David P . asked us to pass along the news that there have been a number of burglaries in the neighborhood recently.
On a neighborhood list, a homeowner near 43rd and Burke reported that someone “pried open a locked window on our sunroom and climbed through leaving a small step ladder behind.” Cash, jewelry and electronics were stolen. Over by 42nd and Meridian, burglars “went into the backyard, pried open a locked window and climbed in. They rifled through most of the house” and took jewelry. According to the list, the police confirmed that there have been a rash of burglaries in that area.
Over on 4th Ave NE below 45th, Catherine told us that when she went out for a morning walk last week, she noticed a number of cars with their windows shattered.
Be vigilant. Look at your house, thinking like a burglar and take precautions.
And to my mother, who is reading this, no, I’m still not installing an alarm system. And to the burglars who are reading this, yes, I installed an alarm system.
(Photo by Pranav Bhatt)
We live on Burke, between 43rd and 42nd, and were also burglarized Saturday night between 7-10pm. Similar method. They pried open a locked window off the back deck. They also somehow unscrewed motion sensor lights on top of garage (15′ off the ground). They took one laptop.
To add to this list:
Last week:
On 43rd and Meridian 3 cars broken into
On 43rd and Burke 2 cars broken into
This morning:
Another neighbor on 43rd and Meridian- car broken into.
I hope everyone is reporting these.
My car was broken into twice last week. 43rd & Sunnyside.
A neighbor at 43rd and Latona said their two cars were broken into last week, but nothing was taken.
Do we know if any of the houses which were broken into had dogs home at the time? I’m wondering if dogs have proven to be a deterrent re these particular burglars, if they’re all the same person/people…Also wondering if these burglaries were committed during a weekday or weekend, day or at night?
Yes, our garage was broken into on 36th btw Densmore and Woodlawn and a chainsaw was stolen, sometime in June/July.
Our neighbors’ house was broken into on a Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago. 1st Ave NE, between 40th and 42nd.
Two weeks ago our car, which was in our driveway, was broken into. Our GPS, tools and a few other items were stollen. The most concerning thing they took was our garage door opener. We have since changed the codes to our garage and bought new openers but it is very concerning. Because of all of the recent activity we are now getting a security system. We live on Woodlawn ave.
Brittany,
A few years ago my wife was home alone, sleeping in on a Sunday morning around 10AM. Our dogs – two 50+ pound’ers, plus a “visiting” dog about the same size – went crazy barking and pacing around. Finally she looked out a window and saw a woman standing on our recycle bins, trying to take the hinges off a closet window. The woman skedaddled, and we reported it. But in answer to your question, apparently at least *some* burglars are not put off by dogs. I’m not sure what would have happened had the burglar gotten in. Our dogs are, as far as I know, all bark and no bite, and maybe she knew/guessed that.
/rob
Last week, a car was broken into on my block at NE58th and 5th Ave. Week before that, two other cars on NE 58th and Latona Ave.
We are off of 43rd and 4th NE, I have been noticing more and more shattered glass on the street from broken car windows. Last week our cars in our driveway (unlocked) were rummaged through nothing was taken, (we were all asleep and so were our “guard” dogs), this also happened earlier this summer. Also on Friday I noticed a syringe between our house and the neighbors on our property (there was no needle), Planning to contact SPD for more patrols in the area.
We had an intruder come into our house during the night on 9/22/13. He came up our stairs from the street, around the back of our house, through a six foot fence and entered into the guest room through the sliding glass door that our guest had left unlocked before going to bed. He was extremely high on drugs, and at first would not leave the house. Got him to leave momentarily and then he returned within a minute to try and force his way back in.
We called police and they responded within 3 minutes with a canine unit and arrested the guy. Our house and fence were also “tagged” with paint and graffitti this same night. Whew!
I plan on attending this man’s hearing and providing a victim statement to try and convince the judge to provide some serious consequences for this young man. From court records, he did this in July of 2010 so this wasn’t a first time.
We were lucky he wasn’t armed or didn’t try to harm anyone. Although our guest (who was a man of small stature) said he woke to find the man standing over him while he lay in bed and he believes the man was trying to ascertain if he was a man or a woman – so he may tried to harm a woman.
