Bumping this up in case you hadn’t already seen the link from SPDBlotter on the WSB Crime Watch page: This explains a couple notes we received about this time Saturday, regarding police chasing suspects in upper Alki. SPDBlotter reports:

Southwest Precinct officers were at 58th Avenue Southwest and Alki Avenue Southwest when they observed a stolen vehicle occupied by three suspects. When the officers approached (in heavy traffic) to attempt to arrest them, the suspects fled on foot. Following several foot pursuits and yard-to-yard searches, two of the three suspects were located and arrested.

Police say one suspect is an adult male, the other a juvenile male, and both were booked for investigation of auto theft. (We mentioned the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting in earlier CW updates today; we should also mention that police leadership will be at the Alki Community Council meeting Thursday — 7 pm, Alki Community Center — for updates in the aftermath of the May 1st shooting, and more on plans for summer police presence at the beach.)

Ray sent photos and info as “an FYI” about his car getting prowled in the 5900 block of 38th SW (map). He notes it’s a car he hadn’t moved in a while. As we mentioned in today’s earlier Crime Watch report: West Seattle Crime Prevention Council, 7 pm Tuesday, Southwest Precinct, Delridge/Webster (map).

From the Triangle district (4700 block of 36th; map), Mike sent that photo, wondering if anyone has more information about how their car window wound up in that condition. He says it happened between 12:30 am, when he and his wife went to bed, and 2:30 am, when a police officer woke them up; he says they didn’t hear this happen because their windows were closed to shut out noise from “revelers at the VFW” and wonders if it was related. It’s been reported to police, so there’s a case number if you call with info (206-625-5011 is the non-emergency number). By the way, it’s time for us to start reminding you that the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meets this Tuesday, 7 pm at the Southwest Precinct (map), first meeting since high-profile cases including the May 1st Alki shooting and April 30th Junction bank robbery. WSCPC meetings are the biggest monthly opportunity to bring your concerns about crime/safety directly to local police leadership, since they’re always there both to brief the group and to answer attendees’ questions.

That’s the subject line of e-mail just in from Betsy Hoffmeister of North Delridge — sent not only to alert folks to possible trouble ahead, but to explain what many might not find out about till morning:

Any friends on 26th Ave W/Graham SW area [map] or possibly Snake Hill area or even up in High Point who wake up to property crime, vandalism, or broken windshield/windows are invited to join our police report. At 1:30 a.m. I was awakened by loud voices. My husband had watched a group of young people walking south on 26th yelling at each other. This group was on the bridge across Longfellow Creek yelling, hitting, and carrying on. We reported it to the police who despite my directions were there in seconds; when we went outside we saw that they had jumped on our windshield and shattered it. I wouldn’t be surprised if every windshield on the street is in a similar condition; we didn’t see them do it, so there’s no proof, but if the cops care they could measure footprints cause there’s a huge one in the dew on our car.

Lest you have any doubt – if you hear or see something/someone suspicious, police have reiterated at recent meetings, it IS the right thing to do to call 911 as soon as possible.

From e-mail just sent out by King County Sheriff Sue Rahr:

During the past several months we have seen an increase in the number of
burglaries throughout King County. … Despite having to cut many property crime detective positions this year due to our budget being reduced, I am still doing everything I can to keep you safe. I am teaming up with other local law enforcement jurisdictions, crime analysis teams and representatives from the King County Prosecutor’s Office to form a burglary task force. Much like the very successful task force created to reduce auto theft, we will be focusing on the most serious repeat offenders. We reduced auto theft by more than 30% through this coordination and focus. It is my hope we will achieve the same results with burglaries.

KCSO does not have jurisdiction in West Seattle, of course (but does, in unincorporated White Center) – however, we hadn’t heard of this task force before, so we’re checking to see if SPD is part of it. (And of course, the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office handles cases for the entire county, cities as well as unincorporated areas – we covered PA Dan Satterberg touting the auto-theft task force during his recent Rotary Club of West Seattle speech – and who could forget the video he showed?)

Ken e-mailed to say that the profane anti-gay phrase which has appeared repeatedly on the garage door of a Morgan Junction couple – and elsewhere, according to comments posted after our previous story about it – has now turned up on an area bus shelter, at Fauntleroy/Holly. He says, “I’ve reported it to SPD and Metro.” (WEEKEND UPDATE: Channel 13 also followed up on this.)

Out of the WSB inbox, from Amber:

I just wanted to let you know about a hit & run near 16 th Avenue & SW Dawson St [map]. A drunk driver (assumedly) plowed into my father in law’s car that was parked in front of our house sometime early Monday morning (possibly around 4:00 or 5:00 am). The car is totaled and there were no skid marks on the street so they didn’t even try to stop. The police stated that they do not come out for a non-moving violation, just write up a report based on the call. It’s a long shot but if anyone knows anything it would really help. Thanks!

The non-emergency number, if you have any information, is 206-625-5011 (you can find that highlighted on the WSB Crime Watch page if you ever need to find it fast).

That’s the subject line Jeff wrote on his e-mail about the break-in at his house in the 9200 block of 20th SW (map):

It happened sometime Sunday sometime between 1 and 9 pm while we were away for Mother’s Day festivities. They broke in through the dog door in back of the house. They had to be pretty small since the dog door isn’t very big. They stole an iPod and Dewalt drill.

