Thieves like termites
On Oct. 24 two bank employees went to check the status of a house they own on 3rd Ave S.W. When they arrived they saw a green minivan with the green back window parked outside. Entering the home, they encountered a white male, age 40-45, 5’11”, 195 pounds with reddish brown hair and a mustache. The intruder had metal pipes in his hand and told the bankers he saw some scrap metal outside and figured he could take what he wanted. A help-yourself-home. The bankers let him know he could not, in fact, take anything he wanted and the suspect sped away in his green minivan. The bankers were able to snap a photograph of the license plate before he got away. Turning their attention to the house they realized over the last month (the last time someone checked into the property) thieves had stolen nearly every appliance and gutted the home of its sheet rock and any metal wires, pipe or tubing. The estimated loss was $150,000. Police later ran the license plate # and found the green vehicle had been sold to a suspect with a criminal history including theft and trespassing.

Anti-Santa burglary
A 12-year-old boy came home from school shortly after 3 p.m. to find his 48th Ave S.W. house ransacked. The young man called his dad to let him know. By the time police arrived to investigate the parents had made it home as well. The dad told police he left the home around 2 p.m., giving the burglars an hour window before the son arrived. Linked to the crime, police investigated a suspicious circumstances call just after 2 p.m. of a juvenile Hispanic male running from a porch with a bulging “red sack” in tow. He jumped into the vehicle of his accomplice and they sped away in a gold-color Toyota Camry. The caller verified that the suspect ran from the family’s house, and they confirmed several red pillow slips from a bed were missing. The suspicious circumstances caller told police she was riding her bike when she saw the crime and asked two other witnesses walking down the street if they found the suspect’s behavior odd. They told her they assumed the suspect, sprinting to a running car with an overstuffed red sack, was doing yard work at the residence.

Robberies by block: 2600 SW Barton St, 6500 32nd Ave SW

Burglaries by block: 5000 Delridge Way SW, 9200 3rd Ave SW, 6000 48th Ave SW, 7300 31st Ave SW, 3600 Beach Dr SW, 5400 Delridge Way SW, 6000 California Ave SW, 9000 13th Ave SW, 1500 SW Brandon St, 7700 Highland Park Way SW, 4700 41st Ave SW

Vehicle thefts by block: 4200 Beach Dr SW, 7000 Murray Ave SW, 6300 26th Ave SW, 5600 California Ave SW, 7900 7th Ave SW, 7000 Beach Dr SW, 8600 Delridge Way SW