Massive Car Prowl
On Sept. 19 at about 11 p.m. Seattle Police responded to a call about a multiple vehicle car prowl that had occurred in the parking garage of an apartment building located in the 100 block of Taylor Avenue North. Upon arrival the responding officer contacted the building's security who had called to report the incident.
Security brought the officer into the secure parking garage. The garage could only be opened with a key issued to residents only. Once inside security showed the officer the victim vehicles. There are no security cameras in the parking garage. The security officer said that he was scheduled to check the garage around 10 p.m. on his patrol route. During this routine patrol the security officer discovered the burglarized cars and called police.
Police were able to contact the owners of two vehicles. Both victims said they had parked their vehicles at approximately 1:30 p.m. and had not returned until later that night. When they returned they observed their vehicles had been broken into and several items had been removed.
The responding police officer was unable to make contact with the owners of three vehicles that had been broken into. All three vehicles had shattered windows and they appeared to have had their contents and glove boxes rifled through.
Police checked all the burglarized vehicles for fingerprints, but were not able to lift any good prints. Business cards were left on the window shields of all the cars.
Another Prowl
A few days later Seattle Police received a call from a woman at 10:28 p.m. on Sept. 26 reporting that her car had been broken into while parked in her building's parking garage n the 100 block of Taylor Avenue North. She said that she had parked her car at 8 p.m. on Sept. 25. When she returned to her car at 7 p.m. on Sept. 26 she discovered that the left rear window had been smashed.
The back seat had been folded down. Upon searching the inside of the car she was unable to determine if anything was missing.
Police checked the garage for more vandalized vehicles, and found a gold Chrysler Concorde parked about ten spaces away from the original victim vehicle. Its driver side window was smashed. The contents of the vehicle appeared to have been rummaged through. Police were unable to locate the owner, so a business card was left on the dashboard.
Police were unable to determine how the suspect gained entry to the secured garage.
Weekend Break-In
Employees at a business located in the 500 block of Yale Avenue North called police at 10:32 a.m. on Sept. 20 to report a burglary of the business that had occurred sometime over the weekend. The employees said that the business had been closed from about 3 p.m. on Friday Sept. 17 until 7:15 a.m. on Monday Sept. 20.
Upon arrival to work on Monday employees discovered that unknown suspects had broken into the building. They then cut off the lock to a cabinet located on the east side of the building on the second floor. They took numerous items and tools from the cabinet, and also electric wire and aluminum wire. The suspects also left a pile of tools near the cabinet that they failed to take.
Before the police arrived to the scene employees moved the tools around and had brought the cabinet out to a truck for repair. Thus police were unable to gather any evidence or take fingerprints off the tools or cabinet.
Strong Burglar
Residents of a house located in the 2000 block of 13th Avenue West called police at 11:05 p.m. on Sept. 24 to report their house had been broken into. The four roommates had been gone between the hours of 12:44 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. that day.
When one of the roommates arrived home they discovered that the rear basement door had been forced open enough to remove the 2 x 4 bar that was holding it closed. This was an interior door, and the unknown suspect was able to bend it around the bar that had been set up behind it. And the rear door on the first floor had also been forced open. The bolt for this door had been bent and forced through the doorframe.
Clothing and jewelry were missing from a bedroom on the first floor. The television had been taken from the living room. A laptop computer was missing from the bedroom in the basement. And a glass vase that was used to store coins had been emptied.
Police were able to lift fingerprints from a mirrored closet door in the first floor bedroom, from a jewelry box, and from the glass vase.
Multi-Car Prowl
A woman called police at 1:29 p.m. to report her car had been broken into overnight in the secured parking garage of her apartment building, located in the 1200 block of Dexter Avenue North. An officer responded to the scene at 5:27 p.m.
The victim told police he had parked her car at midnight on Sept. 26. When she returned to it at 10 a.m. it had been broken into. Upon arrival the officer met with the victim, who showed him to her 1997 Ford Escort, registered in her father's name. The vehicle's front passenger window was smashed and the victim said that a checkbook in her name was missing from the glove compartment. The officer checked all the vehicles parked in the garage and found two other vehicles with smashed front passenger windows.
The officer determined that both vehicles belonged to residents of the apartment building. He was unsuccessful in contacting the victims. Business cards were left on the vehicle's window shields.
The officer is unsure of how the unknown suspect was able to gain entry to the garage. In the week prior to this incident the same officer responded to this location to investigate a burglary of the secured storage area. During that investigation it was determined that the suspect had made entry through the rear entry door.
Parking Garage Prowl
Police responded to a call about another car prowl in the parking garage of an apartment building received at 10:40 a.m. on Sept. 26. At least two cars had been broken into in the secured garage of a building located in the 100 block of Second Avenue North.
Upon arrival at 2:08 p.m. police spoke with the victim who had called. He said that sometime between 12:45 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. somebody smashed the passenger window of his Gold 2000 Ford Taurus. Missing from the vehicle was a $300 Sirius XM Radio that had been attached to the dashboard. The power cord was left dangling. Nothing else was taken and no evidence was left at the scene. Police looked for prints, but were unable to find any.
The victim told police that upon entering the garage there is a sharp left turn off the alley, which would make it possible for a suspect to enter behind a vehicle without being seen. The lighting inside the garage is also very dim.
While police were speaking with this victim a second man approached and said his car, parked nearby,had been broken into as well. The man had already completed an online report for his vehicle prowl. Taken from inside his car was a GPS that had been in the glove box, an iPod, Nike running shoes and a sweatshirt. Police believe it was the same suspect.[[In-content Ad]]
