Two reader reports:

TWICE-STOLEN CAR: Madeline already has her car back, again, but wants to alert others:

I want to put a warning out for all car owners (especially Kia or Hyundai owners) that live in the surrounding neighborhoods of EC Hughes park. My 2018 Hyundai Tucson was stolen in April, and was luckily located, but turned into a $7000+ repair. This happened on the 7500 block of SW Holden St and 28th Ave SW. Last night sometime between 9 pm-12:15 am on the 7700 block of SW Kenyon St and 34th Ave SW. This was the exact same car stolen, with updated anti-theft features, in less than 6 months. Luckily I had an AirTag hidden very well in my car, and the Puyallup PD and I were able to track it down there. The Hyundai and Kia thefts are far from over, unfortunately.

If you have one of those cars, remember that SPD is giving away more steering-wheel locks this week, on Tuesday and Saturday – details here.

‘LITTLE FREE LIBRARY 8702 IS OUT FOR REPAIR’: That’s how Gay headlined this emailed report:

As many people were concerned while walking, driving, and biking up 48th … please know that we are not stealing the library. She has taken another senseless blow and will be out for repairs. Matt Lukin just remade the door this summer and the way it was built it would take a considerable effort and force to snap the dove-tailed door apart.

She will bounce back as she always does.

Two thefts:

STOLEN MOTORCYCLE: Reported via text:

My motorcycle was stolen this morning on 16th Ave SW in front of South Seattle College. Between the hours of 4:45 am-7:02 am. It was a 2017 Kawasaki z650, all black. The people who stole it didn’t have keys and there was a lock on the front tire. So it had to have been picked up by a truck of some sort. If anyone has any information or has seen anything, please reach out to me via email or text. Ivyfreyab@gmail.com 206-981-6190

Police incident # is 23-247255.

STOLEN CARGO E-BIKE: Reported via email:

Tern GSD electric cargo bike with two batteries and with 7,300+ miles stolen on 8/26/23. Clubhouse with seating for two kids, aftermarket mudflap on rear fender. Transporter Rack with black ILE Bag. Black tape used to secure chain-guard. Please help me find this daily commuter/kid-hauler.

If found, please report to SPD case number T23018872

(That’s a temporary tracking number; we’ll substitute the permanent case number when we receive it.

Three reader reports this morning:

BUSINESS BURGLARY: The photo is via Twitter/X, at the strip mall on the northeast corner of 35th/Roxbury:

We’re going by a bit later to try to find out more (and we’ll update this when we do). The police-call log shows a burglary report just before 5:30 am. The incident number is 23-246128. 2 pm update: The break-in was at Global Smoke & Vape, which hasn’t yet completed inventory of what was taken.

CAR DOWN SLOPE: Thanks for the tips and photos of this – a Hyundai down a Westcrest Park slope:

We don’t have police info on this yet but there’s been at least one past instance of a stolen car “disposed of” this way.

OLYMPIC HEIGHTS LAUNDROMAT THEFT: Via email from a customer of this laundromat on the northwest corner of 35th/Webster: “Work clothing placed in locking washer and started and when returned at the end of cycle; clothes and basket were missing. Owners of laundromat are not forthcoming with contact information in the laundromat to get a hold of them to get digital camera evidence. Submitted a report to SPD and awaiting approval but I heard from another person that there was another recent theft there.”

12:47 AM: A “scenes of violence” response is headed to a reported shooting victim in a car at Arrowhead Gardens but that’s not where he says he was shot. Dispatch was told the 21-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to the left leg after someone in another car shot at his car on southbound Highway 509; he subsequently got off the highway and called 911.

12:52 AM: Police say this is a possible case of “road rage” involving one shot fired “just north of the Myers Way exit.” The vehicle from which the shot was fired is described only as a “black sedan.”

1:04 AM: A few more details – the victim was driving when this happened and was shot in the thigh. He’s being taken to Harborview Medical Center right now.

Two reader reports:

GUITARS, BIKES STOLEN: That security-camera image is from a theft in which Drew says he lost $10,000 worth of guitars and bicycles. It happened in his storage unit at 125 SW 112th but he’s casting a wide net, including West Seattle, hoping someone might spot some of the items. Here’s a full list – with more photos – of what was stolen, including contact info for Drew and for King County Sheriff’s Office investigators, if you have any information.

