We have a followup this morning on a West Seattle Crime Watch reader report from Tuesday. Patricia reported that her lime-green Kia Soul was stolen by a burglar who broke into her home (in north Westwood) and took her keys, among other things.

This morning – her car turned up … outside her home!

Patricia’s wife explained in a text that they had quickly canceled cards and changed locks on their home and remaining car after Tuesday’s break-in and theft. Then early today, the stolen car turned up on their security camera, as they heard someone trying their door:

We were a little nervous going to bed on Tuesday. We made sure our phones had volume on and loud. When burglar came back, the Ring notification woke us up and we called 911. Police came within 5 minutes and were able to catch the guy. He was down the cul-de-sac, rifling through another car. Police saw his shadow and gave pursuit. We were shocked to say the least, that he came back in Trish’s car, essentially returning the car to us. After the police arrested him, we cleaned out Trish’s car. (Lots of junk he acquired in a day.)

By the way, for those who ask about this sometimes – the preliminary police report says security-camera video from both incidents is among the evidence factoring into the arrest. We’re working to find out more about the suspect and will add that when we have it.

SIDE NOTE: Police say a similar incident happened in Seaview this morning – a burglar broke into a home, stole keys, and took a car (hours after the above arrest, so not the same person). We haven’t heard from the victim in that case and don’t have a description of the vehicle but will publish a separate report if any of that comes in.

From Patricia:

Our home, near 26th Ave SW and Holden, was broken into last night around 1:15 AM. The primary items they stole included a wallet, our keys and my very identifiable car. My car is a lime green 2013 Kia Soul, license plate AKU4397, with my business’s car magnets on all sides. The business is Eldercare Consulting and the magnet says “Need help with your parents?” There are 2 rubber ducks on the dashboard.

We have reported all of this to the police, but would appreciate any help that our community can provide in looking for this car.

If you see the car, call 911.

WEDNESDAY MORNING UPDATE: Patricia’s car is back – all but delivered to the scene of the crime – followup story shortly.

Two notes in West Seattle Crime Watch:

NO EVIDENCE OF ADMIRAL GUNFIRE: We don’t usually mention “possible gunfire” dispatches when nothing is found – they are fairly common – but we’ve received a lot of questions about this one, so in case you were wondering too: Before 1 am, people in the Admiral area reported hearing what sounded like gunshots, and a car “screeching.” Police were dispatched. They did not find any evidence of gunfire so the call was classified as “disturbance.” To confirm gunfire, they have to find shell casings and/or property damage (bullet holes, etc.) and/or an injured person, and/or they need a witness who actually saw someone firing a gun. The absence of all those things doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, but it means police have no way to classify the incident as confirmed “shots fired.” (There are fireworks and even car modifications that can sound like gunshots.) One more note: Evidence somtimes turns up later – in daylight, for example – so if you ever find a shell casing, property damage, etc., even if you don’t know when the gunfire happened, please report that too.

SIDE NOTE – GUNFIRE COUNTYWIDE: The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office recently published this infographic-style report on gun violence this year through June 30th. It’s mostly countywide stats except for this map showing confirmed gunfire incidents (with and without injuries):

Also this morning, a reader report:

ANOTHER PROWLER: From Makenzie in Highland Park:

We just captured a Ring camera video of someone trying to potentially break into our house. The video shows him looking around, looking for a spare key under the mat, trying the door handle and looking into our windows to see if anyone was home. We wanted to pass this to you in case anyone else has similar issues or can watch out. We live on 14th and Trenton in the Highland Park area.

6:26 PM: Whether or not it’s just a tactic for thievery, car-window smashing has proliferated lately. Here’s the latest report, from Kate:

Our Toyota RAV4 front passenger-side window was shattered last night, sometime between 11 pm-6 am on Aug 1/2. The car wasn’t rummaged through and nothing was stolen. We’re on the 2700 block of 39th Ave SW; it appears at least one other neighbor’s car window was shattered as well. We have filed a police report, and are just sharing in case of uptick of this kind of damage in the area.

(added) Kate’s neighbor Sarah also emailed us to confirm “that the driver side rear window of my Subaru Forester was also smashed in. No rummaging and nothing was taken (I don’t keep anything in my car). I filed a police report as well.” Other recent incidents have been at the West Seattle Golf Course/Stadium parking lot and on Beach Drive.

ADDED 8:06 PM: One more reader report while this is atop the main page – a porch prowler on Puget Ridge:

That’s one of two clips sent by Paul on 16th SW: the other shows the prowler (after the break on the stoop) trying the door. Neighbors reported other doors tried, on cars as well as homes.

Two reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch this afternoon:

CAR, GARAGE BREAK-INS: From Mary:

We live on the 6700 block of Beach Drive and had our truck window broken out on Tuesday night. Miscellaneous items taken. Another neighbor on Beach Drive had their garage broken into.

