Community Post

My house got robbed last night… while I was home.

Last night around 11 p.m., a teenager was looking in my living room window. He looked startled to find me there with my friends and said he had the wrong house. I didn’t think much of it until an hour later when I went to bed and found some lights on. My jeans pockets had been emptied out, my bureau had been rifled through, and my old laptop was missing. I’m missing all my tips that I made from this weekend (I work at Mezzaluna), some other cash I had tucked away, and my old laptop. It is an old iBook and has been broken for 2 years, but I had been meaning to try and get some stuff off of it.

I’m the same person that posted a couple of months ago about someone stealing parts off of my car in broad daylight. I live near the MLK & Yesler corner. Thieves are getting a lot more brave these days. Be careful!

20 thoughts on “My house got robbed last night… while I was home.

  1. did you leave a window open or door unlocked? just curious how this could happen if you were home with friends?

  2. Let me guess, you feel uncomfortable describing the perp?
    I feel uncomfortable as you are spreading alarm, you fail to complete your task started in earnest, cut short to avoid unrest… have courage tell the whole story.

    sorry all the same.

  3. Wrong.

    He was on my porch and it was dark outside. I didn’t get a good look at the guy. Young, black, and male isn’t really a helpful description since the vast majority of my neighbors are young, black, and male.

  4. Yep, my fault. This is the only time I have ever left that door unlocked. I’m usually the cranky one in the house who is giving everyone else shit about keeping it locked. Really bad luck all around. I have a crazy dog who usually barks at anyone approaching the house — but he had just passed out after a super long swim at Magnusson Park and I’ve been training him to calm down when visitors approach. So of course the one time I leave the door unlocked also happens to be the one time my dog doesn’t flip out when someone comes to the door.

  5. Sorry to hear about your violation, truly stories we hate hearing but thanks for the info.

    One suggestion I have is anyone who encounters someone who states they have the wrong house is up to no good. These are the calling signs of burglars and the police should be called in to investigate.

    This person is a very dangerous one as he came in knowing you were home, not something to take lightly.
    The fact that he seemed surprised you were home may mean he knows your schedule if this is a night or time of day you are usually out.

  6. The CDNews should make a running list of lines that perps use to scam people…here’s a start:

    1. Man with empty gas can….usually ‘really needs to get to Tacoma’ or has ‘his family in the car’, sometimes both…often is wearing dress clothes. FYI – he’s not going to Tacoma, and doesnt even have a cell ph, let alone a car.

    2.Cute kid ‘selling magazine subscriptions’ or really weird candy to pay for camp – sometimes with older accomplice. FYI – There are no magazines, and while you’re looking for your pen or wallet, he’s doing an inventory of your laptop, big screen, and camera equipment. And, there’s no camp in this kids future – unless they’re calling juvie detention ‘camp’ these days.

    3. “landscaping’ – the classic ‘I’ll come back and mow the yard, trim trees, pick up sticks whatever….if you fall for this, you’ve really just paid $10 to make him go away, because you will never see him again.

    more??

  7. There is a guy that comes to my house about 2-3 times a year claiming he just moved into the neighborhood with his boyfriend and they got locked out of their house. He then says he needs to borrow some money to pay the locksmith.

  8. Locksmith guy is a classic!….
    hit me one week after moving into the hood.
    I gave him $10 also. As locksmith guy left he stated he was gonna “restore my faith”
    and for $10 he did.

  9. My home was invaded yesterday afternoon when I was there alone. My husband and I live on 26th between Spring and Marion. I’d seen a man on the corner of 26th and Spring when I was driving toward my house — he looked a little disoriented. I left my front door open while putting away groceries as I was planning to leave again shortly. This man walked in the door and closed it behind him. I heard the noise and came to the top of the stairs where I saw him in the foyer. I yelled loudly for him to get out and he did so immediately. I called the police and they absolutely swarmed the neighborhood and picked the fellow up at 26th and Cherry. I made a positive ID and the cops took him to jail. I suspect there are mental health issues at play here, and I am so fortunate that I wasn’t harmed. Heed this as a reminder to keep those doors locked…

  10. The locksmith guy came to my house at 11PM about 2 weeks ago. I am on 26th and E. Howell. Hearing about him before I told him to get the heck off my property and I told him I was calling the cops. He left, but I am sure he will continue to torment my neighbors in the CD.

  11. We are new to the area and had no idea that the corner of 24th and Union was a hot spot for prostitution on the weekends. Has it always been this way or is this a new thing?

  12. We always lock the doors when we are out in the yard, even if it’s a quick run to the compost or recycle bins. I learned this the hard way some years ago when a pre-teen waltzed in and took my keys and wallet while I was weed-whacking away on the side of the house. I heard or saw nothing except the buzz of the trimmer.

    I immediately changed the door locks. Eventually someone found my wallet in an alley a few blocks away sans cash. I never found the keys although the kid came back the next day while I was at work and tried all the keys. A neighbor informed me of this quite casually, having watched him, not shouted at him, called the cops or taken any action. :( I have new neighbors now, she said happily.

    We don’t leave ground floor windows open at night or when we’re not home, either. I used to feel silly about my locking up fetish, but not any more. Be safe out there.

  13. 23rd and union has been a notorious corner for a while. 24th and Union isn’t too far away, and it’s had some longstanding problems which I imagine are very closely linked. The Key Bank parking lot sees a fair amount of suspicious traffic, and the apartment buildings on the NE corner have had a share of complaints in the past. I’ve never witnessed a prositution transaction, but I’ve seen what I suspect to be men and women who have a pimp-prostitute relationship, and allegations of prostitution wouldn’t surprise me.

    This guy ( http://noisetank.com/hugeasscity/) runs a blog which isn’t neighborhood centric, but he is local, so a lot of his posts are probably relevent to you since you live close by.

    Don’t hesitate to call 911 to report suspicious activity. The person who receives your call might give you the impression that they don’t care, but the reports ‘theoretically’ help. Hard data (such as license plate numbers, physical description, etc) gets a lot more mileage when reporting.

  14. So why didn’t you call the cops?

    Seriously, that guy needs to be taken DOWN. Or at least inconvenienced.

  15. The situation at Union- and by extension 24th/Spring- has worsened with the closing of Deano’s. It seems the trouble from Madison migrated, adding to existing concerns at Union. It hasn’t helped that Philly’s is empty, the brick bldg on the SW corner is gone and much of the entire SE block at 23/Union has been left vacant while the property owner keeps his eyes on the development prize.

    That said, I bank at Key, walk to the post office regularly and am really looking forward to the documentary/art instillation on the corner.

  16. I have lived in Seattle for 30 years. The Central area has ALWAYS been known for prostitution, drug dealing, mugging and shootings. I also live on 22nd. and Union.
    An area can’t change just because people chose to live there- one must become active and involved in the community. If people feel there are no alternatives to life on the street they will continue to “survive” by any means possible. We can’t live in our home and think it will magically disappear.
    There are SOOOOOOOO many ways to become active for change- how many people know of the Umoja Peace Center on 25th and Spring?

  17. ginger58 well said! My dad told me ‘you move to the hood, you inherit the hood and all of it’s ways.’ My 85 yr old grandmother still lives over there on 25th and Union.

  18. East Precinct Crime Prevention Coalition

    Next EPCPC Meeting: Thursday, June 25, 2009, 6:30PM – 8PM at Seattle Vocational Institute, 2120 S Jackson St. ***Room 102***. We will have a presentation from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound, who will be sharing information about their program and the work they do to prevent youth violence, as well as help young people through mentorship.

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