CAR BREAK-IN: From Cynthia: “I wanted to report my vehicle was broken into in front of the Grove on 36th overnight (Tuesday) night. They stole my car charger and didn’t even look through anything else. I filed a police report.”

Police have found shell casings near 26th SW and SW Brandon, after 911 calls from that vicinity reporting what sounded like “dozens” of shots. Officers have told dispatch they’ve found “quite a few” casings. No word of any injuries or property damage so far. … If you have any information for police, the incident # assigned to this is 23-244852.

A 40-year-old man is charged with residential burglary for a Friday break-in north of Westcrest Park at a home where a teenage girl was alone. Police released information and video from the incident today via SPD Blotter; we researched the suspect’s status and found that he’s still in jail and has been charged.

The narrative in the charging documents begins with the girl, home alone, texting her father wondering if he’d hired someone to do work at their home, because a man was trying to get in. The father subsequently called 911. In the meantime, police say, the man broke in, while the girl hid in a closet, from which she called 911 too. Officers arriving in the area were flagged down by a neighbor who said a man had been seen in the area carrying a ladder and gas can. This, the neighbor said, was on video (a frame grab from the charging documents is at right).

Police meantime went on to find a broken window at the house from which, and about which, 911 had been called, and officers forced open the door to get in. They say they found Christopher M. Abbott sitting in a car in the closed, locked garage. From there, the document says:

Abbott noticed the officers and immediately started yelling that he was not going to be taken into custody. Abbott then began chugging gasoline out of the gas container that he had with him.

Officers instructed Abbott to open the driver’s door, or they would be forced to break the window to extract him from the car. Abbott refused again and continued chugging gasoline out of the container. Due to the hazard that Abbott was creating for officers and himself, officers broke the driver’s side window of the vehicle and removed Abbott while he continually attempted to grab onto items inside of the vehicle to prevent from being extracted from the car.

Here’s the SPD video showing their arrival at the house and apprehension of Abbott:

After they took him into custody, they found the 17-year-old girl, who came out of hiding and told officers she was unhurt. Her father arrived in the meantime and went through the house with officers to see if anything was missing, It appeared Abbott had eaten some pizza and chips; nothing else seemed to be missing. Abbott was medically evaluated at Harborview and then booked into the King County Jail. According to charging documents, he has no permanent address, and no local record, but has several convictions in Texas, mostly for domestic-violence assault. His bail is set at $20,000 and he will be arraigned next month.

Reader report:

Our 2000 red Dodge Dakota was stolen Monday night or early Tuesday morning from in front of our house on 42nd SW SW between Juneau and Findlay.

License number B45084N
SPD case number 23-241959

Three reader reports:

THEFT ON TWO WHEELS: From a reader via email:

I wanted to report a theft from my residence this morning at 8:52 am (a police report has already been filed). A man riding a bicycle rode onto our lot and stole a large bag from the porch outside of our front door at 8:52 am this morning. Our doorbell camera captured the theft. I am attaching screenshots from that recording.

Several hours later he was seen walking around the Mesob grocery on 16th and Henderson towards the apartments at 17th and Henderson, so it is unclear if he lives in the neighborhood.

PACKAGE THEFT: From another reader via email: “A package (delivered late and without notice) was stolen off our front porch at 2:30 am. 4100 block of 39th Ave SW.”

MAILBOXES BROKEN INTO: Via text:

Someone broke into our mailbox after 4 (Sunday) morning, and before 7 or 8 AM. This is in the 8400 block of 5th Ave. SW.

Reader report via email:

We had a work van stolen from our driveway just before 2 AM this morning.]

Fairmount neighborhood, near 36th Ave SW and Graham
White Ford Transit
Lic. Plate: C13796X
SPD Incident #23-240818

The ladders, as shown in the photo, were on the van when stolen, we’re told.

UPDATE: Found in the Central District.

Early Sunday, we reported on police trying to sort out what appeared to be two West Seattle shooting incidents in the 4 am hour. We asked for followup information this morning, and here’s what SPD now tells us:

ALKI GUNFIRE: 911 callers reported hearing gunfire near 56th/Alki around 4 am. Investigating officers “reported a verbal dispute took place between two groups in the area before the shots were fired. It appears the suspects who fired the shots left the area in vehicles.” Police found shell casings but no victims. If you have any information, this incident report number is 23-239642. ADDED 9 PM: A few additional details from police late today:

One male pulled out a gun and shot approximately eight times in the air on the North side of the street. A possible second suspect had a firearm and shot approximately nineteen times on the south side of the street. The suspects fled, and one possibly left in a black vehicle. Officers checked for victims, witnesses, and cameras.