And that wasn’t all, Jeff found out after the first note – $1,500 in jewelry too. They did call police; of the response, he told us, “Officer Sperry responded quickly, made a report and dusted for prints around where
the iPod was taken from. I can’t say enough about how helpful and reassuring he was during such a stressful time.”

Just got a call about police activity outside shuttered Fairmount Park Elementary (map). Scanner traffic confirms, police are investigating a burglary, apparently involving broken windows, which was the method of entry in previous break-ins, including this one four weeks ago. The school’s been closed for almost two years, but is being reopened for summer school this year, as we first reported here a month ago. As for tonight’s break-in, sounds like police have just finished searching the building but whoever broke in is no longer inside. (9:09 pm side note – We’ve also received a tip about police activity near Schmitz Park Elementary; haven’t heard yet what that’s about, however.)

From just southwest of The Junction, Bill e-mailed in hopes that you might be able to help solve this crime:

I’d like to report a hit and run on the corner of Erskine Way SW and SW Dawson that happened (last night). The hit vehicle, a 2002 Saturn Vue, was parked in front of my house.

… My vehicle was hit from behind on the driver’s side. The bumper and tailgate was damaged and the tailpipe is broken. No paint was left but the damage to the other vehicle would have to have been to the front passenger side.

… Just one other note, a neighbor just told me that the hit and run occurred at 9:05 PM last night as he heard a “crash” but he was not able to get to his window in time to see the vehicle.

If anybody (else) saw or heard anything I’d sure appreciate it if they step forward.

He did call police, and reports a “cordial and professional” officer responded: “She collected evidence which included what looked like a signal light casing and it had a part number. She is going to try to trace the number.”

We got two notes about this car theft but, before we could publish an item, a third note came in, saying the car had been found. Now, here’s the fourth note – tying up the story neatly (and neighbors may want to know a car thief’s at work nearby):

My wife and I thought we’d let you know her Honda Accord was stolen last night (we live on 37th Ave SW between Myrtle and Willow [map]) but thankfully recovered about a mile north of us on 32nd Ave SW. No serious damage but my wife’s phone charger was stolen (they left her $150 sunglasses, whew!). The thieves left the car turned on and the engine running – not long after we called the police the car was reported by neighbors who thought it odd a strange car would be left outside their house running all morning. It still had plenty of gas in it, though, and my wife happily drove off to work and we parted ways with the nice officers who responded quickly, Hope and Morales.

Out of the WSB inbox, from J:

I would like to share the fact we had the 3rd burglary today (2 break-ins
and 1 attempt) since we moved to 41st and Thistle [map] about two years ago. At least one of the thugs squeezed through an 8″x12″ window in the basement (seriously?). They set the alarm off, but apparently it didn’t stop them from stabbing the alarm panel speaker with a large kitchen knife (baaad speaker, you!). They didn’t harm the horn.

Then they just ripped the alarm panel off the wall – the alarm company reported anyway because it has a battery.

It was a rainy day, so they made a big mess. They decided to leave all other expensive toys and went only for the LCD TV (lucky us). Although, they wrapped the TV with our most favorite blanket.

The cats had a short, but nice time outside until I arrived.

This was at 5:20 pm, open, exposed corner lot in the rainy but bright afternoon. Besides caring less to do this while I usually would have been home already (I wish so badly that I was!), the two guys wearing rubber gloves, hauling a large size TV out of a house with the alarm in the background, the TV covered up sparsely with a blanket and leaving the door open.?

Hey people, come on! They might not look like they live here, nor do I believe their car has ever been seen on our street and they were for sure covered in dirt from crawling under the muddy deck – yet not one person has seen or heard anything. What can we do, if we are all working during the day in this area and the thugs get more and more desperate?

Ah well, one day I’ll catch one.

While at the Southwest Precinct late last night looking at reports including the Morgan Junction anti-gay vandalism case (WSB coverage here), we also found the police report from Friday night’s Alki shooting. Not all of the 44-page report is public, but there are a few additional details of interest – read on:Read More

(photo added Tuesday afternoon)
Police are investigating repeat graffiti vandalism on the garage door of a California Ave home in Morgan Junction where two men live, and citywide media reports describe the vandalism as involving a “homophobic slur.” We linked this seattlepi.com story about it to the Crime Watch page earlier today; now we’ve gotten word that at least one TV crew is there tonight covering the story – here’s the link to channel 13’s online story, sent to us by a West Seattleite who wrote:

It seems like some sort of call-to-action with your reader-base could help find whoever’s doing it. It’s on a busy street – so someone has to have witnessed something (they’ve done it three times over this last weekend!) … this is just the type of thing a neighborhood can prevent when we come together.

We don’t have the police report on this yet but will be working to obtain it. 9:27 PM UPDATE: We’re at the precinct now, and the report is available – read on for a transcription of what it says about this incident, with names and profanities deleted:Read More

We just checked with the Seattle Police media unit, which is handling all information on Friday night’s Alki shooting (WSB coverage, plus extensive comment thread, here). A few new details, according to Sgt. Sean Whitcomb: For starters, the victim is 19 years old and is in “stable” condition. No further details on suspect descriptions or what exactly happened and why, but Sgt. Whitcomb did say: “We don’t believe this is a ‘stranger’ crime” and added that the Seattle Police Gang Unit is “lead” on the investigation (as reported Friday night, both the Gang and Homicide Units are involved). Watch for more followup information later.