Sorry – I left out our location – Keystone and N. 51st.
Another to add to the list….2nd Ave NE and almost 50th — got into vehicle in our driveway, took the XM Radio and also garage door opener. Had to reprogram the opener so we could sleep at night. ugh. But still consider ourselves to be lucky people.
Our neighbor who’s a stay at home mom told us that a bunch of young teenagers were scoping at homes during the middle of the work day. She was at home with the door open and a boy was surprised to see her. When she asked what he wanted he said he was from the newspaper company and then ran off. She doesn’t subscribe to a paper and she said it seemed they were scoping out homes to burglarize. Watch out folks!
We live on 2nd Ave. between 45th and 50th.
I live in the Portofino Apartments (Woodland Park Ave & Bridge Way). A couple of weeks ago, a thief broke into the outside key box of the apartments. He was scared away by a passerby. The management changed the key box with a stronger one within hours and changed the locks/codes.
Good thing, because the thief came back the next day to try the keys he stole to get into the parking area.
Many thanks to the management who responded very quickly and changed the locks with stronger ones.
Interesting Jessica.
We had a young girl (maybe 15-20ish yo? hard to tell) knock on our door in the middle of the day last week (was home sick from work). She lead with “I’d like to know where you’d like your newspaper delivered?” I said we don’t subscribe to any newspapers. She stammered kind of nervously “People now read online, but that takes jobs away from delivery people.” Stated no thank you and she left without much more fuss. She was really awkward and kind of spaced out, but I thought maybe she was just nervous?
Anyone else have this happen? I thought it seemed pretty strange, but also maybe that it was a local high school fundraiser or something?
All of you who got hit or are reporting contact with people seemingly casing your homes, could you please provide physical descriptions? The only people I’ve had at my house in the past couple years were younger black men dressed in suits who were selling magazine subscriptions for some kind of college contest. The first one was followed the next day by another and then the third came a few weeks later. My house has people coming and going at different hours, so maybe if someone is watching us, they couldn’t accurately ascertain when someone might or might not be home (although that clearly didn’t stop others mentioned here.). I’m alarmed that the barking of three big dogs didn’t faze that woman trying to get in the window!
We live on 42/43rd block of Corliss a neighbor’s house in our block was broken in from rear kitchen window and some valuables were stolen. Also, another neighbor’s car was broken in. Another neighbor on 43rd also reported their car broken in twice in the last week. All these incidences took place in the last 2-3 weeks.
The kid knocking on doors claiming to be from the newspaper company was a white male, seemed young (teenager or early 20s), he wore a yellow and grey winter coat, short light brown/dark blond hair and had bad skin/acne.
Be on the lookout everyone!
The person who knocked on our door claiming to be from the newspaper company was a girl in her late teens/early twenties, skinny, maybe 5″3, dark brown long hair, olive skin. She was wearing a black hoodie and carrying a small clip board, so I didn’t report the activity assuming it was probably innocent (although strange). If others have had this happen let me know, maybe worth reporting?
I live on Corliss between 42nd and 43rd. It was my house that was broken into through the kitchen window about one month ago. My small dog was home at the time and was barking furiously at him. I pulled into driveway around 9:30 PM and heard her barking. Perp ran out the back door when he realized I was home. He/she stole my wallet and some jewelry that was in the kitchen but never had time to get to other parts of the house, fortunately. It is awful living with the dread of this happening again. These people take more than our possessions; our peace of mind is shattered as well.
Many of the things that make Wallingford a particularly desirable neighborhood also make it attractive to burglars: a substantial, well-off, mostly single-family-home community (whose residents are often away during the day working or going to school) with many (beautiful!) gardens, shrubs and trees, close to town and close to several major tranportations corridors (as well as to sketchier places).
My husband and I are older residents, lower on the income scale and living in a modest multifamily dwelling. We are glad to live in the neighborhood. There are several other retired couples and individuals on our block who are often home during the day like us and I like to think we are all looking out for each other and for our younger families and working neighbors who can’t be home to keep an eye out. Criminal activity is a harsh reality, but due diligence (windows and doors locked), good safety training for everyone in the family and keeping the porch light on to welcome as well as to illuminate hopefully can help mitigate this.
