Burglary call turned welfare check
Earlier this month a woman called police to her 21st Ave S.W. home to report a burglary. She said her suspect is a man she met in 2009 at a “meeting for people who want to start companies.” She believes he has been robbing her home habitually since that time. She started to describe how the man would steal items, but bring some back. She said he once took 30 cans of Chef Boyardee Ravioli for the winter, but brought two cans back a few days later. Of her 50 cans of zucchini, 47 had been stolen and seven were eventually returned. Responding officers realized the woman was unsure of when and where items were stolen from and switched gears from a burglary investigation to a welfare check. They made sure she had food, electricity, a warm home and family/friends that check in with her on a regular basis. Those basics were covered, according to the report.

An oddly careful entrance
On Nov. 18 a family returned to their 37th Ave S.W. home around 6:30 p.m. after being gone for a few hours. They had been burglarized. The burglar(s) made it in through an unlocked window over the kitchen sink. A series of small pumpkins once along the windowsill had been carefully moved and “stacked neatly on the stairs below.” The intruder made sure not to disturb any dishes in and around the sink. Once inside, the burglar(s) took a laptop computer, a backpack, one bottle of liquor and a gun safe with a Springfield XD pistol inside. In the living room, police found the Playstation 3 and flatscreen TV unplugged and prepped for theft, but not taken. Fingerprints were lifted from the Playstation 3 and a neighbor told police he saw a small red pickup quickly fleeing the neighborhood as he was driving home.

Burglary one day, DEA raid the next
The day before a West Seattle resident and medical marijuana dispensary operator was raided by the DEA (the raid occurred on Nov. 15), his home was burglarized. Someone broke a downstairs basement window and went straight for cash hidden in a drawer, leaving many valuable items out in the open untouched. The victims told police they believe the thief is someone they know since the cash drawer was solely targeted, and whoever it was must have been watching the house because they left around 10 a.m., but left both cars in the driveway. The very next day a DEA team came to the home and served a federal search warrant. They seized a vehicle, cash, marijuana plants, paperwork and patient records from the home, according to the owner.

Burglar(s) search for African gold
Earlier this month a man called police for the second time in five days to report burglars had entered and searched his 23rd Ave S.W. home. The victim said in both instances someone ransacked the home completely, leaving behind many valuables in search of something greater. That greater find, he told police, was his “African gold,” and he believes someone from “his culture” may be behind the burglaries. The man said his gold is not kept at the home, but in a bank safe. He has been living alone since the first break-in because his wife and children are afraid to be in the home.

Robberies by block: 3000 California Ave SW

Burglaries by block: 2100 SW Genesee St (2), 3700 SW 106th St, 8200 Northropt Pl SW, 10200 39th Ave SW, 10200 40th Ave SW, 3800 SW Myrtle St, 3600 SW 112th St, 7900 12th Ave SW, 4400 Fauntleroy Way SW, 3500 SW 112th St, 7500 13th Ave SW, 6300 SW Marguerite Ct, 4000 20th Ave SW, 5900 35th Ave SW, 10200 42nd Ave SW, 1600 SW Webster St, 9200 Olson Pl SW, 7900 4th Ave SW, 4700 SW Graham St, 4200 SW Findlay St, 3900 SW Kenyon St, 7700 38th Ave SW, 9000 30th Ave SW

Car prowls by block: 2400 SW Myrtle St, corner of SW Raymond St/SW Graham St, 10200 37th Pl SW, 6700 34th Ave SW, 6700 35th Ave SW, 7500 14th Ave SW, 2700 44th Ave SW, 5900 California Ave SW, 2600 SW Andover St, 4700 45th Ave SW, 2800 SW Adams St, 3200 46th Ave SW

Vehicle thefts by block: 5400 46th Ave SW, corner of 62nd Ave SW/Alki Ave SW, 5200 Fauntleroy Way SW