The recently-stolen barber pole at Ballard Barber Shop is once again hanging outside the decades-old business after an employee of a local antique shop heard that two poles in Ballard had been stolen.
The first pole was stolen at Smitty’s Barber Shop (5819 15th Ave NW) at the beginning of the month. Within a week, the pole at Ballard Barber Shop (6207 15th Ave NW) was also torn off the wall. “I had to put a new bolt in because I thought it was going to be gone forever,” Bob Morris, the owner of Ballard Barber Shop tells us. An employee at Smitty’s tells us their barber pole is damaged and they don’t know if it can be fixed.
Morris says an employee of Seattle Antiques Market heard the story on the radio and wondered if the two poles at the store were the ones in question. We spoke to the owner of Seattle Antiques this morning who tells us as soon as his employee brought it up, they immediately called the north precinct. After a bit of investigation, it turns out the two poles did indeed come from the Ballard businesses.
According to our news partners, the Seattle Times, a woman was arrested for the crimes. Seattle City Attorney’s Office hasn’t received the necessary paperwork from the police, so we don’t know if she will face charges. (Thanks Jon for the tip!)
This is the best news I've heard all week!! Yay for Seattle Antiques Market for doing the right thing!
This is great… now all we need is some Taliban justice for the woman…. after she is convicted of course. Maybe some flogging, tar and feather, or perhaps some stoning in the public square.
A shaved head? :)
I'm sure that the wise, compassionate leaders of Seattle will decide that in this case, the proper punishment will be a couple hours of counseling and free doughnuts. That will send the right message!
Well done observant neighbor!!! Thank you.
–Bob also reimburesed the Seattle Antique store for the pole.
He's a good guy.
Thank goodness! i drive by every day and am saddened by the news that they were stolen……so glad to hear these historic poles are back where they belong!
Huzzah for recovery! Now, hopefully they'll lock the thief away. I don't understand why they released her after arresting her.
…because hanging on to criminals is expensive. Hiring cops is expensive. Police investigations and detectives are expensive. It's much easier to shift the costs to the insurance companies and victims than it is to raise the taxes to the point where a proper level of law enforcement would be possible.