June 6

More than a dozen new home burglaries reported in Maple Leaf

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Paul emails this afternoon:

I was wondering if you could do a quick post on the recent string of burglaries in Maple Leaf. My house was broken into in the last week in the area between 15th Avenue Northeast and Lake City Way. I’m starting to guess that it was during the day, but I was gone for 24 hours, so I’m not 100% sure.

I’ve been following the SPD blotter and it seems like there have been daily (as in, every day, during the day) burglaries working their way south from Northgate Way, down to 75th, and now working their way east towards Wedgwood since last Saturday.

In roughly a month since we last wrote about home burglaries, there have been right at 13 residential break-ins reported in Maple Leaf, according to the police crime map.

In one that occurred on May 16 in the 500 block of Northeast 86th Street, the resident arrived home mid-afternoon to find a woman holding open his screen door.

He yelled at her and she ran to a compact vehicle in his driveway, joined by a man from inside the house, according to the police report. The resident stood in front of the vehicle in an attempt to stop it, but it lurched around him, the report states, and the burglars drove “recklessly” east on N.E. 86th.

On the afternoon of May 10, in the 800 of Northeast 80th Street, the resident came out of an upstairs shower to discover a burglar had taken computers and electronic games, a TV, a digital camera and a backpack.

According to the police report the resident “stated  that the suspect climbed through the kitchen doggy door with his very large Rottweiler wandering around inside the house.”

The doggy door was slight bent. The dog never barked, according to the report.

Paul continues:

I don’t know if home alarms or any security devices will help (they seemed to move very quickly through my house due to the lack of items stolen), but fellow neighbors being aware of suspicious individuals, potentially ones going door to door looking for unoccupied houses, will surely help.

Before this happened, I would keep an eye on the blotter every now and then and I feel like this area between 15th, Lake City Way, and Thornton Creek is very safe and crime free. I’d hate to see this change, especially at the beginning of what might be a beautiful Seattle summer in a great neighborhood.

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Sara W

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  1. Please always call 9-1-1 for these incidents. With the new predictive policing software, the more calls from Maple Leaf the more patrols we get.

    David

  2. In 2001, Maple Leaf was a rough triangle bounded by Northgate Way, Interstate-5, and Lake City Way NE. In 1894, the area appears on maps as a plat by real estate promoters and was called the Maple Leaf Addition to the Green Lake Tract. The name may have come from the Maple Saw Mill that operated to the east on Lake Washington or from some maple trees that once grew in the area. The first residents organized the Maple Leaf School District in 1907. When the Seattle Water Department built a drinking water reservoir on the hill in 1912, they called it the Maple Leaf Reservoir.

  3. There was a shady character quickly going door to door yesterday afternoon (dressed in purple, no clipboard or anything) along 104th & 12th ave ne.

  4. I always felt that our side door and backyard French doors were most vulnerable to break ins. We have since fenced in our back and side yard AND put padlocks on the gates. Also, we have an awesome Medeco deadbolt lock (not cheap) from Bulger Lock and Safe on LCW.

  5. Corinne brings up a good point.

    If you have any exterior doors that have a window in them where a lock can be reached if the window is broken you should consider a double key deadbolt. We have french doors with lots of little windows in the back of our house and I put one on last year. You need to get used to having a key on the inside, but it’s not that bad. That way if someone breaks the window they still can’t open the deadbolt by reaching inside.

    Just a reminder!

  6. I live near 15th & 80th and we were broken into a year and a half ago during another run of area burglaries. Those were also daytime burglaries. It was reported at that time that it was a pair of people and one would knock on the door–if no one answered then another person went in through the back. It was said that having someone answer the door, a barking dog, or an armed alarm were deterrents. The suspects often broke a window and unlocked a door through the broken window. Those burglars focused on stealing only jewelry and small electronics and would leave many other items behind. My neighbor saw someone running away from the house wearing a backpack so I assume they take items that can fit in a backpack and can easily be turned into cash. My husband’s car was broken into in our driveway (overnight) just a couple of weeks ago and again it was a broken window and they stole portable electronics. Stay alert and make sure to answer your door whenever you are home.

  7. It’s not directly related to break-ins but I have seen an increase in interesting “characters” around the neighborhood, especially a long 15th.

    The other day I noticed a guy that was clearly hammered stumbling down the street at about 6:45am in the morning swearing to himself. Then about a week or so before that I came outside to what I believe is a homeless guy that was clearly on something, I would guess Meth, trying to use my hose out front. Of course I feel bad and really don’t mind someone who just needs a drink of water, but when they walk straight towards our house and my wife while she is trying to get in her car with a zombie like stare and mumbling who knows what, it’s not exactly a peaceful morning encounter.

    We have an alarm and a big dog roaming the house that barks, but with all this news it might be time to hook up a web cam like JK mentioned. I think now, more than ever, neighbor’s need to help look out for each other.

  8. I live near Fairview Christian School on Roosevelt. I had a man knock on my door in the middle of the day. He claimed to be a landscaping sales person but had not literature and started walking down the steps as soon as I answered the door. Somebody was waiting for him in a blue honda civic in front of my house. They quickly drove off. I’m certain they were looking to break in.

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