GOLD CREEK- Car Prowl

Over the past weekend, February 20-21, a Gold Creek resident found their car window broken and several items stolen. The vehicle was in the driveway. This incident occurred just south of Snohomish Cascade and 65th Ave SE.

SHERIFF’S OFFICE- Crime Prevention Newsletter

The Sheriff’s Office has published the latest issue of its “Partner’s in Crime Prevention” newsletter. Subjects for this issue include:

• The new crime mapping service CrimeReports.com
• An update on prescription drugs
• How to turn in unused and unwanted prescription drugs
• What to do about abandoned houses in your neighborhood
• What to look for if a census worker contacts you

Go to: http://bit.ly/bUcxfY

BELLEVUE- Man Tries to Pick Up Student

KIRO TV reports that a man tried to pick up a student waiting for his parents to pick him up after school late in the afternoon on Monday (February 22, 2010). The man said he wanted help to find his dog. This is a common ploy by sexual predators to lure young children. For more about the incident go to:

http://www.kirotv.com/news/22651845/detail.html.

While the press frequently reports on incidents of strangers trying to grab young children, such incidents are rare. Most victims of sexual predators know the offender and are groomed by the sexual predator.

This link to another blog has a very good description of one form of sexual predator the pedophile:

http://crimeprevention.crimereports.com/2010/02/23/profile-of-a-pedophile/

SILVER FIRS- Possible Drug Activity

There has been some talk about drug dealing in Silver Firs south of Safeway. For example, a small, white Ford pick up truck (possibly a Ford Ranger), license number B7404B, was seen in one of the neighborhoods south of the Safeway at 134th St SE and Puget Park Dr SE in suspicious activity. A youth was seen leaving the truck, moving to an area where he could not be seen. He quickly returned to the truck which then left the area. While this incident may not be drug related, the fact that the youth went to a location where he could not be seen looked suspicious.

Drug dealing can occur anywhere. Like with burglars, most drug dealers do not want to be observed. If you know of drug activity or suspect drug activity in your neighborhood, report it to the Sheriff’s Office Tip line- (425) 388-3845, or to the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force- http://srdtf.org/reportactivity.

Theft of IPhone

You may have seen the following AP article in this morning's The Herald, "IPhone burglar no match for GPS" (http://bit.ly/b0Svhz).

According to the AP:


"A Wauwatosa, Wis., man whose Apple iPhone was stolen from his car used GPS to track it down.

Tiernan Paine left a $400 phone in his unlocked car while at Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Oak Creek on Thursday night.

The 28-year-old subscribes to MobileMe, a service that synchronizes data between his phone and home computer. It also includes a global positioning system.

Paine told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he pinpointed his phone's location and saw a picture of the suspect's home.

Paine took the material to Oak Creek police.

The next day, he and another church member who also had a phone stolen that night had their phones back.

Police Chief Tom Bauer says the suspect confessed to about six thefts from parked cars."

There is good news and bad news with this story. The bad news is that the Wisconsin man left his phone in view of his unlocked car. Police remind the public time and again not to keep anything in view in a parked vehicle and to lock your car. The good news is that he did not act like a victim. He did not give up. He did not expect police to recover his phone by themselves. He took action to help the police by locating his phone and passing the information to police. The technology is not important. If all he had was the phone's serial number that is more help than police receive most of the time.

The point is to take the opportunity, whenever we can, to prevent crime and to aid police no matter how small the effort.


Steve Moller

HAWTHORNE STATION/CHESTNUT HIGHLANDS- Teens Causing Havoc

Several teenagers have been causing unspecified havoc in the Hawthorne Station neighborhood and the Chestnut Highlands neighborhood, both near the elementary school. They were seen in a late model white Honda with license plate number 701 YZU. If you see this vehicle, or know who the teens are please call 911.

FOXGLOVE- Suspicious Person

Today, a suspicious person in the Foxglove neighborhood knocked on the door of a homeowner’s home. He had a pair of jumper cables with him and wanted the homeowner to jump-start his car. The man said his car was just around the corner, but when checked by another neighbor nothing was found at that location.

The man was white, 6’3” tall and wearing a black stocking cap. The homeowner said he seemed very nervous and would not make eye contact. The police were called and checked out the area. We have no way of knowing if this was legitimate or not.

AUTUMN MEADOWS- Suspicious Solicitor

A white male with brown curly hair knocked on the door of a residence near 45th Ave SE and 122nd Pl SE at 8:30pm last night, Tuesday February 9, 2010. The male was “jumpy” and appeared to try to “sell” something, but the homeowner could not figure out just what. The male was dressed in slacks, shirt and tie and carried just one piece of paper. The fact that someone was at the door apparently selling something at that time of night was suspicious to the homeowner who called 911. A Sheriff’s Office deputy responded immediately. The homeowner noted the male at a nearby corner talking on his cell phone. Minutes later, the male got into a large white van with a company name of “RJ Distributing.” The homeowner followed the van into Pioneer Trails, onto 35th Ave SE, then onto 116th St SE and into the Wyngate community.


Note: There are companies that deposit usually young men in neighborhoods who do door to door sales. These companies may be “legitimate” but there is the potential for individuals with criminal records to work for these companies. Most burglaries occur during the day when no one is around. Burglaries, or robberies if someone is in the house, are rare. A door to door sales operation in the evening can have the potential for scoping out potential targets to be hit in the next day or so. While Snohomish County does not have a “Green River” ordinance, if a solicitor causes suspicion in your neighborhood, feel free to call 911 to report him/her to the Sheriff’s Office. Be sure to give as complete of a description as your can (approximate height/weight, color hair, type of clothing and colors, and description and license number of any associated vehicles).

PIONEER TRAILS/AUTUMN MEADOWS- Suspicious Activity

During the morning of February 4, 2010, around 8am, police were looking for a car theft suspect who fled into the wooded areas of Pioneer Trails. The search included police and K9 units. It is not known if the suspect was caught.

Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, around 10pm, a Pioneer Trails resident reported to 911 about suspicious activity at the Pioneer Trails north pond, by 2 white males in their late teens or early 20’s, smoking pot. A few minutes earlier, they had been seen exiting a maroon/red Ford Escort station wagon (license number 237UCS) in the vicinity of 122nd Pl SE and 42nd Dr SE.