BEACH DRIVE SHOOTING: It turns out that the person who showed up at Harborview Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the arm, initially reported as an “Alki” shooting victim, was instead the victim here. 911 callers around 4:30 am reported that “there was an argument and yelling about someone being shot” but when officers arrived, they didn’t find anyone, so both they and the SFD “scenes of violence” responders left. More than an hour later, police at Harborview – dealing with victims of the South Seattle hookah-lounge shooting – “spoke with a male victim who stated he was the victim of the earlier incident at 4600 block of Beach Drive SW.” According to SPD, this 22-year-old man said he was a bystander – he “reported the suspect driver of a light-colored sedan pulled up to the curb and began arguing with someone on the sidewalk. Soon after, the driver of the vehicle shot toward the subject on the sidewalk.” The victim then left the area and eventually showed up at Harborview. This incident, if you have any tips (206-233-5000), is 23-239652.

4:29 AM: A Seattle Fire “scenes of violence” response is arriving in the 4600 block of Beach Drive SW. So far all we know is they are responding to a report of a shooting. … They’re still sorting out the details and one officer has just told dispatch they’ve found shell casings in the 2400 block of Alki SW.

4:35 AM: Dispatch has just canceled the response to Beach Drive, while SFD is dealing with shooting victims in another part of the city. They also have reports of people showing up at two downtown hospitals with gunshot wounds, no word if related to this initial callout or the non-West Seattle locations with which police are dealing.

4:57 AM: No further radio exchanges explaining the Beach Drive dispatch nor further discussion of the reported Alki casings.

5:08 AM: Listening back to archived audio from the original dispatch, someone had called 911 saying they heard yelling, a shot, and a person saying they were shot in the arm; then there was a mention that the purported victim might be “on a park bench,” (That part of Beach Drive is the Me-Kwa-Mooks/Emma Schmitz Overlook area.) But no one was found in the area.

5:32 AM: Going back further into the archived audio, the Alki casings are somewhat explained – there was a dispatch around 4 am for a crowd of 50 or so people at the beach, followed moments later by multiple calls of gunfire. No one found or reported injured there; the Beach Drive call was 20 minutes later and more than a mile away.

5:50 AM: An officer just told dispatch that one of the shooting victims that showed up at Harborview Medical Center was in fact injured in the Alki gunfire, a male victim with an arm wound.

Two Crime Watch reader reports received today:

FAUNTLEROY VANDALISM RAMPAGE: From Andrew:

Last night woke up to a man beating on cars outside of our home across from Lincoln Park on Fauntleroy. A Neighbor ran outside and scared the man off around 3:10 am.

Neighbor’s car had back window broken through with a log. My car was hit repeatedly with a rock damaging the body and front windshield broken out. The vandal moved on to my wife’s car with a paver stone when he was interrupted and moved on but not before smashing through her front window.

This was reported to police. Possibly related – just south of Lincoln Park, we got a report of glass-breaking vandalism at a RapidRide stop overnight, from a nearby resident who was awakened by “banging” around 2:22 am but didn’t realize what it was until seeing the stop damage.

BURGLARY ATTEMPT: Corey says this happened at a building in the 4100 block of California around 4:30 am:

I was woken up early by a loud car in the alley. Some punks tried to break into our building. I watched from our balcony. When I realized what they were doing, I shouted at them and chased them away. I have a video of this and also called 911 and filed a report. 23-238531.

(WSB/WCN photo from April 2021 crash scene)

Last month, we reported that 28-year-old Irene Plancarte-Bustos had pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide for the April 2021 North Burien crash that killed a West Seattle couple. Today, she was sentenced in the deaths of 35-year-old Lauren Dupuis-Perez and 38-year-old Kamel Dupuis-Perez, Arbor Heights residents with two children. Plancarte-Bustos had her own young child in her car, driving almost 60 mph wtth a blood-alcohol level of .24, according to court documents, when she hit the victims’ car, pushing it into the path of a pickup truck whose driver was unable to stop in time. After the crash on the Ambaum “S” curve, Plancarte-Bustos drove to the nearby Rainbow Mini-Mart, where officers found and arrested her. Today King County Superior Court Judge Averil Rothrock sentenced her to what prosecutors proposed as part of the plea bargain – 9 1/2 years (explained in our July report). A defense document in the case file says that will mean Plancarte-Bustos, who had no prior criminal record, will likely be eligible for release in 2028.