My wife and I live at about 43rd and Woodland Park Ave. We recently lost one of our pet rats to mycoplasmosis late in the night, so my wife put her in a box and set her outside our door. The box was for a wifi access point and by the time we woke up in the morning and prepared to bury her, she was gone. Someone took our pet’s body, I’m sure thinking it was a piece of electronics. We’ve had other issues, too–someone has stolen a few knick knacks we had outside, as well as a rocking chair. What makes this worse is that our door is far underneath a carport, so someone would have to come looking for things to steal. We’re considering buying a camera to inconspicuously mount near our door to figure out who does this, but at this point we’re afraid someone would steal the camera!
Our Suburu wagon in our driveway, was entered sometime between 9/25 & 9/29. (35th & Burke) It may have been someone wanting to sleep out of the downpours at that time. The driver’s side door was left ajar resulting in a dead battery but no other perceptible vandalism.
Yes, your mom is reading this. Yes, your mom is worried about you, and all of your neighbors.
Mom
Hi Meg and others who have encountered the nervous young girl selling newspaper subscriptions – she is legit. We bought a subscription from her and it’s actually being delivered. So I think thats OK…
Karla
This girl selling newspaper subscriptions is legit… We bought one and now are getting the Seattle TImes delivered to our door… so she’s OK.
I live in a small condo complex and feel reasonably secure, though there is access to our home from a street-access entry door. Reading about all these break-ins makes me both sad and concerned. I’ll be more vigilant and definitely will report anything suspicious. I’ve also noticed quite a lot for graffiti in our neighborhood over the past few weeks (along the 45th Street corridor and side streets), and I wonder if there is a correlation between the break-ins and ugly tagging.
Autumn, we live two blocks down from you on Woodland Park. We DO have a camera and have footage of a white looking male in a baseball cap stealing a bag of craft supplies and a bunch of knick knacks off our front porch. I filed a report and the police have the video. I bet it was the same guy!
@ Jessica, We had a kid matching that description and saying the same thing come to our house on Friday afternoon. As he walked down the street, I watched him meet up with another kid. I called the police and supposedly they sent someone out. I’m on 53rd between Woodlawn and Wallingford.
It would be kind of smart, really – maybe too smart to be plausible – for a thief to get a real newspaper selling job. The only drawback would be that when you actually sign up for her newpaper, that leaves a trail to her, so she and her friends can’t burglarize your house, at least not right away. So it would behoove folks to buy those newspapers.
There is a lot you can do to discourage break-ins. It does not require an alarm system, although they can help. Burglers look for the vulnerable houses, the easy ones, with unlocked or easy to open doors and windows, A police officer once told me that such measures are not “crime prevention” so much as “crime displacement”, i.e., a house that’s hard to break into means they are more likely to move on to the next target. The SPD’s Block Watch program has lapsed in recent years (budget cuts, I’m told) but citizens can take the initiative and organize themselves.
My car was burglarized last Wednesday morning before 7:25am at Keystone and 51st. It’s possible that a door was left open, there was no evidence of a forced entry. Nothing was taken, perhaps a loose quarter.
Our car window was bashed in this morning at 46th and Corliss. Nothing was taken (there was nothing to take) but it’s a mess. Also, we can’t seem to report it because the police non-emergency line is so busy that the recording tells you to call back later.
Sheesh, and the hits keep rollin’ in! I’m thinking we need to have a few Robocops patrolling the ‘hood 24/7 to try and catch these bozos. My boyfriend generally leaves his car unlocked to avoid the broken windows (and has nothing inside to steal anyway) after an initial break-in last year, but this hasn’t prevented two more driver’s side windows being broken into in the past year, but this was up on Capitol Hill. Wallingford is certainly turning into the Land of Opportunity for these miscreants.
On October 2nd our two cars were burglarized. They took lose change and nothing else but messed up our Prius electic system. Luckily with a start up we got the car going. This was on 59th and Latona
Long ago, someone tried to enter the duplex I was renting, through a back window, near 38th and Meridian. The police said 2 memorable things then: 1) if someone is determined to get into your house, they can — so psychological deterrents and alarms (or alarm signs) are the best bet; 2) there’s always an uptick in burglaries leading up to the December holidays. Could also be worse this year due to the… recent unpleasantness… in the economy.
