Last month several homes in the Whittier Heights neighborhood were broken into during the day. We received this email on Monday evening from another Ballard resident about an attempted break-in:
Today around 11am, I was in my basement of my home (near the corner of 18th Ave. and NW 73rd) doing laundry and watching cartoons with my 4 year old. I heard a couple of knocks on my front door, which I assumed were UPS or solicitors and I ignored them. Less than 30 seconds later, two guys were trying to kick open our basement door. I hollered and threw things at the door (to let them know there was someone home) and they fled.
I called 911 and the police came to take a report. They mentioned there had been a call of some individuals walking up the street around 14th and 67th carrying a TV, and that daytime break-ins were still happening often in the neighborhood.
Too busy issuing speeding tickets at 52nd and 15th to do anything about it.
Go get ’em, boys!
there is an abandoned tv at the bus stop on 15th and 75th. crt style, 24 inch or so.
Should have waited until they walked through the door and shot them….I would have.
it really is pretty pathetic how easy life has become for criminals around this city.
indeed, most cops just hand out speeding tickets (or worse, jaywalking tickets) and call that serving the public or something..
“it really is pretty pathetic how easy life has become for criminals around this city.”
Hell, break the law, slap and shove a cop and half the city will come to your defense, the Mayor will convene social justice workshops and the cops will have to spend a week in mandatory sensitivity training.
Snoopy – that’s now hazardous waste, so it’ll probably cost 250k$ to dispose of.
Very scary. Things like that are why I contemplate getting a gun. I’d like to think that I’d have the resolve to not hesitate and use it (assuming they came inside and made it legal for me to save the taxpayers some incarceration cash).
Dweezil: get the gun. But get gun safety training first. Every reputable range offers a course, often for less than $100.
Our neighbors in North Beach just had their house completely ransacked and car stolen last weekend. they had been out of town so whether it was day or night is not known but it’s something we all need to be more aware of and be each others eyes and ears.
@8 Wades Guns in Bellevue offers great classes.
Wades Guns is overpriced, though. Perhaps not for classes, but for actual firearms, ammo and range use.
Get a dog.
I agree Jon, but folks at Wades are professional.
If you just want something quick, cheap and easy, that will make you feel like Travis Bickle, Butch’s on 99!
I was attacked once by the paranoid-schizophrenic son of my landlady. He came to my door, asked a few questions, then lost it (he was off his meds).
We fought for a while and then he ran off. I am really glad that no one had a gun. Had his mother had a gun it could have ended up in his pocket. Had I had a gun I am not at all certain that I would have been able to completely get over killing someone, even in self defense. Actually, having a gun at-the-ready (loaded) just seems dangerous. If it was in a safe it would not have been of any use, anyway.
Our best defense in Ballard is to know our neighbors and keep a lookout. This site actually helps a lot.
Chrispy has a good point…what if guns were involved? Who would have the drop? Who would be better at using it?
Would the person in this article be carrying a loaded weapon while doing their laundry and watching cartoons with their four year old? If they were and they shot the burglars how messed up would that four year old be for witnessing that?
I’m not really anti-gun, but the pro gun fantasies kinda break down if you start to ask real questions.
You’re much better off with good vigilant neighbors and a dog. Oh yeah, a properly staffed police dept would be nice too. And detectives to follow up on this stuff. And prosecutors willing to actually put these creeps away.
We were up at 1:00 the other night with the front door open and checked to see what the racket was outside. There was a truck (about the size of an Amazon Fresh) with its hazards on. A dude with a spelunking hat got out and walked onto the porches of two neighbors (looking at addresses?) When he saw that he had attracted our attention, he promptly got back in the truck and raced away. We couldn’t read the name on the truck or the license plate – but it was really odd.
butches on aurora sells a great inexpensive foam pepper spray…very effective from eight feet away. could also be deadly though if they’re asthmatic or have other respiratory issues…but heh, what else are you going to do if someone enters your home while you’re there. if you’re armed, remember, don’t shoot ’em in the back.
Get a dog.
Get another dog as backup.
“Too busy issuing speeding tickets at 52nd and 15th to do anything about it.”
As they should be!! Speeding motorists kill WAY more people than burglars! When it comes to threats to public safety bad drivers are a far greater threat than burglars. Try checking the numbers sometime.
At our block watch meeting the cops made it a point to tell us to ALWAYS ackowledge a door knock–you don’t have to answer, you can yell “who is it”, peek through a window but make sure they see, etc. I pull back the curtain on my glass door and my dog goes nuts when he sees someone there, and I just shake my head if it’s a solicitor or someone sketchy looking. Thieves nearly always knock and wait for no answer before breaking in.
SPG said: “I’m not really anti-gun, but the pro gun fantasies kinda break down if you start to ask real questions.”
I say: you can be pro-gun, without the fantasies.
Any reasonable gun owner would answer your what-ifs thusly: “the only difference a gun would make in the source story is that if the intruders weren’t scared off by the screams, the homeowner would be able to protect herself and her children.”
Furthermore, any educated gun owner would tell you that it’s stupid and dangerous to seek out the source of a noise/disturbance, gun or no gun. The proper response is: yell, call the cops, and barricade yourself somewhere safe until the cops arrive. Don’t shoot unless your life (or the life of a loved one) is in danger. After all, the gun is for SELF defense, not STUFF defense.
In other words: the only difference a gun makes in the “home intruder” scenario is that if the intruder decides to take not only your stuff, but your life, you can prevent that from happening.
Please gun advocates:
Lock your guns in a safe and HIDE it when you leave your house so you don’t put ANOTHER gun in the hands of criminals.
Please make sure and HIT the criminal when you shoot at them. It sucks when you miss your target and kill an innocent person.
Shoot to kill or you will be sued by the criminal. You will probably be sued by their family anyway so make sure your assets are protected immediately after the incident.
When are these gun advocates actually going to be in the right place at the right time to stop an assault, burglary by shooting the criminal instead of just giving lip service.
I am for responsible gun ownership but some of the over the top comments are just ridiculous. Easy to talk. Walk the walk. Clean up the streets vigilantes.
Previous post wasn’t sarcastic. Dead serious. Time to see if more guns and criminals with holes in them reduce crime.
“Actually, having a gun at-the-ready (loaded) just seems dangerous.”
It is. Lock up your weapon, unloaded and train yourself to access it and load it in 20 seconds. Semi-automatics are quick to load. My record is 10 seconds. I’ll take those odds over a thug in my house.
“if you’re armed, remember, don’t shoot ‘em in the back.”
Actually, in Washington state, if they are in your home, that would be perfectly legal and no, you couldn’t be sued.
“the gun is for SELF defense, not STUFF defense.”
Tough **** for the thug I guess.
But good luck thinking Tibetan prayer flags will protect you.
Did you get a dog yet?
“Did you get a dog yet?”
Actually, a well placed NRA sticker works just as well.