To consider: we live on Hudson, a block and a half West of Tutta Bella; it was relatively early on a Friday night…still lots of foot traffic from Rainier; we were clearly home….cars in the driveway, lights on; they went with the front door…clearly visible from the street and lit up; we clearly have an alarm (signs, stickers, etc.)

Overall, it was scary and a bit intense, but no harm done (even the door is fine). Police response was great. The kids slept tjhrough the whole thing.

Just wanted to post this to keep the neighborhood in the loop. There's definitely a possibility other folks might have had similar experiences last night as well.

Has anyone else had a situation like this??

I'm new to this group and joined because of an incident that happened to me and my family this last Sunday evenin (8/6/13). We live on the 4600 block of S. Austin St. (MLK and Othello). This last Sunday I was in the bathroom getting ready for a job interview and my partner was with me helping me prep. My daughter was sitting on the couch looking out the window which faces the front yard and saw a young Asian male (19-24 yo) crossing through our front yard. He made eye contact with her and proceeded to the side of our house. She thought he was heading to the alley to get to a neighbor's house behind us. Instead he came in through the side door. She asked him what he was doing and he replied, "I know your mom" took my phone off the kitchen table and left, running, out the door. I heard a male voice and immediately after she was calling my name. My partner chased after him and we were yelling for our neighbors to call 911. Many came out and did. The police came and caught the man.

We are now in a bit of a waiting game with SPD. They need to get a photo montage together so that my 10 year old can come identify him. Hopefully, this will happen in the next few days.

I'm posting here for twol reasons:
1. to let people in the neighborhood know this happened
2. To ask if anyone has any experience identifying a suspect so that I can prepare my daughter

On a side note, yesterday someone knocked on the door saying that they were selling non-toxic cleaners. White kid, baggy jeans, dirty sweatshirt. I didn't let him in and he got mad and said, "Fine. Just stay scared and locked up in your house." Anyone know if this is legit?

Thanks so much everyone and stay safe.
Sara

I’d like to share an email I got from my neighbor (we are pretty good at sharing info) and thought anyone else may be familiar with this:

“Hi all-
I am working from home today and feel that something a little off just happened. A gentleman parked his car in our driveway and knocked on the front door. As I opened the door he asked if I was the woman of the household and if I ate meat. I asked him why he asked – and he said he was at the end of his shift wondering if there were any carnivores in the house and kept pointing to his truck asking if I ever heard of his company (something meat related but can’t remember the name?). I told him that I am not comfortable with solicitors and to please send information in the mail. I might just be paranoid but found this to be somewhat suspicious and uncomfortable and am not able to find the company on his car anywhere on the Internet. Do any of you all recognize this company? Or do any of you order meat from this company? Unfortunately I was not able to get a plate number. He was not uniformed in any sort of clothing corresponding to his said company.”

… We’ve had at least two burglaries within the past month on my block (32 and Ferdinand) which is a concern. Another neighbor replied to the first neighbor’s email with this:

Be cautious:
http://www.mapleleaflife.com/2012/02/16/more-police-news-from-our-maple-leaf-neighbors-a-door-to-door-meat-salesman/

http://westseattleblog.com/2009/09/2-door-to-door-alerts-meat-and-meet

Whether the intent is to break in or not, there’s clearly something fishy going on with the steak guys.

.. Something I wanted to share with all of you.

http://westseattleblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Seattle-Police-Email-Newsletter120.pdf

Crews will surround equipment and generators with noise-absorbing shields, but if it’s too noisy, residents can pick up a free pair of earplugs at the Jefferson Community Center(3801 Beacon Ave. S.) or call the project’s 24-hour construction noise hotline at (206) 440-4DOT (4368). Thank you for your patience during construction.

I called the cops last night, but they didn't do a drive by until 45min later, so I assume it was a busy night. I don't know if our two guys eventually found a suitable target or not. If you see them, do call it in. They work fast but the simple presence of a cop in the neighborhood might scare them away. Even better, go for a stroll or take the dog for a walk. What they want is a vacant street, so we could confound them just by being present.