Astonishing that anyone–let alone kids–still go door to door trying to sell anything. It’s not a safe practice for either side, and a major annoyance for the person whose door is knocked on. Even if the solicitors are legitimate, it opens the door (heh) for anyone else posing as a legitimate seller. (Yes, this goes for religious proselytizers, too). Bottom line: don’t knock on the doors of strangers, and don’t open the door for strangers. Unless, of course, it’s a dire emergency.
Just this afternoon about 1:00 I saw a young (black) man, early 20’s nicely yet casually dressed, clipboard in hand walking up 40th by Irwin’s Bakery. He was scanning houses “casually” as he walked along.
A potential criminal, maybe yes, maybe no. He was ‘5-10, 150-160 lbs. short hair, white shirt with a tie, dark pants.
As I’ve seen too much pandering of criminals, my approach is to trust but verify, and be aware. And while it’s not a PC / Wallingford-esk thing to say any criminal who violates my life will pay dearly.
John, That pretty much describes the guys I mentioned earlier who came to our neighborhood selling magazines in the past. Has anyone bought a magazine from these guys? Maybe they’re legit…?
To add to the list: About two weeks ago, someone went through the glove compartment and ash tray of our car (left them open). There wasn’t really anything in there except for a flash light (which is gone) and perhaps some CDs (can’t remember). It looks like I had forgotten to lock the car, and I am just glad they did not smash the window. We are on 53rd between Woodlawn and Wallingford.
As to people soliciting at the door, I had one recently that made me rather uncomfortable. It was a young woman selling magazine subscriptions that, she said, would then be donated to the Children’s Hospital, and it was part of some vague rehab program for her. She would get ‘points’ from her rehab organisation if she sold me a subscription, and I had to ‘rate’ her sellers’ capacities on a scale… it made me feel VERY uncomfortable. Like, if I didn’t pay 60 dollars for a vague subscription, she would get bad marks at her rehab organisation.
She said “Everyone in the neighbourhood knows me here, I come every year” and even showed me names.
Does that sound familiar?
I don’t think there was anything ‘criminal’ here, but perhaps “fishy”.
I live on Motor/Winslow Place and had my door kicked in in the middle of the day (first week of September). The entire house had been gone through (all drawers and doors open). They left all the electronics but stole jewelry and silver.
@Karla-
I think your instincts were correct. Sounds like a scam and something no rehab facility/organization would do.
I don’t give to any of the door-to-door folks and the magazine sellers are the worst – I stopped opening the door after it was impossible to get rid of them. You can Google “door to door magazine sales scam” for more info.
I’ll say it again, as I do whenever I read posts about some stranger who comes knocking in the middle of the day: chances are they’re not there to sell you something. Why would they doorbell when most people aren’t home?
Here’s what I like to do if i’m home and someone rings the bell: Have my camera ready, open the door and take their picture. Your camera security system doesn’t do you much good if all you can see is the top of their head. But you get a full unobstructed shot if you snap a pic when you open the door.
Yeah, you might worry about pissing them off. My experience has been they’re more surprised than mad. And I politely let them know that we all know each other on my block (which we do), and that if I hear of anyone’s home getting broken into, guess whose picture the cops are gonna get?
So work up the nerve to give it a try next time. IMO, people are just too damn nice and PC here in Wallyworld to these characters. They notice that and feed upon it. If you don’t want to take their picture, blow them off quickly and firmly. And watch where they go, and get a license plate if you can. They’re probably not working alone, so catching one may end up netting several.
28 Sep–Two homes (mine and a neighbor’s) at Meridian and N. 51st Street were broken into from the back of the houses. Credit cards and jewellery were stolen. Obvious riffling through drawers. No electronics were missing. Will be installing motion sensing lights. Ugh.
Rear car window broken out, on 9/23, across from JSIS. Not much taken, but a big pain. Our cars are routinely prowled, but glass breakage is a less frequent occurrence. I like the idea posted above to leave hardware boxes outside our houses with dead rodents inside.
