The following are selected reports from the Seattle Police Department’s West Precinct. They represent the officers’ accounts of the events described.
Destructive Burglars
At approximately 8:15 p.m. on Feb. 12, police responded to an apartment building in the 200 block of West Republican Street to investigate a burglary. The building manager told responding officers that the building’s security cameras captured two suspects pulling into the parking lot on a motorcycle at about 5 p.m. The suspects went to the laundry room and used a power drill to break into the washer and dryer’s coin boxes and steal about $50 worth of change. They also ripped a key box off a wall and pried a door open, causing significant damage.
Vacant Target
At approximately 1:45 p.m. on Feb. 15, a man called 911 to report his late mother’s house was broken into sometime between 4 p.m. the previous afternoon and noon that day. The burglar forced a window open on the north side of the vacant house. The homeowner said he didn’t know what, if anything, was stolen from the house as everything inside belonged to his mother. He stated that all the items remaining in the house would be donated shortly to prepare for the house to be sold.
Smash and Grab
Just before 11 a.m. on Feb. 19, police responded to a car prowl in the 100 block of Taylor Avenue North. The burglar broke into the building’s secured parking garage by unknown means and smashed out the driver's side rear passenger door window of a car. The burglar reached inside the car and grabbed a monitor that was left on the seat. The car’s owner reported about $140 of damage was done to his vehicle.
Heavily Disguised
Just before 3 a.m. on Feb. 20, surveillance video at an apartment building in the 200 block of Fifth Avenue North captured a suspect who pried open the building’s front door using a screwdriver. The suspect then went to the building’s mail room where he pried open that door as well. Inside the mail room the burglar ripped open several packages, possibly stealing the contents of some. The building manager couldn’t be sure what was stolen, as no tenants had come forward to report the thefts at the time that he was filing the police report. The burglar was wearing a mask during his crime, however when exiting the building his mask was pulled down revealing his face. However police believe he had made efforts to change his face by painting on eyebrows and a mustache, and wearing large black-framed glasses. He forgot to wear gloves, however, and police were able to recover several fingerprints possibly left behind by the suspect.
Storage Unit Break In
Just after 1 p.m. on Feb. 10, police responded to a 911 call from a man living in an apartment in the 200 block of Aloha Street reporting his storage unit was broken into. The building manager estimated that the burglary occurred sometime between New Year’s Day and Feb. 9. The victim said he hadn’t been to his locker for two months, and was informed of the burglary when the building manager found the locker ransacked. The victim didn’t think anything was stolen from his locker. The building manager said there was a surveillance camera on the storage area, and upon review of recent footage no suspicious activity was seen. The lock on the main door of the storage area was malfunctioning, so that is likely how the suspect got into the room. The suspect pried the victim’s locker open. While police were investigating the burglary a second victim reported his storage locker was broken into also, but nothing was taken.