Reader report:

Our Prius was vandalized this week. It was sitting on the street (Hill Street SW, North Admiral). We found it still jacked up with the catalytic converter missing. We read an article online that said catalytic converter theft has become popular because of their value, relative ease to steal, and their lack of identifying marketings. Metal recyclers will pay an average of $50 per converter for the precious metals inside them. Unfortunately our estimate to repair is $1,799.

This is the sixth reader report we’ve received this summer about catalytic-converter thefts, and others have been noted in those stories’ comments.

Two reports in West Seattle Crime Watch this morning:

CAR STOLEN: From Cynthia:

Our son’s 2000 beige Honda Civic was stolen from our driveway at 3642 Beach Dr SW, Seattle, WA 98116 sometime during the night. It was reported to the police this morning, but thought we’d get the word out in case someone finds it and for neighbors to be on the lookout for suspicious activity on Beach Drive. Here is a picture after a recent hit and run.

Call 911 if you see it.

WINDOW-SMASHING: Staffers at DogCity in The Triangle (36th/Oregon) arrived this morning to find windows smashed on cars outside as well as on their building. Here are two of the photos they sent:

So far, it does not appear burglary was the motive. They’ve reported it to police.

Three incidents to report:

ARSON INVESTIGATION: This is happening right now at California/Charlestown; SFD has been investigating, and police have just been dispatched. A worker from a nearby business texted this moments before we hard that dispatch:

Fire call in alley between California and 44th off Charlestown. Someone lit the fence on fire. The fire was started with a beer bottle and paper then put it on the fence. Our front desk staff ran out there w the fire extinguisher to help put it out. Description of person who lit the fire in case you see her… Heavy female with green jacket and shorts – 5 ft 1-3 in and 150-175 lbs

Call 911 if you have any information.

GARAGE BREAK-IN: From Brandon: “The garage at The Verge Condos on Harbor Ave SW was broken into. Someone went into the storage area with an electric or gas-powered metal cutter. Sliced through the main lock and then went one by one cutting through each of the storage units. And then a window was broken out of a car in garage.”

(added 3:09 pm) CAR PROWL: From Iris:

Reporting a car prowler on the 8400 block of 17th Ave SW around 11:30 PM Sep 9, 2020

A woman with a ponytail opens our car door. Prior to doing that she calls out “Jessie” to her companion.

Nothing of extreme value was taken, thankfully.

Two reader reports and a followup tonight:

STOLEN MOTORCYCLE: Gary sent that photo, reporting: “Stolen off the street in Seaview early Thursday, September 10, 2020. 2006 Harley Davidson Deluxe, metallic black paint. Notable: The front tire has a wide white wall, the rear tire is all black.” If you see it, call 911.

GAS SIPHONED: From Andrejs: “This morning, while returning a rental truck to U-Haul on 35th, the employee checking me in indicated that last night someone siphoned gas out of most of the trucks parked on their lot.”

Now, the followup:

(Sunday night photo by Jason Hubbard)

WINDOW-SMASHING SUSPECT CHARGED: The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has charged 33-year-old Aikeem L. Roberts with malicious mischief and assault in last Sunday’s Junction QFC window-smashing rampage. The charging document includes more details on what police were told happened that night, beyond what we reported in our first followup:

… Roberts frequents the business on a regular basis. On this occasion Roberts entered the store carrying a backpack, blue reusable type bag, and two QFC paper bags which appeared to be full of product. Roberts walked throughout the store for several minutes. Roberts was approached by (the store manager) and informed that he would need to speak with store management if he was going to be inside of the store with store bags that were already loaded with merchandise prior to his arrival, and would need to leave the bags with store employees at the front while he shopped. Roberts was unhappy with this instruction and proceeded to walk toward the register where he started to check out a can of beans. Roberts decided not to buy the item and left it and walked out of the store.

