October 27th, 10:30pm
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The white (cream colored) van with people living in it that folks have been writing about here (lic plate known but withheld due to forum rules), was parked in front of my neighbor's house on 21st Ave NW just north of NW 70th st. The folks across the street let my wife know about the write-ups on MyBallard and said they had reported the van to the police. Around 10:30pm as I was reading up on the van I saw a man walk by my house and get into the van so I decided to go talk with him.
I knocked on the door a couple times and the man emerged and introduced himself as (name withheld). He looks to be in his late 30's / early 40's and seemed very humble (keep reading...), though he admittedly had been drinking quite a bit. His wife was in the back of the van, and while she said hello I could not actually see her.
I explained that his van has been reported in detail numerous times on a community website and that concerned him. He claims the van has changed hands a few times and he only came into possession of it recently (sounds suspect), but he acknowledged that some months ago he had been parked "near a bad house", whatever that means, and he was using their electricity.
According to him the police come by almost nightly around 10:30 and put a warning sticker on his van. He said the van does run, but the battery has run down. After we spoke some he said he'd be glad to move the van immediately but would need a few dollars for gas (I call BS). He told me he doesn't get paid until December and so is in a tough spot until then. He also said there's a public program that will be arranging housing for him in a few weeks, though he declined to say which program when I asked.
Regarding future plans, he said he wants to get out of Ballard and that a friend has some private property he may be able to park on. I said that would be a good idea, and he promised me he'd be gone from his current spot within a day.
I left that night believing this was just a poor humble homeless alcoholic who couldn't get his life together.
October 28th, 10am
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I decided to speak with him again to emphasize that he should leave the area soon. I had to knock on the windows many times before they acknowledged my presence. After a few minutes he burst out of the van door clutching a 2-liter bottle with some red drink in it, clearly still intoxicated. I offered to get him some gas if he would agree to move right away. He said he doesn't have a gas can and that his battery is being fixed at the shop (?!). He then claimed he was late for work. "Where do you work?" I asked. Then he started to get angry with me, yelling at me "don't you ever knock on my van again!" and "I'm not living in there by the way!" He headed South down the sidewalk still yelling things at me and I went inside and called the police.
An hour later the police came and told him he had 4 hours to move his vehicle. This was a bluff (read below), but it worked -- within 20 minutes the van was gone.
October 28th, 6pm
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My neighbors and I have spotted the van at the corner of 20th Ave NW and NW 65th Street on the south side. We suspect they likely rolled it there as it's downhill and a nearly straight shot.
POLICE RECOMMENDATION: HOW TO HANDLE THIS SITUATION
The most effective solution is to call 911 and claim that the vehicle has been there for 72 hours alread, then a parking enforcement officer will come put a sticker on the vehicle so it must be moved or be towed.
(Unfortunately vehicles are allowed to be abandoned for 72 hours before any legal action can be taken, so if a policeman gives a warning to a vehicle owner it's not likely that policeman will remember or be able to return to the same spot 72 hours later to enforce it.)
Please continue to report this van to the police. This guy has proven, to me at least, that he's an unstable element.
NOTE: I've been informed by MyBallard staff that the related posts will be removed since they specifically identify the van owners by license plate and accuse them of crimes. Since those posts are going away I'll recap in a generic way what has been observed:
- spotted March-May 09 at 14th Avenue NW & NW 54nd Street, drunken shouting matches reported
- spotted May 09 at 14th Avenue NW & NW 62nd Street, with photo evidence of human waste & toilet paper left right behind the van
- spotted August 09 on 8th Ave NW just north of NW 73rd
- the owners apparently repaint the van periodically: it used to be silver, and then light purple (it's now cream colored, looks like house paint) and it apparently doesn't run: people have seen the owners pushing it around
- the van has a disabled parking permit on the rear-view mirror