ABANDONED CAR: From Matt:

This car was ransacked and abandoned on 21st Ave at Myrtle, next to Sanislo Elementary School. Maybe it belongs to someone?

The plate on it starts with BWL.

5:21 PM: Three reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

PICKUP TRUCK STOLEN: From Emma:

My gray 2000 GMC Sierra was stolen while parked on 41st SW and SW Alaska, presumably two nights ago. Plates – C62009W. Passenger side has numerous dents, and it did have a hitch when it was stolen.

Call 911 if you see it.(UPDATE: It’s been found.)

TOOLS TAKEN: From Max:

July 28th at 11:10 AM, I was working on a house remodel at SW Dawson & 42nd Ave SW. My pickup was parked on this quiet residential street with my tool boxes in the bed that I was accessing back and forth. At one point, I heard a diesel truck idling out front and by the time I ran outside, they were gone with three Milwaukee Packout storage boxes full of Milwaukee battery power tools. I believe the vehicle headed north on 42nd SW. I was only seconds behind them and tried to follow in my truck, but never saw the vehicle. I’m hoping someone in the neighborhood saw something or has a camera that might have caught a view of their truck at the noted time. Attached is a photo example of the boxes.

REPEAT CAR VANDALISM: Three weeks ago, we published a report of five cars with windows broken, along Beach Drive by Constellation Park. Khody says one of those cars was hit again Wednesday night in the same spot.

ADDED 6:54 PM – PARKING LOT CAR PROWLS: One more incident to add – we got a tip (after publishing this roundup) of multiple smash-and-grab car prowls at the West Seattle Golf Course/Stadium parking lot. We went over and indeed found people inspecting the damage.

We didn’t get a full count but one person guessed more than a dozen.

Seattle Police have released video and stills from a robbery reported here last week, the holdup at Canna West Seattle (WSB sponsor) on the night of July 19th. The video above shows two angles on the robbery (the second one starts around 4 minutes, 50 seconds in). The robbers are described only as “all men in their late teens to early 20s”; here are the three clearest stills:

The SPD post says the robbers “took the victims’ cellphones and stole $14,000 in marijuana and $2,500 cash from the store before fleeing the scene, possibly in an older silver sedan” and asks: “If you recognize (them) or have any information about this case, please call SPD’s Robbery Unit at 206-684-5535, or 911.”

9:14 PM: Two incidents in West Seattle Crime Watch. Both summaries are from reports filed by police:

WESTCREST PARK GUNFIRE: This was reported on Tuesday in the vicinity of the south parking lot (not the same one that was the subject of our story last week). Here’s what the narrative from the police report says happened: Officers were called to a report of a fight just before 5 pm. While they were on the way, there was a report of gunshots fired. When they arrived in the lot, a woman told them she had heard multiple people fighting, then saw an older silver sedan with a broken windshield drive out of the lot, with a passenger who, a witness told police, was someone “shown in ‘Crime Watch’ for alleged catalytic-converter thefts.” She then heard gunfire. Two other people provided similar accounts. After searching the area for a while, officers found what the report describes as “four 9mm bronze shell casings within several feet of each other on the driveway linking the parking lot and its vehicle entrance/exit.” No victims, or damaged property, was found.

SECURITY GUARD DEPLOYS TASER: Someone at the Springline Apartments (3220 California SW) called 911 just before 4 am and said someone was trying to break into her apartment. When officers arrived, an on-site security guard told them there had been, according to the report, “problems in the building with a person banging on people’s doors and screaming in the hallways.” While talking with the original 911 caller in her apartment, the guard told police, someone again tried the door, and he opened it and found a suspect – another tenant. The guard tried to detain the suspect for police but, he said, she hit, kicked and pushed him, so he used his Taser on her. That didn’t have much effect, he said, so he tried again – she fell but then got up and ran into her apartment nearby. Police were unable to get the suspect to open the door and eventually left.

ADDED 9:42 PM – MYSTERY BULLET HOLE: Just got one more police report, so we’re adding it. A resident in the 6400 block of 31st Ave SW called police after finding a mystery bullet hole in his car. He said his car had been parked there since noon yesterday; at 5 pm today, the report says, he “drove to the White Center area to buy groceries, and when he returned home, the victim noticed a bullet hole in his rear driver’s side door. The bullet passed through his driver’s-side door and lodged in the rear passenger side door. The bullet was collected for evidence. Unknown where the shots were fired.”

One West Seattle Crime Watch report and two followups:

STORE ROBBERY: The 35th/Avalon 7-11 was held up around 2 am, according to a preliminary police report. The report is brief but says there were three robbers – two with guns – and that they got away with cash and cigarettes.

