Wallingford businesses are all abuzz - but, unfortunately, it isn't about the consumer activity. The business owners are discussing how to stop a string of recent burglaries that struck local shops and a restaurant.
Burglars targeted six Wallingford businesses within three days' time, stealing $2,544 cash and a laptop computer.
The first occurred at 3:07 a.m. on Sept. 14 at Harold's Lamps, 1912 N. 45th St. The suspect tripped an alarm but continued to go through desk drawers. Nothing was taken in this incident.
In the early morning hours of Sept. 17, a suspect broke into five neighboring businesses along North 45th Street and Wallingford Avenue North: Bee Well Vitamins, Juice Goddess Café & Juice Bar, Palmyra Mediterranean Cuisine, Four Legs Good and Terra Hemp.
In all six burglaries, the suspect broke and removed the door lock and looked for cash.
John deLeeuw, co-owner of Not a Number Cards & Gifts, 1905 N. 45th St., said the suspect may have skipped his store because deLeeuw's lock is flush with the door and doesn't have anything pliers or other such tools could grip on to.
According to Det. Barry Fretwell, of the Seattle Police Department's Burglary Division, these burglaries are similar to those that happened recently in Union Bay Circle, east of University Village. However, the police have no known suspect, and fingerprints left at several of the break-in sites are still being analyzed.
Not sitting by
Still, the Wallingford Chamber of Commerce isn't waiting for another of its businesses to be hit.
Chamber co-president Kara Ceri-ello, co-owner of Not a Number, is coordinating a Safety and Security forum for all Wallingford businesses for mid-October. It will coincide with an upcoming chamber meeting, where Ceriello will distribute the same information and encourage business owners to improve their locks and install security cameras.
Helping Ceriello with planning the forums is Fremont business owner Suzie Burke. Burke and other Fremont business owners attend commercial-security meetings on the second Tuesday of every month, where business owners can get the "straight skinny," Burke said. "There's more conversation going on than reality," explaining that sometimes a "break-in" can simply be a matter of an employee forgetting a key.
While Fremont businesses have their share of burglaries, "It's not anything like what [Wallingford businesses] have been through," Burke said.
What you can do
Not a Number's deLeeuw is starting a community-watch e-mail group for residents and business owners. Interested persons can request to be added by sending an e-mail to communitywatch@notanumberinc.com.
In the meantime, Det. Fretwell advises shop owners to "run their business with the idea that a break-in could occur." Owners should count their cash before putting it away and keep track of which employees know the procedures, he said.
Burke recommends that business owners exchange phone number to "feel in touch with their neighbors."
Editor Vera M. Chan-Pool can be reached at 461-1346 or needitor@ nwlink.com.
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