August 17

How the car prowlers work (on N.E. 89th, between 3-4 a.m.) – and other places in the neighborhood

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Update 2: Colin emails: “I live on Northeast 82nd Street, just east of Roosevelt.  Monday morning (8/15), I woke up at 5:15 a.m. and just happened to look outside, towards our cars parked on 82nd.

A 20-something guy was peering into the window of my wife’s car.  He started walking away, and I immediately called 911 to report a suspicious person peering into cars.  As luck would have it, while I was on the phone with 911, the guy *drove up*, double-parked next to my wife’s car, and started trying to pry into the trunk of my wife’s car.  We started making a ton of noise in an effort to scare him away; he got into his car and sped off before he had a chance to break into our car.  Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get his license plate #, but it was a silver Mazda CX7 with tinted windows.  My hat’s off to SPD – while they didn’t arrive in time to catch the guy, at least 4 squad cars responded to the call.

Update: James reports the car prowlers were back Tuesday night. “That’s two nights in a row.”

He said he’s talked with the cops, who said to get a license plate if possible but to not confront the prowlers.

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James emails that since he’s started sleeping with the window open this summer, “I’ve been woken up numerous times by the same couple of car prowlers.”

He lives at Northeast 89th Street and 17th Avenue Northeast:

Their method is to drive west up 89th between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. and check the door handles on every street-parked car, as well as those in driveways, to see if they’re unlocked.

The way I hear them coming is the telltale rev of the car as it drives a very short distance, then the series of clicks as one of them hops out and checks the door handles. They work fast, and usually by the time I get my glasses on and make it to the window they’re too far away for me to read the license plate (though I almost caught them last night–next time)!

We write about car crimes, either stolen vehicles or, as James is describing, car prowls, fairly regularly. A month ago more than a car a day were being hit in the neighborhood; that slacked off a bit by the end of July. The map shows stolen or prowled cars for roughly the past month – remember that each icon can represent more than one car.

James says he’s going to keep records to see if it’s always the same night of the week, and hopes other residents will watch out, too. “But folks living in the area should make sure their car doors are always locked. Also, if anyone has a security camera (or better yet, insomnia and a window facing 89th), we can totally catch these guys!”

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Sara W

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  1. I live a block away from James and have woken to the sound of a revving car and whapping/snapping noises between 4 and 5am a few times now: it’s the newspaper delivery person making their rounds in a car.

    I’m not discounting car prowling activity — the evidence is strong for that — but it would be unfortunate for the paperboy to have the cops called on them….

  2. I check my car ever night now to make sure it’s locked. Similar to Bob, the one time I forgot is the time they ransacked my car.

    I’d love to hear if anyone has success with the webcam idea. I’ve actually thought about trying something similar but haven’t invested the time yet to figure out how that would work.

  3. One option is to setup a web camera in a window that is pointed at a lighted place. i.e. the closest spot that might be visible from ones house that is illuminated by a street light. Many web cams have a decent zoom. Of course it depends on whether or not you have a clear line of sight from your house to a spot where a license plate could be read.

    I live fairly close to the area mentioned in the article and I am typically very anal about checking that my car is locked at night. The one time I didn’t it was broken into. So I fully believe that the same group is checking the same area over and over again.

  4. I bought a lock for my brakes and take my radio out every time I park my car. I have not had any attempts at my car since then. Locking your doors does not much good. They can open your locked door in a few seconds.

  5. Honeowners can buy them cheaply enough for under $150. Just get a cable to secure it if it’s got a flash. They like to jack those too.

  6. I wonder if the police would have an infrared wildlife camera that they could set up? That seems like an easy approach.

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