Two followups on recent reports:

SUSPECTED CATALYTIC-CONVERTER THIEF: Last Thursday, we reported on an arrest of someone suspected of stealing a catalytic converter in Arbor Heights, reported by a neighbor. When the suspect, a 38-year-old West Seattle man, appeared in court the next day, the judge only found probable cause for drug possession – police say they found him in possession of 355 Percocet pills and 47 grams of meth – and let him go on personal recognizance. As noted in our original report, police impounded the suspect’s vehicle. They subsequently got a search warrant for it and here’s what a new report says they found inside: 9 catalytic converters, a “potentially stolen firearm loaded with (13) 10 mm rounds,” two types of heroin totaling 137 grams, “various miscellaneous pills,” and more than $17,000 in cash. The suspect, who we’re not naming because he’s not yet charged, has a felony record, most recently a drug conviction in 2014, also including catalytic-converter theft in a case a decade ago.

PM UPDATE: SPD Blotter has now featured this case, including photos of some of what was found in the suspect’s car, such as this gun:

Meantime, we reconfirmed with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office that the search-warrant info was not available when the suspect went before a judge the day after the arrest.

CAR ATTACK: Last Wednesday, we reported on a mother and daughter being attacked in their car in the Fairmount area; the daughter fought back with a knife handle, and the attacker fled; an arrest was made blocks away. The City Attorney’s Office has since filed misdemeanor charges of assault and trespassing against the suspect, 38-year-old Benjamin C. Orr, who remains jailed in lieu of $10,000 bail.

In West Seattle Crime Watch, the topic is bicycle theft:

STOLEN E-BIKE, MINUS BATTERY: Tom‘s Rad City 4, black with orange trim, no battery, was stolen from West 206 Apartment’ cyclone-fence bike cage overnight last night. He says it was last seen there last night; then early this afternoon, he noticed it was gone, and found the cut lock and cut fencing, plus “a box that may have been a package theft from up the street.” A large black aluminum basket, also manufactured by Rad Power Bikes, was mounted on the front of the bike; Tom says it had a dog bed inside.

DON’T BUY A STOLEN BIKE: About the same time Tom emailed us, we got this note from Jay:

Last night I spotted a teenager riding my wife’s bike, which had been stolen from our apartment’s bike storage. I chased him down and verified that it was in fact the stolen bike. After a confrontation and intervention from SPD, I recovered the bike. The owner was unaware that purchasing stolen goods doesn’t give the buyer ownership.

Bike theft, particularly from bike storage areas, is really prevalent in West Seattle right now. Thieves often store bikes for a year or more before selling them, so that the owner isn’t actively looking. This is what happened in my case. The bike was stolen on April 20, 2020, and the person riding it had purchased it from the thief on OfferUp two months ago.

OfferUp is the most popular website for selling stolen goods. A large portion of bikes on the app are stolen. But there is a way for honest buyers to tell if a bike they’re buying is stolen. Bike Index is a site where people register their bikes and report them as stolen. If the buyer had checked, they would have found my wife’s bike there. They could have looked it up by make and model or serial number and then contacted me.

That site’s been mentioned here many times before, but not in the context of checking there before you buy a bike.

Three brief reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

ARSON: A car fire early this morning in Admiral was arson, according to a preliminary police report, SPD says it was just before 5:30 am when “officers observed a car fire in the 2600 block of 42nd Ave SW. SFD responded. The victim was on scene. It appeared someone broke out a passenger window and set the vehicle on fire.”

CATALYTIC-CONVERTER THEFT: In Gatewood, a Honda Element was left parked outside a home whose residents were away for a week. They just came back and discovered someone stole its catalytic converter while they were gone.

ATTEMPTED CC THEFT: Meantime, an attempted catalytic-converter theft was thwarted last night in Highland Park, This happened around 8 pm at 12th/Trenton: “Someone tried to cut off my catalytic converter; my wife yelled and they left quickly, in a white Dodge Durango with a black box with tools on the back.” The victim says the plate started with BKU (the full number/incident has been reported to police).

Criminal cases often take many months to work their way through the legal system. In recent months we’ve received multiple inquiries about one case in particular, the rape charge filed in April 2020 against then-18-year-old Jackson U. Sullivan. He was accused of raping a 16-year-old girl who was incapable of consent, “intoxicated to the point of loss of motor functions … (during) what should have been an enjoyable high-school party” in November 2019. Both were West Seattle High School students at the time. As with many cases, there have been routine status hearings during those months. A notation appeared in the online case file recently, saying that a plea agreement was expected. We checked back on the case tonight and learned that Sullivan, now 19, pleaded guilty Thursday to a reduced charge, third-degree rape; the original charge was second-degree rape. The standard sentencing range is six months to a year; case documents say prosecutors are recommending a nine-month sentence. Sullivan has been out on bond since spending four hours in jail shortly after he was charged last year. His sentencing is scheduled before King County Superior Court Judge Josephine Wiggs-Martin on August 6th.

