The following are selected reports from the Seattle Police Department’s West Precinct. They represent the officers’ accounts of the events described.
Overnight Car Prowl
Shortly after 4 p.m. on Nov. 24, police responded to a reported burglary at a house in the 1600 block of Seventh Avenue West.
The victim’s neighbor spoke with police, stating that the homeowner was out of town and her house sitter had discovered the burglary at approximately 9:30 a.m. that morning. The victim’s car had been prowled overnight and the suspect used the garage door opener from the car to open the garage.
A 21-inch television and the cable receiver box were taken from the garage.
Police didn’t find any signs of forced entry to the car, so they weren’t sure if it was left unlocked.
Unlocked Room
At approximately 3:15 p.m. on Nov. 27, a man living in the 500 block of West Emerson Street called 911 to report a burglary.
He stated he and his roommate had left their room unlocked and unattended between 2 p.m. on Nov. 25 and 1 a.m. the next morning, and when they returned they found nearly $850 worth of their stuff missing.
There was no additional information or evidence.
House and Car Burglary
Just after 3 p.m. on Nov. 26, police responded to a house in the 2600 block of West Newton Street for a burglary that occurred overnight between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
The victims reported the burglary happened while they were sleeping inside the house. Someone had prowled their cars — which were parked outside — and also came inside the home to steal items. One of the victims discovered the burglary when they went outside for a morning walk.
It looked like the suspect first came into the house and ransacked a dresser containing paperwork, keys and other items. They took the keys and went outside where they prowled the cars. Several items were taken in the burglary including a work laptop, phone, a wallet containing credit cards and a social security card.
The victim who’s wallet was taken stated that he’d been able to shut off his personal credit cards, but the suspect had already made a pair of $50 charges on his work card.
Safe Crackers
Just after 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 26, police responded to a burglary at a store in the 5500 block of First Avenue North that occurred between 8:40 a.m. and 9:40 a.m. that morning, before the store opened.
The burglars got into the business by first breaking into a shared hallway behind the store, then cutting a hole through a back wall into the store. Then they cut open a safe and stole cash and merchandise worth about $16,000.
There was some surveillance video of the incident showing the two suspects were wearing masks and gloves. The suspects left a crowbar and a spare blade for the saw they likely used to cut through the wall and into the safe.
Package Theft
At 3:15 p.m. on Nov. 29 police responded to a burglary at a business in the 2400 block of 33rd Avenue West.
The victim told police she’d had some packages delivered and left in her condominium’s mailroom on the afternoon of Nov. 26. When she went down to get the packages they were gone.
She contacted the building manager who supplied her with some grainy images from the building’s surveillance camera. It showed the suspect taking her packages and walking into the elevators.
Overnight Burglary
A little after 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 30, police responded to a house in the 2500 block of 38th Avenue West after a burglary overnight.
The homeowners reported someone came into the basement level of their house sometime between 8 p.m. the previous night and 7 a.m. that morning, and took two bags and a men’s coat from just inside the door that leads to the garage.
The victims said the garage door might have been left unlocked. There were no signs of forced entry to any points of entry of the house. The bags contained Canadian cash, a laptop, credit cards, identification and other documents.
The victims said they didn’t hear anything while they were sleeping.
America’s Most Wanted
At approximately 7:15 p.m. on Nov. 26, police were called to a hotel in the 200 block of Western Avenue West for a robbery.
The front desk receptionist told police the suspect entered the hotel sometime between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. He asked to use the restroom, helped himself to some complimentary cookies set out for guests, and then approached the reception desk and asked the victim if she’d seen America’s Most Wanted. Then he left.
Disturbed by this, the victim looked at the America’s Most Wanted website but didn’t see any suspects on the site that looked like the suspect that was just in the lobby.
About 30 minutes to an hour later the suspect came back in and approached the reception desk again. As he did a heavy object in his pocket thudded against the counter. The victim said she was afraid the object might be a gun.
The suspect said, “Give me all the money, I don’t want to hurt you.” She pulled all the cash out of the drawer, nearly $500, and handed it over to the suspect who immediately exited.
A second employee came out of the back room and caught a glimpse of the suspect. She said he appeared to be homeless, and that he was holding a bottle of wine in his hand.
Run Away
Just before noon on Nov. 27, police responded to a store in the 300 block of Second Avenue West for a robbery that had occurred the previous evening.
The store’s owner told police his clerk reported that the suspect came into the store and grabbed a bottle of liquor before approaching the counter and demanding the clerk hand over the money from the cash register. The clerk said the suspect showed him a knife in his waistband, so he ran away.
The owner showed police the security camera footage, which doesn’t show the suspect showing a knife, but does show the clerk running away.
The suspect started to leave, then leaned over the counter and tried to open the register, then gave up and left with the bottle of wine. The clerk was not on scene for police to talk to.