My car, an older honda, was stolen out of my carport (no gate/lock) at Winslow Place and 38th two weeks ago. It was recovered near Wine World on 45th a week and a half later. Nothing missing except the back license plate, had damage to the ignition and everything was scattered all over the car, including some stuff that wasn’t mine (that stuff was collected by the police and disposed of). I found out later that the car parked next to me in the carport was vandalized a few weeks ago – window and tail light smashed.
We live near St. Benedict’s and in May, my car was stolen. I recovered it and put in an alarm system. The other night, I had a bout of insomnia so I was watching a documentary on Thursday night/Friday morning around 2am. A flashlight caught my eye as I watched a white male try to pry open doors and scope out cars along Densmore. I panicked and rather than call the police (which I did afterward), I opened the door and said, “Can I help you?” The man ran North toward 50th. I called the police and they came by about ten minutes later, but I have no idea if they found the guy or not. What can we do to save our ‘hood?
Perhaps we can rely on those of you who might take your dogs out for late night walks or folks coming home late from work to also keep your eyes open and if you see anything like Erin experienced, you could call 911… I can’t help feeling this doesn’t happen so much in places that have a larger armed populace. These criminals and criminals-in-training that are targeting Wallingford probably realize most people here don’t pose a personal threat should they come to face with any of us. Is there some sort of international symbol (along the lines of IKEA pictograms) sticker we could put on our doors that indicates a house’s inhabitants are skilled in mixed martial arts or the Vulcan death grip or that you will have a Wiccan curse put upon you if you commit a crime on our property or something equally effective? Now THAT might keep the bozos at bay! 🙂
Also, we had a guy come to the door last week to ask us if we were happy with our newspaper delivery. He asked some weird questions like do you like it on your porch or on your walkway? He was dressed in Sounders attire. He might have been legit, but t was odd and made me a bit nervous. In retrospect, I guess I should have asked for his identification.
SPD doesn’t recommend monitored alarm systems – they mostly generate false alarms.
Alarm system salespeople will dispute that – but most are working straight commission.
Costco sells several wireless/wifi (will need wifi in your house) video camera kits – sends live video to your smartphone if activity is detected. Two camera setup is $200. No, I don’t work for Costco, but if you don’t like it – take it back.
Neighbor @53 – he was probably legit – that’s a high-pressure sales tactic that works surprisingly well. It just pissed us off (a couple years ago) and inspired a few heated emails to the Seattle Times’ distribution manager.
Last night…sure enough a young lady with red hair outdoorsily dressed, hair swept to side knocked on the door at 8:45 pm with a clipboard in her hand. The dog was going a bit crazy so I didn’t even open the door-just shrugged and shook my head to indictate, uh sorry this is way too freaking late to be knocking on doors. No idea if she fits descriptions of others but thought I’d mention it. Same exact clipboard guy showed up this summer. He got pissed when we were firm with him, and exclaimed “are you telling me to get off your f*ing porch?” The answer was, “hell yeah” or something to that effect. I love love the idea of taking a photo. Unfortunately you gotta stash that camera somewhere convenient.
Our car (on Meridian between N 41st and N 40th) was broken into last night. It was locked and they did not break the windows. GPS and electronic blood pressure cuff were stolen. Should have known better than to leave those in the car with the recent break ins but was tired after work yesterday. Lesson learned.
Yes, I’ve taken the GPS out of the car and leave the glove box open so it’s plain to see there is nothing in it.
Who knows that helps (:
Interesting Idea found on a website:
“Here’s an idea…
Put your car keys beside your bed at night.
If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies. This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator. Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away, think of this: It’s a security alarm system that you probably already have and requires no installation. Test it. It will go off from most everywhere inside your house and will keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key fob chain. It works if you park in your driveway or garage. If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break into your house, odds are the burglar/rapist won’t stick around. After a few seconds all the neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and sure enough the criminal won’t want that. And remember to carry your keys while walking to your car in a parking lot. The alarm can work the same way there. This is something that should really be shared with everyone. Maybe it could save a life or a sexual abuse crime.”
Here is a description of my neighbor’s break-in on 9/24/13 by the SPD blotter:
http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2013/09/25/officers-flush-out-burglar-after-he-leaves-id-at-scene-of-break-in/