At approximately 2114 hrs Roberts re-entered the store without his bags and approached (the manager) near store register #10. Roberts became increasingly agitated and proceeded to pick up multiple plastic bottles of seltzer water that were on a display and threw the bottles at (the manager), striking him in the head and arms. The bottles were also thrown at the checkstand computer screen and Plexiglas divider, damaging them. (The manager) and other store employees retreated to the back of the store to remove themselves from Roberts’ violent outburst. Roberts proceeded to throw several potted plants at the checkout registers. He made his way through the store and knocked over products from the shelves. He knocked over a display case of glass honey bottles. He picked up one of the honey bottles and threw it at a freezer door and shattered the door’s glass. He returned to the register area and caused further damage to that area by throwing around merchandise. He attempted to break out a store window by throwing a display case at it but was unsuccessful. Roberts then exited the store via the southwest exit and once outside, he picked up several stones from the ground and threw the stones at the store windows, breaking out 16 panels of plate glass. He also opened and slammed the automatic door several times, shattering the glass and rendering the door inoperable.

Roberts remains in jail tonight, bail still set at $5,000. In earlier coverage, we mentioned his record included stealing five cars from one night at an Eastside dealership; his eventual arrest in California made news.

In West Seattle Crime Watch today:

(Sunday photo by Jason Hubbard)

QFC WINDOW-SMASHING RAMPAGE FOLLOWUP: We reported Sunday night on an arrest following a window-smashing rampage at the West Seattle Junction QFC. The 33-year-old suspect remains in jail. We’ve obtained the police-report narrative, which says officers arrived after “several 911 calls” and arrived to find a naked man outside the store, detaining him, as he matched the suspect description. The officer who filed the report wrote:

I observed that several windows to the store had been broken out or had objects thrown through them. These windows were double-pane, and many were over 10 feet off the ground. I saw several rocks on the ground in front of the store that appeared to have been used to break the windows. The glass in the sliding doors to the store had been completely broken out as well. Other officers went inside and contacted the store manager and (a witness who) stated the following:

(The suspect) regularly comes into the store and is not a problem. Tonight, he entered the store with several bags and (redacted) asked him to leave them at the front with staff. This enraged (the suspect) and he began throwing items from the shelves and breaking items. He threw several plastic bottles at (redacted), one of which hit him in the head. (Redacted) then called 911 along with several other people. (The suspect) continued to throw items around and break several more windows and a refrigerator. He then took off his clothes and ran out the store before being contacted by officers. The damage to each window was likely several hundred dollars. Both men and me positively identified … the suspect. (The person hit by a bottle) had a bruise developing on his forehead and a small cut on his left wrist and bruising as well. He was evaluated at the scene by SFD Ladder 11. SFD also boarded up the damaged windows and doors.

A quick check of the suspect’s record includes a case last year in which he was arrested for throwing rocks at a downtown bar; he was sentenced to three months in jail. In 2014, he was charged with stealing five cars in one night from an Eastside dealership. He’s being held in lieu of $5,000 bail.

Also, two reader reports today:

ALKI CAR BREAK-IN: From Kimberly:

Last night between 12 a.m. and 7 a.m. my car was broken into on 55th Ave SW off Alki Beach. 2 shark vacuums, miscellaneous cleaning supplies, and a lockbox safe were stolen from my Nissan Versa. Safe held cash, car title, and a box of ammunition.

GATEWOOD CAR BREAK-IN: Via text:

39th and Orchard. Someone broke into our Subaru Outback at 3 am. They were trying to steal it. Fuse panel was open. They were able to get into it without triggering the alarm. They clearly knew what they were doing. My wife woke up as it was happening. Probably the only reason it’s still in the driveway.

(WSB photo)

Thanks for the tips. The West Seattle Junction QFC is cleaning up a mess after a man went on a rampage, breaking windows with rocks, neighbors say.

(This photo and next two by Jason Hubbard)

Police were gone by the time we got there but neighbors say a man was taken into custody. The damage was clearly visible from outside the store.

So were at least two rocks.

The store was closed for the cleanup; a staff member would only comment that the rock-thrower was “upset.” No injuries as far as we know – there was no medical dispatch.

ADDED MONDAY: Thanks to Jay for the aftermath photo:

From Denise:

My 1997 silver Honda CR-V, license BCX 9989, was parked on the street [45th/Dawson] and stolen Saturday night. Seattle Police case 2020-259728.

Call 911 if you see it.