Those two videos are from a crash-and-grab burglary at the nonprofit West Seattle Tool Library, which is on the northeast side of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center in North Delridge. Head librarian Micheal sent the report and videos today, and says this happened a week ago:

Around 3:30 in the morning of Friday the 11th, we fell victim to a “smash-and-grab” burglary: a 1998-2000 greenish-blue Ford pickup truck was crashed through our roll-up shop door, and the driver made off with several thousand dollars worth of tools and cash from the workshop. Fortunately, none of the tools we check out were stolen, but the stolen items were some of the most important for performing maintenance, as well as for our members to use for projects in the shop. We’re now hoping to raise $4,000 to replace the items that were stolen and damaged in the break-in, and to reinforce our security yet again. The police report number is 23-237581.

In case you can’t see the videos, here’s a screengrab:

The Tool Library’s donation link is here (via PayPal).

Sent by Christine:

Just want to get the word out that we have had an increase in criminal activity on the 3200 block of 44th Ave SW. (Tuesday) night someone entered our garage and stole a men’s bicycle, a cordless drill, a blower and hedge trimmer, two skateboards, and the batteries and chargers to the garden tools and drill. Two other neighbors have had similar incidents in the last two weeks. We are filing a police report. Just want others to be aware and to keep doors locked.

Meeples Games (3727 California SW) is looking for help in solving a theft that happened Tuesday night:

These two individuals were (first) seen outside Meeples; they seemed to be acting a bit strange. So one employee told the other to be on the lookout for them. The two came into the store separately and looked at different areas of the store. They seemed to be causing a distraction from the other person so that one could look at products. The one in the darker clothing with the Target bag was stalking the Magic the Gathering product and slowly started putting Magic the Gathering product into his Target bag. They both asked questions about expensive Magic the Gathering cards and when the one in the darker clothing went to purchase a deck box, the employee behind the counter noted to him that his Target bag wasn’t that full when he came in and asked to see a receipt of purchase for the items. He left immediately. They weren’t seen in any vehicle, at least from what our employees noticed.

If you have any information, the SPD incident number is 23-234751. You can also contact Meeples’ owner Laura at laura@meeplesgames.com.

Two reader reports:

TRAILER STOLEN: Sent by Dan:

Trailer in attached image taken from our driveway today in Fairmount Park neighborhood. No license plate or rear gate on trailer. An attempt to steal it occurred Saturday by a male and female in Ford Econoline van that now has front right damage after they smashed into my car!!

We’ll add the report # when we get it.

KIA THEFT ATTEMPT FAILS: From Carolyn:

Sometime late Sunday night/early Monday morning, someone broke into my car. Parked in front of the house (west of The Junction). They smashed the passenger-side window and attempted to hotwire the car but failed. The police report number is 23-232990. Nothing was (thankfully) stolen from the inside of the car. Car is a 2014 black Kia Forte.

From an Arroyos resident:

I live in the Arroyos neighborhood and last week we had a truck following a UPS truck in our neighborhood and stealing packages from porches in broad daylight. We have a neighborhood Whatsapp and a couple neighbors reported it, one neighbor caught the theft completely on video through Ring. Another sent a picture they took driving up our hill.

(Screengrab from video)

The truck is a Ford F-250 or F-350, white w/ 4 doors, and has a black “landscaping” gate around back. The truck is pretty unique, and no plates (of course). (Saturday) night my family was returning home around 10:45 pm from a long day out and we came up right behind the truck. We drove past the truck and I snapped another picture for a better close-up and the guy saw me do it, so he ran us down in his truck and almost hit us and then tried to run us off the road. He pulled up next to the passenger side with a face mask on and was yelling at us about taking his picture and he was taking a video of us. Fortunately he didn’t actually do any damage and we got away and home safely, but needless to say it shook us up and he clearly didn’t like being “seen.” … The driver was definitely the man in the earlier pictures. I got a better picture of the unique mud flaps on his vehicle, which my husband tracked down to a Foxboro, Mass Ford dealership called Rodman Ford (logo looks like a lion). The truck and the mud flaps are pretty distinct, not to mention no plates.

This happened so far south in The Arroyos that they’re working with the King County Sheriff’s Office on the case, the sender said. If you have information, KCSO’s non-emergency line is 206-296-3311.