It is always beer-thirty for this guy
On Aug. 28 around 2:30 a.m. a man driving an El Camino pulled up to a gas station on Holden St., walked inside and told the clerk he wanted to buy some beer. The clerk told him it was after 2 a.m. so the beer coolers were locked for the night. The suspect walked outside to gather a large rock, came back inside and threw it through the glass pane of the beer cooler. He grabbed two 18-packs and walked them out to the El Camino, and then decided to come back in for seconds (two more 18-packs) and thirds (another 18-pack and a 12-pack) before leaving the scene. Total value of the beer was $91. Police planned to secure surveillance tapes from the business owner for further investigation.

Chalk one up for the alarm
Burglar(s) entered a 51st Ave SW home sometime during the day on Aug. 31, breaking both sides of a slider double pane window in the kitchen with some sort of pry tool. Once inside, they made their way to the living room where a motion detector triggered a blasting home alarm. The unknown suspect(s) made off with a laptop, but did not ransack the rest of the house before fleeing.

Airsoft shooting results in near miss
On Aug. 28 around 11 p.m. a man was riding his bike on 46th Ave SW when he “felt one shot whiz by” his head, followed by another near miss a few seconds later. The victim said he believes the shots came from an airsoft gun somewhere in Hamilton Viewpoint Park nearby. There have been a number of reported airsoft shootings in West Seattle over the past month, some done in a drive-by style. The more powerful versions of airsoft guns can shoot the small plastic pellets at a velocity of 450 feet per second.

Burglary tip from Mark Solomon, crime prevention coordinator for West Seattle and the Southwest Precinct
Solomon said there has been an increase in residential burglars getting into homes through open windows and unlocked doors from June 1 to Sept 1. “This is a prevailing trend during the warm weather months,” he said, and these non-forced-entry burglaries (where criminals can just walk or climb in without breaking or prying) accounted for a third of citywide burglaries during that time frame. West Seattle fared a bit better, according to Solomon, with 24 percent of burglaries resulting from open windows or unlocked doors. Solomon’s advice is as follows: “Burglary is often a crime of opportunity. If you remove the opportunity, you reduce the chances of the crime. As simple as it sounds, any time you leave the home, even if it’s just for a few minutes, close and lock all doors and windows, even those windows that are above ground level

Robberies by block: corner of 15th Ave SW/SW Roxbury St, 2300 42nd Ave SW, 6900 23rd Ave SW

Burglaries by block: 9400 21st Ave SW, 7100 38th Ave SW, 3000 Harbor Ave SW, 4800 51st Ave SW, 8100 17th Ave SW, 4500 42nd Ave SW, 9200 26th Ave SW, 3700 SW Barton St, 8800 9th Ave SW, 9400 8th Ave SW

Car prowls by block: 4700 SW Eddy St, 3500 SW 98th St, 4200 W Marginal Way SW, 5400 Fauntleroy Way SW, 8600 Delridge Way SW, 2600 SW Myrtle St, 3200 42nd Ave SW, 2200 50th Ave SW, 5100 SW Grayson St

Auto thefts by block: 5600 21st Ave SW, 1100 SW Thistle St, 5200 17th Ave SW, 3500 SW 112th St, 840017th Ave SW, 2600 SW Barton St, corner of 16th Ave SW/SW Trenton St, 2700 51st Ave SW, 9200 18th Ave SW, 3000 SW Avalon Way, 3700 SW 105th St