Local man loses $50,000 after Escalade is burglarized
[Note: I'm back, after a hiatus during which I had to focus on my real life and neglect my virtual one. Since the Amanda Knox case is slowing down as the judicial process takes over, I'm back to reporting on local crime here in Seattle. Apologies to all you European readers who are tuning in just for Knox coverage...we'll keep watching that case, but it will no longer be our main focus. - Ed.]Anyone who has lived in a city (and nowadays, even the majority of those living in the suburbs) should know that you never leave your valuables alone in a parked car. Yesterday's P.I. told the story of a local man who will probably never forget this first rule of street smarts, after his sport utility vehicle was broken into - and $50,000 worth of valuables were stole from inside.
From the article:
The thief's new loot includes cash, diamonds, a laptop computer, a passport and a pilot's license, according to a police report.Police reports say the victim is an executive with the local American Seafoods Co., and the car is company owned.
[...]
The man parked the sport utility vehicle around 6:30 p.m. When he returned around 7:45 p.m., someone had punched the driver's side keyhole and took a black computer bag and dark brown briefcase.
Talk about bad luck. That's probably almost as much as the company paid for the car, gone. But one can't help but ask the question: why leave such expensive goods in a flashy car (the report says the man's vehicle was a silver 2007 Cadillac Escalade) that is sure to attract crooks' attention in the first place?
One commenter at the P.I. article, operating under the alias smdmd, asks a good question:
Would it have been broken into if it were a Prius?I'm guessing probably not.
The story also links to a piece written by Casey McNerthney from July, which lists the top 20 locations for car prowlers between 1989 and May 2007. Turns out the spot this executive's Escalade was broken into - right near 5th Avenue North and Harrison St. - makes it into the top 20. (If only the victim had been a P.I. reader, he might have known the potential pitfalls of such a parking gamble).
Here are the locations that make the cut, as gathered from SPD incident reports and reported by the P.I. in McNerthney's article:
- 3800 West Government Wy.
- 200 Mercer St.
- 7200 E. Green Lake Dr. N.
- 300 N.E. Northgate Wy.
- 800 Fauntleroy Wy. S.W.
- 1500 Lake Washington Blvd. E.
- 7300 W. Green Lake Dr. N.
- 1500 Western Ave.
- 1400 Alaskan Wy.
- 200 Taylor Ave. N.
- 6500 Sand Point Way N.E.
- 5th Ave. N./Harrison St. [Note: this is the scene of the Escalade burglary]
- 200 Aurora Ave N.
- 3000 N.W. 54th St.
- 2300 8th Ave.
- 300 9th Ave.
- 100 Taylor Ave. N.
- 2000 6th Ave.
- 1900 Pike Place
- 5800 Lake Washington Blvd. S.