Two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports:

BUILDING BREAK-IN ATTEMPT: The photos and report are from Ken:

I’m the HOA president for Harbor Crest condominiums at 1639 Harbor Ave SW across the street from the Water Taxi. (Tuesday) night we caught these two guys on our HD cameras attempting to get into the garage after breaking the locks on our back gate by rotating the locked handle 360 degrees with a special tool which didn’t work on the garage doors handles because it wouldn’t rotate beyond the steel door jam so they couldn’t get in.

No case # yet because the report was filed online.

STOLEN STATUE: The photo and report are from Ara:

We live in North Admiral on 47th Ave, and recently had a Buddha statue stolen from our front porch. It was around 3 feet tall, rather heavy and very loved. Attached is a picture with my son.

If you’ve seen this statue, let us know and we’ll connect you with Ara.

Just received from Kay:

Stolen – 2003 Subaru Legacy wagon, AAE6890 – thieves may’ve changed plates.

Silver, sun & moon roof, tinted windows, dirty, as been camping. Black leather interior. Stolen after 10 PM, Monday night to early Tuesday AM from 9400 block 21st Ave SW, West Seattle, between Roxbury & Cambridge. Contact police or 310.904.3191. REWARD OFFERED.

First call to make if you see it is 911.

Four Crime Watch reports:

PARK ROBBERY: We have two reports that a man was attacked and robbed of his wallet and phone while at Lincoln Park Thursday evening – one from a friend the victim contacted afterward, the other from a nearby resident who says suspects were seen running through her neighborhood shortly afterward and dropped items from the victim’s wallet. The victim described the robbers as five “Somali or Ethiopian males in their late teens (who) wore hoodies and masks”; neighbors’ description of who they saw, “wearing sweatpants, hoodies, sneakers, and protective face masks … light brown skin (and) lean.” We are still working to get the police report for additional details.

MOTORCYCLE STOLEN: This happened in Top Hat, but stolen vehicles from one side of the city-county line often turn up on the other:

My husband’s motorcycle (was taken) last night or early this morning from Southside by Vintage apartment complex on SW 112th St.

Call 911 if you see it.

BUILDING BREAK-INS: An Alki resident in the 2300 block of Bonair reports, “In 5 years living here,-nothing. Now in one night, 3 cars broken into, a storage room was broken into and several tenants’ stuff taken, and a bunch of packages. This was reported yesterday morning. I think people in this area need to be aware this is happening. It’s never been an issue before.”

PACKAGE THEFT: From Joseph – “Unfortunately, we were victims of a package theft at our house near Hanford and 37th Ave SW last night at 11:26 pm. Here is a link to the video from our security camera. It looks like the woman walked right up to our front door. The image is not great, but hopefully someone recognizes this individual.”

From Megan, who says this happened near California/Lander:

I came to my car this afternoon to have found it broken into. The only thing of note in the car was a black Dell desktop computer. I had planned to take it in to the computer repair shop on California to get past the lock screen—it was my deceased father’s and almost everything I have left of him (photos, documents, etc.) may now be lost forever. If someone comes across such a desktop with the lock name “Steve” or “Steve Scott,” please help me recover this computer. I am filing a report with the police and it can be turned in or notified there if something suspicious comes up.

We’ll add the report # when we get it but in the meantime, if you find it or have some other lead, please let us know and we’ll connect you with Megan.

Three West Seattle Crime Watch reports. First, two thefts in the same Gatewood neighborhood:

STOLEN CAR: From Franci: “Red 2015 Subaru Forester. License plate is AWC6225. Police report is 20-249328. The only blemish is paint missing from the back of the driver’s-side mirror.” Call 911 if you see it.

STOLEN E-BIKE: Lauren says this happened along the same alley near California/Webster: “My bike was stolen out of a closed garage last night, sometime between midnight and 4:30 AM. RadRover Step-Thru, white, no battery in place. Only a few months old.”

And a short distance to the southwest, this happened early Monday evening:

CAR VANDALIZED: From Ava:

On Fauntleroy and Rose, someone broke my daughter’s car window. It is a small Nissan Versa. Why would someone do this? Please let me know if you hear of someone having seen (it) or taken a video.

No hint of how the window was broken – no rock or projectile found inside.