to original Thursday story) Also this afternoon:
ILLEGAL DUMPING IN ARBOR HEIGHTS: Also this afternoon, Jeff shared the photo and report:
On Tuesday evening this week, this load of construction debris was illegally dumped in our alley in Arbor Heights. It is blocking our alley now and will need to be removed. I called the city’s illegal dumping line and reported this issue. This alley lies between the following streets: SW 102nd St, SW 104th St, 37th Pl SW, and 37th Av SW. It’s interesting how the people who did this used the utility pole to anchor the debris load while they drove off.
Jeff told us a short time ago that since he sent that note and photo earlier this afternoon, a city crew has shown up to clean it up, he said. But that still doesn’t answer the question of who did it.
PACKAGE, LAWN ORNAMENTS STOLEN: Steph says:
Seems like we had a busy prowler on our street (40th Ave SW) yesterday as a package was stolen from our front porch (UPS said it was delivered around 10 am when we were at work) and my mother-in-law 4 houses down the street had two pricey lawn ornaments (a glass orb with stand and a glass birdbath) stolen from their yard overnight. My in-laws reported their issue to the police; we reported our stolen package to Nordstrom (where it came from). Also, if anyone sees a glass orb and its stand, we’d love it back – it’s got such huge sentimental value attached to it.
As we urged Steph, please also report package/mail theft to police, even if only via the online form – otherwise official records won’t show an accurate picture of what’s happening.
PROWLER: Karleen shared this alert from North Delridge:
4700 Block 22nd /23rd SW – At 7:15 a.m. we heard a car alarm in our neighborhood at 7:30 a.m. Someone was in our back yard! We have locks on all of our gates. The dogs were in bed with me so no one barked! but my mom is visiting and she saw the person! My mom said he/she appeared to be a female or male Native American/Hispanic/Black mix 5’4′ 135 pounds athletic build wearing a military gray cap with hair tucked up under it. A gray tweed style coat. By the time I reacted, they were gone. Called the cops, traced the tracks and they were already in persuit of a car prowler, could be related. Whoever it is is brazen and casing houses as well; they went through my neighbor’s tool shed and our donation boxes in front of my car. Let this be a good reason I am at home sick today. If my puppies would have been outside, who knows what would have happened. I hope they get caught!
(File photo)
Illegal dumping is a big problem – our check of WSB archives underscores that, turning up a pile of reports. Just how big? District 1 City Councilmember Lisa Herbold has stats in her latest e-mail update, sent this morning – and reveals that Seattle Public Utilities has a new approach for handling the problem:
Since 2014, the number of illegal dumping service requests to SPU has jumped from about 5,000 to an astonishing 11,500 in 2015. As a result, unfortunately, the average response time went from 21 days to 28 days. To address this SPU decided they needed to find a way to both 1. Reduce the current service request backlog and 2. Improve future response times.
In order to do that, last week SPU assigned temporary staff to consolidate the backlog of service requests. As of February 18th they had 100% of the backlogged requests reviewed and found that approximately 25% were duplicate requests. This clearly demonstrated a need to address the issue of illegal dumping differently. In other words, SPU shifted from an enforcement model that only responded to complaints, to an enforcement model that also includes proactively clean up illegal dumping in areas where it happens frequently.
SPU is now preparing “clean sweep” maps and routes for cleanup crews where they will drive each street to pick up both reported and unreported items – especially in those locations that have frequent illegal dumping activity, so that pick-up opportunities are maximized, the complaint backlog reduced, and response time improved.
Your options for reporting illegal dumping are listed here – and of course, there’s also the city’s Find It Fix It app.
Two-wheeled West Seattle Crime Watch news:
STOLEN MOPED: From Tim – “I wanted to reach out and report my stolen moped in hopes someone has seen it around the neighborhood. It’s a vintage 70’s green Sachs Balboa, taken from my backyard on 21st Ave SW between Barton and Cambridge near Westwood Village. … It has a long seat, lime green grips on the handle bars, and a large aftermarket exhaust tied to the frame with leather cord.”
FOUND BICYCLE: Jen photographed this bike apparently dumped in Sunrise Heights:
If it was stolen from you, let us know the # of the report you filed so we can pass on the location.
11:39 AM: He’s said it before, and last night at the West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network meeting (full story to come), Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis said it again: Car prowling remains our area’s biggest crime problem. This morning, we have two reader reports:
36TH SW NORTH OF FAUNTLEROY: Mike sent the photo and reports, “Someone smashed our car’s tinted rear window early this morning. SPD officer stated this is happening more frequently. Thieves are only breaking tinted glass to check for valuables. Nothing taken.”
WESTCREST PARK: Janet reports, “My passenger window was smashed and bag grabbed in main parking lot (by community garden) at Westcrest Dog Park around 5:30 p.m. yesterday, 2/23. Bag stolen. Reported to police, but be careful!”
ADDED 1:59 PM: We’ve heard from Taren about a Sunrise Heights car prowl mentioned in comments:
We had an auto break-in last night on 35th Avenue SW in front of Trinity Church near Holden. The burglar/vandal broke the passenger side window with a rock. The key items stolen were a medium (18×10) grey metal toolbox containing primarily craftsman screwdrivers and pliers, a red back-pack style auto emergency kit (purchased pre-filled) and a large new-in-box Star Wars toy (black box… Star Wars The Black Series Jabba’s Rancor Pit Set).
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