Three reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

TWO GUNFIRE REPORTS: According to emergency-radio communication, police are investigating both of these reports right now – someone reporting that a person on a motorcycle shot into their house in the 9200 block of 14th SW, and someone else reporting their house was fired at in the 7000 block of 16th SW. No injuries reported so far. THURSDAY MORNING UPDATE: No additional info on the 16th SW report but the preliminary police summary on 14th notes: “No one was hit, but bullets did penetrate through the residence – into the living room where minor children were watching TV.”

FAIRMOUNT-AREA ATTACK: This happened Tuesday afternoon and we’ve been pursuing more information but didn’t get it until finding online court documents tonight. A 38-year-old North Shorewood man is in jail after two incidents a short time apart. Police first got a call that a man jumped into a car with two women – mother and daughter – inside; the daughter fought back and he bolted. While they were on their way to that call, they got a report of a man trying car-door handles a few blocks away. Officers who detoured to that call detained what turned out to be the attack suspect. The victims told police they were getting into their car in the 5900 block of Fauntleroy Way SW when the man came up to their car, knocked on the window, then jumped in through the unlocked back door. He grabbed the older woman by the shoulder; the younger woman took out her pocket knife and started hitting him with the handle. She kept hitting him and finally he got out of the car – leaving his phone behind. Shortly thereafter, he was arrested at the other scene near Fauntleroy/Edmunds, and identified by one of the victims, neither of whom needed medical treatment. The suspect is being held in lieu of $15,000 bail, including $10,000 for a prior drunk-driving charge.

ANOTHER AXE ARREST: Police got a call about a burglary in progress in the 3400 block of Harbor Avenue SW around 3:45 pm today. According to the preliminary report, they were told that a man “was using a hammer and axe to break into vehicles and units.” When police got there, they reported finding the man “hanging out the front windshield of a vehicle he had bashed in.” They arrested him and booked him into jail.

Some asked today in comments and email about a Washington State Patrol plane flying over West Seattle repeatedly overnight. We inquired with WSP, and here’s what they told us: It’s related to the ongoing investigation of people throwing rocks at vehicles along I-90. WSP says it’s had a plane up using FLIR – infrared radar – in hopes of spotting trouble before it happens, in areas where someone’s “heat signature” might reveal what troopers can’t see on the ground. They’ve been mostly flying “rounds” – circle the emphasis area (particularly I-90 at Rainier) for a while, go away for 15 minutes or so, come back. And WSP says they’ve been trying to fly high enough that it’s not a noise problem for neighborhoods, but they have to fly lower when there’s cloud cover, and that’s why you might have heard them overnight but not other nights. WSP has arrested some suspects – including one just yesterday – but the problem persists. (The plane, by the way, is based in Olympia. WSP does not fly helicopters.)

Three reports in West Seattle Crime Watch this morning:

BUSINESS ROBBERY: Police are investigating an armed robbery last night at Canna (WSB sponsor), the cannabis shop at 5440 California SW. Police say it happened just before 11:30 pm as the shop was preparing to close. Four masked people entered the store, two with guns drawn, according to a witness, who says they ordered three staff members and one customer to get on the floor. They took phones from the security guard and a customer, threw the phones over the counter, then stuffed cash and marijuana products into plastic trash bags and took off. Some of the products were found in a nearby alley. The robbers have not yet been found.

BURGLARY ARREST: A reader reported hearing police making amplified warnings early this morning in Highland Park. Here’s what that was about. The early police summary says officers responded to a domestic-violence disturbance around 2:30 am near 9th/Trenton but the person reported to have caused it was gone. Two hours later, they were called back to the same residence after the same person forced their way in, then ran off, jumping fences to get away. A K-9 search ensued – that’s what the amplified warnings were about (police policy is to warn suspects that a dog is being deployed to look for them) – and a suspect was found and arrested.

BICYCLE THEFT: The photo and report are from an Arbor Heights resident:

This guy came into our yard with bolt cutters in hand and rode off with one of our bikes (he left his own bike behind). If he’s riding around with bolt cutters then I assume he’s looking for other bikes as well. (Stolen) bike is a black Novaro Buzz.

The victim says this has been reported to police.

From Derek McCloud, manager of the Seattle Public Schools-owned Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex:

Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex had the locks cut to the equipment shed and had a chainsaw, two weed-eaters, a hedger, and possibly more (taken). If anyone sees power tools with an SPS logo that would be from the complex.

The photo and report are from LL:

Just wanted to shoot out a warning for people to check their tire; somebody tried to slash 2 of my tires.

Happened sometime between Saturday midnight and this morning. In the alley 42nd & Raymond.