Car broken into at Greenlake (beware!) (Seattle, Bellevue: insurance, crime, home)

[usernametaken]

A friend of mine wanted to show me Greenlake last week on a weekday afternoon. We parked in a fairly packed public parking area (there are a few there), and I didn't notice that he left his bag with a laptop in it on the front passenger side floor. I left my laptop in the floor on the back like I always do.

We come back after walking the 3 mile loop and the front passenger side window had been smashed and my friend's bag with laptop was stolen. Obviously we learned a lesson, but I am amazed that a thief could do this in such a crowded place with so many joggers nearby in broad daylight.

It seems like Greenlake is a very popular place for such thefts. I did not report the crime to the police since my friend was not keen on this and wanted to go home and change his passwords asap. My insurance deductible is too high for me to claim anything either. Perhaps I should report the crime now if it makes a small difference in the police patrolling the area more frequently? Considering that this problem has been occurring in the area for a few years, I doubt the police care about it.

From some online searches on "Greenlake car break-in" etc..., I read that one exerciser once chased a thief at Greenlake all the way through downtown and had him captured!

FYI -- window replacement prices vary so much. My Honda dealer quoted about $520 including tax, while a local shop in Bellevue did it for half that amount.

[AlohaHuey]

Originally Posted by usernametaken

A friend of mine wanted to show me Greenlake last week on a weekday afternoon. We parked in a fairly packed public parking area (there are a few there), and I didn't notice that he left his bag with a laptop in it on the front passenger side floor. I left my laptop in the floor on the back like I always do.

We come back after walking the 3 mile loop and the passenger window had been broken and my friend's bag with laptop was stolen. Obviously we learned a lesson, but I am amazed that a thief could do this in such a crowded place with so many joggers nearby in broad daylight.

It seems like Greenlake is a very popular place for such thefts. I did not report the crime to the police since my friend was not keen on this and wanted to go home and change his passwords asap. My insurance deductible is too high for me to claim anything either. Perhaps I should report the crime now if it makes a small difference in the police patrolling the area more frequently? Considering that this problem has been occurring in the area for a few years, I doubt the police care about it.

From some online searches on "greenlake car break-in" etc..., I read that one exerciser once chased a thief at Greenlake all the way through downtown and had him captured!

FYI -- window replacement prices vary so much. My Honda dealer quoted about $520 including tax, while a local shop in Bellevue did it for half that amount.

Car breakins have always been epidemic in Seattle. I had both cars broken into on the street in Admiral in the span of a year...nothing of value in the vehicles and I almost ran down the perps on foot the 2nd time. If they see anything of value, they'll wait for that moment where they think nobody is looking. Sorry for your loss. I'd definitely report it...if they catch the guy there is a chance you will get your property back. Always etch your name onto such things, in the event you get a replacement laptop...makes it tougher to pawn, which is the end result of most of these kinds of car prowls.

[Seacove]

We had a built-in navigation system ripped out of the dash of our car. They did it during the night but it must have taken them a few minutes to break the window, get inside and rip open the dash to tear it out. I have wondered if the system was even operational after that. Insurance covered it but the repairs were almost $10,000. AlohaHuey is right, it's a problem in Seattle.

[sean98125]

You can file a police report online at Seattle Police > Online Police Reports

Please file it - it helps the department keep track of the hotspots

[Vinylly]

Leaving visible items in a car is an absolute NO, NO, -no matter where you are or go. Your friend should know better.

[Inkpoe]

Greenlake always been a prime hot-spot for car break-ins. Which is why I rarely ventured there. This isn't something that's relatively new. It's been a problem for a long time.

[Xanathos]

Smash and grabs are prevalent up there. A lot of the restaurants that way I frequent have signs on the sides of their buildings notifying people of them.

[Zippy7fo]

Originally Posted by Vinylly

Leaving visible items in a car is an absolute NO, NO, -no matter where you are or go. Your friend should know better.

there ppl go blaming the victims...loll

sorry 2 hear...but yeah you gotta lock stuff in the trunk or hide it underneath the seat or tint the windows...

[415_s2k]

My car got broken into a few times when I lived up in North Seattle, off of Roosevelt. The first time, they cut the top, then stole the seats (I have an S2000 and they bolt into any other Honda). Two brothers hit nearly every S2000 that was in the greater Seattle area and would put the seats up on CL and eBay within hours of each hit. All of us on the S2000 boards basically tracked the kids down and gathered all the info on them (including previous convictions for car theft) and the Seattle PD were basically like, "WOW! This is awesome work, you guys! ... ... ... So, how 'bout them Seahawks?" They really could care less.

Heck, when I called in and told them what happened, the cop said, "oh, let me guess, you have a Honda S2000?" They knew all about it and did nothing! After my car was fixed, I even offered to let them use it as a bait car so they could catch the punks and they couldn't have cared less.

What burned me up even more was that I found out months later that a neighbor had seen my car getting broken into but didn't call the cops or let me know because they "didn't want to get involved."

[usernametaken]

Some of the posts I read on the internet suggest that the police do not care about this problem, since using a bait car could easily enable the capture of the few thieves at Greenlake that have been doing this for years.

This is the main reason that I have still not filed a report. I will loose some privacy by having a case on my name, and nothing will be done to solve this problem!

Crazy that these guys steal seats too. The police could easily track the most frequent sellers of the said seats on ebay and catch them.

I can't help but leave my laptop in my car sometimes, since I use it all the time doing contract work. I store everything online, so if I loose my laptop, I don't loose information. I hope that leaving it in under the back seat is safer. I am definitely not going to Greenlake with a laptop again.

I heard that some people move their belongings to their trunk after reaching Greenlake, and the thieves are spying on them and then break into the trunk!