Technology comes through in iPhone recovery
On Aug. 15 two men were walking along the 2600 block of S.W. Thistle St. around 2:30 p.m. when they were approached by another male who asked to use one of their phones to call his aunt. One of the teens pulled out his phone, asked for the aunt’s number and turned the phone to speaker mode so the stranger could talk, but he could maintain possession. While the phone rang, the stranger turned thief grabbed it from the victim’s hand and pulled out a folding knife to ensure it became his. The groups separated and the victim returned to his mother’s house to call 911. When police arrived they tracked the phone using GPS technology and found it pinging at 16th Ave. S.W. and S.W. Roxbury. With a suspect description in hand, police responded to the intersection and found a possible match. They detained him while the victim was transported for a show up. The victim confirmed he was the thief, described unique markings on his phone, and police searched the suspect’s belongings. They found that very phone and a folding knife in his possession and the suspect was hauled off to jail.

Technology, yet again
It was 10 a.m. on Aug. 20 when a man away from Garlough Ave. S.W. home received an alert on his cell phone that motion detectors had been set off at the residence. Able to view his abode through surveillance camera feeds to his phone, the victim could see two unknown males going through his belongings. He watched one suspect look up and make eye contact with a camera, at which time they fled. The suspects made off with a video game console and other miscellaneous items, but several pictures of them were recorded by the cameras and handed off to police for continued investigation.

Crimes reported from Aug. 19 to Aug. 25

Robberies by block: 5800 S.W. Lander St., 2000 Ferry Ave. S.W.

Burglaries by block: 4000 21st Ave S.W., 4100 Beach Dr. S.W., 4600 56th Ave. S.W., 4800 51st Ave. S.W., 7900 17th Ave. S.W., 2400 Harbor Ave. S.W., 4000 S.W. Maryland Pl. (4 reported at a secured parking lot on this block), 1600 S.W. Austin St., 2700 Garlough Ave. S.W., 5000 S.W. Grayson St., 8600 35th Ave. S.W., 8100 15th Ave. S.W., 3400 Beach Dr. S.W., 3400 62nd Ave. S.W., 9200 11th Ave. S.W., 9200 25th Ave. S.W., 4800 California Ave. S.W. (2 reported on this block), 2700 56th Ave. S.W., 4100 54th Ave. S.W., 4400 37th Ave. S.W., 4600 Beach Dr. S.W., 4700 49th Ave. S.W., 5400 31st Ave. S.W., 8300 46th Ave. S.W., 7700 20th Ave. S.W., 4500 42nd Ave. S.W., 5200 25th Ave. S.W., 5200 S.W. Jacobsen Rd., 1400 S.W. Thistle St., 8600 18th Ave. S.W.

Car prowls by block: 1700 Alki Ave. S.W., 3000 Harbor Ave. S.W., 4500 47th Ave. S.W., 3000 S.W. Charlestown St., 3800 S.W. Olga St. (2 reported on this block), 3900 S.W. Austin St., 5400 California Ave. S.W.

Vehicle thefts by block: corner of 25th Ave. S.W./S.W. Cambridge St., 4100 S.W. Edmunds St., 8500 14th Ave. S.W., 6000 Beach Dr. S.W., 5400 Delridge Way S.W., 9000 16th Ave. S.W., corner of Fauntleroy Way S.W./35th Ave. S.W., 9400 14th Ave. S.W.