He also sent a pdf file but I am unable to attach it here. If you are on the Letitia Ave Neighborhood Group email list, you should have received it by now. For others, you may find the attachment at columbiacity dot nextdoor dot com, another CC community website. Thanks.

Dear Community Friends –

In an effort to keep you informed, and in our constant attempts to reduce future victimization, we want to let you know about recent Level 3 sex offenders that have moved into South Precinct neighborhoods…

Aaron Ashby, 24 year old African American male, recently moved to the 3500 Block of S Hudson Street…

To learn more about these offenders, please visit the waspc website and search by their names. (Editor’s note — it’s a little faster to go straight to this page.) You will also find personal safety tips and resources on this site. Det. Fields from the Seattle Police Department’s Sex Offender Detail is assigned to check on these offenders and verify their information. If you have further questions about these offenders, contact Michelle McRae of the Seattle Police Sex Offender Detail at (206) 684-5581

Level 3 sex offenders pose the highest risk to re-offend. It is normal to feel upset, angry and worried about a registered sex offender living in your community. The Community Notification Act of 1990 requires sex offenders to register in the community where they live. The law also allows local law enforcement to make the public aware about Level 2 and Level 3 offenders. Since these offenders have completed their sentences, they are free to live where they wish. Experts believe sex offenders are less likely to re-offend if they live and work in an environment free of harassment. Any actions taken against the listed sex offenders could result in arrest and prosecution as it is against the law to use this information in any way to threaten, intimidate or harass registered sex offenders. The SPD Sex offender detectives will check on these offenders every 3 months to verify our information.
The single most effective means of protecting your child is communication with your child. They have to feel comfortable discussing sensitive matters with you. Teach your children that they should not be asked to touch anyone in the bathing suit areas of their body or allow anyone to touch them in those areas. Teach them types of situations to avoid. It is not good enough to tell a child to avoid strangers. Please remember that children are most often molested by someone they or their parents know.

On Monday night (8pm) I watched a guy casing cars and trying door handles along 39th, eventually entering a neighbor's car at 39th and Ferdinand. Cops were called but were very busy (Halloween and all), and though the guy lingered and thoroughly searched the car, he finally wandered away just before the police arrived. Fortunately for us, the not-so-clever car prowler left his bag behind, which the cops collected, and after the police had moved on he returned to look for the bag. I called 911 again, and this time they caught him along Hudson between 39th and Rainier.

I seem to have a knack for spotting this kind of thing, and helped the cops bust another car prowler in the same area last spring. The lesson is: it's not hard to catch these guys, just everyone keep you eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. The activity that I've witnessed has all been afternoon or evening hours, so it's not just a wee-hours of the morning type of thing, while most of the neighborhood is asleep. Also a good idea not to leave anything too valuable in your car (or at least not out in the open).

If anybody saw anything, please respond or call the police. Unless their house was scoped out in advance, it is hard to believe that other houses weren't checked this morning. So, if you've got any suspicions or observations—people knocking on doors, waiting in cars, doing laps around the neighborhood, etc., please don't hesitate to report it…as you can imagine, this is pretty devastating to the family.

This area seems to be getting hit hard lately…let's all be careful and keep our eyes out for suspicious activities.

each time, they're getting in without breaking windows - which i guess is polite? i have an older subaru and i don't think it takes a genius to crack into. it's usually when my car's in our driveway.

our downstairs neighbor, who's lived with us for less than three months, has had his car (a newer subaru, also apparently easy to crack) broken into twice. the first time, his stereo was stolen; this time (last night) there wasn't anything to take so it was just messed up.

friends have commented that they've seen people out looking into cars on our street at night around the midnight or one am hours, though they always thought their presence was scaring the jerks away. apparently it doesn't, and it seems like there's nothing that can be done about this stuff but get a little whiny and feel a little violated.

just a note to keep your eyes open and don't leave stuff you love in your car!