We don’t have any way to keep official count, but here’s what we’ve heard of in the last week:
- Molly Moon’s was robbed at gunpoint this past week. We don’t have any more details of this, just heard it from two community leaders.
- Jon, who lives on 40th near I-5, twittered Saturday night: “Somebody broke in our back door. I am so done with this f***ing house” and “Nothing of mine was jacked, I don’t think–and everyone is ok. But roomie had a bunch of stuff yanked.” Later, he added “True story: thieves moved my headphones, but they left my white 30gig Zune untouched. Eh… security by obscurity?”
- The same night, Geoff twittered “3 Shoreline police cars outside @ 38th & Burke. Heard yelling & siren but have no idea what is the cause. Possibly related??” followed by “Roommate just got the lowdown, noisy undercover drug bust. Dealer busted in his car, plenty of undercover cops in multiple cars.”
- Colleen says two men were pickpocketed at Changes last week.
- Our friend JLo had his brand new Mac laptop stolen from his car in the QFC parking lot (yes, the doors were locked; apparently, that’s not such a big deal with older Hondas).
As always, please be careful people (though when doors are kicked in, we’re not sure what “careful” means).
If you want to chat with an police department rep about it, Diane Horswell of the Seattle Police Department will be at the Wallingford Community Council meeting next Wednesday, October 7th in Room 202 of the Good Shepherd Center (). The meeting runs 7 – 9 pm, and you’ll also have an opportunity to talk with Kathleen Cromp, the Senior Director of the now sadly doomed Wallingford Senior Center.
If you have any more details regarding the above crimes, or a magic bullet that will save us all from our relentless descent into anarchy, please leave in the comments section of this.
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Ugh. Bad people, go away!
Post-muggings, we’re having a mini-crime wave of our own. Lots of car prowls: http://www.mygreenlake.com/2009/09/car-prowls-continue-in-green-lake/
Anyone know what the car looked like in the 38th and Burke episode? I live on that corner, but was out of town this weekend.
We’ve been calling the police about a newer black pickup truck that pulls up on the corner, drops off a shady looking dude who goes on a 5 – 10 minute walk then returns to the truck where they do something together involving leaning over and the occasional lighter flick, before pulling away.
I’m hoping it’s the same truck.
Also, two cars were broken into in an apartment building parking garage on 40th and Wallingford in the middle of the afternoon last week. Pretty bold.
When I lived in LA, a recovering drug addict neighbor of mine offered me this advice: “Don’t leave even a nickel on your dashboard because a junkie will bust your window to get to it.”
A sad truth.
I’m curious if any of the victims have alarms on their house or car? Just wondering how effective those are in deterring theft.
Years ago all the cars in my former apartment building carport were broken into one night except mine, and I was the only one with the blinking light of an alarm.
This stinks. I want our Wallingford back.
We had suspicious activity by our house in East Wallingford Saturday night. We have noticed a middle aged man w/ a very pronounced limp walking around the neighborhood lately. I’ve seen him for years over by the I-5 on-ramp, but the past 3 weeks he has been walking around a lot more. He was walking by our house when another guy materialized out of the shadows. They seemd to be discussing house numbers.
We called the police non-emergency line and were told to call the North precinct. The officer that answered the phone at the North precinct didn’t even want to hear our story b/c he couldn’t do anything about it. Told us to call 911. Well, not an emergency, so we didn’t want to call 911. Called back to the non-emergency line and finally got a dispatcher who was interested in our story, took descriptions, direction of travel, etc.
The Seattle Police department has a website with lots of common sense tips on it for preventing crime (http://www.seattle.gov/police/prevention/auto/carprowl.htm). However, there are a few interesting nuggets of information to be found, including this one:
“If you park your car in a dark or isolated area, consider the City Light Area Lighting Program, which permits additional light fixtures to be placed on existing poles. The cost is less than $5 per month per light. Call (206) 684-3000 for more information. ”
It might be worth a try if you live or park on a dark street.
One more thing: the SPD website mentions the presence of a “bait car” program, which sounds really neat. It might be worthwhile to try to contact the north precinct and see if they will put a bait car in the hood to see what they can catch.
@Brian – is it really lack of street lights that is causing this crime wave? How about increased vagrancy, lack of public services, and poor policing after 6pm?
@Kerrizor–I agree that street lighting (or lack thereof) is unlikely to be driving crime patterns around here. I’m no sociologist but I’d be willing to bet that crime has to do more with the economy and police practices and drug addiction and things of that nature. Possibly our crime wave has more to do with Wallyhood’s excellent reporting and increased public recognition of the problem rather than an actual uptick in incidents. Improved street lighting is no magic bullet, but since Wallyhood seemed to be soliciting ideas to address the problem I figured I’d mention it.
Hopefully there are no backyard astronomers who are frustrated with me at the moment.
Molly Moon’s was robbed at gunpoint? Am I missing something obvious or is it weird that there doesn’t seem to be anything in the news about this? Armed robbery sounds newsworthy to me. Should other Wallingford businesses be concerned about this happening to them next?
I am just surprised someone would be able to walk into Molly Moon’s without waiting in line for 15 minutes.
Our place on 40th got broken into Thursday afternoon around 4. The back door was unlocked and they came in and grabbed my wallet and keys. I was upstairs working at the time. It amazes me how bold these folks are (especially considering how little they made off with).
They used my credit card at the local convenience store (which has a surveillance camera). It sure seems that if someone was willing to put the effort in, they could get a picture of whomever is doing this.
@Brian how did you know I was a backyard astronomer? 🙂
Actually, for being in the middle of the city, if you’re on the right block (and blazing porchlights aren’t on) Wallingford has some surprisingly good views – I can usually pick out multiple constellations and the faintest trace of the Milky Way (on really, REALLY good nights).
Jupiter is super bright, approaching its closest point to the Sun this season – if you see me outside with one of my telescopes, don’t hesitate to ask to take a peek at it! Even on “bad” nights I’ve been able to see multiple moons!
Not even a criminal wants a Zune! Sara the limp guy lives in the boarding house on Latona.
My pilates instructor told me that Studio Evolve in Wallingford was robbed last week as well.