Bold And Brazen Thieves Hit Several Times On 46th Avenue Near School

A few weeks ago, burglars broke into the Seattle Community Church, on the corner of 46th Avenue NE and NE 45th,  and stole thousands of dollars of electronics and musical equipment.

The thieves had special equipment to open the windows without causing any damage and then close them when they got into the church. The thieves took items out and stored them in a nearby shed, then a white van pulled up and loaded all the items and took off. 

The security cameras showed at least one face of a Caucasian male between 20-30 years old. 

The Church has installed even more cameras and more security in all areas of the church.

A car belonging to a neighbor living near the church was also broken into the same night. 

And a resident returning home from his birthday dinner, just a block north of the same Church, discovered his house had been broken into.

Here is his account of what happened:

Our house on the 4700 block of 46^th Ave was robbed last Wednesday the 16^th  around 9:30pm.

It appears that they first tried to get in through the back basement entrance by attempting to pry the lock with a screwdriver.  The bulbs to the backyard motion lights were unscrewed so they were able to do this work in the dark.  They also tried to get in through the back patio doors with a screwdriver, but failed there too.   

The front door was kicked in and they pushed the sectional sofa against it to give them a head-start in case I came home.  What I found interesting is that they also delicately propped a dining room chair on top of the couch so that it would fall and make noise when I shoved open the door.  The next day I found a set of my keys in the backyard by the entrance to the garage.  None of the keys from that set work at our house, so they just dropped them there. 

The burglars only had enough time to go through a few rooms, but did end up stealing two laptops. 

I’m fairly certain the burglars were in the home when we pulled up because our speaker system was partially dismantled but then left there, and the back door was wide open but our indoor cats were still inside. 

The police officers showed up about 20 minutes after my call, and were surprised by how bold the thieves were by kicking in the front door to the house.  The front entrance is in plain view from the street and there aren’t any obstructions (fence, bushes, etc.).   

Anybody walking by or looking at my house from the street or sidewalk would have clearly seen them trying to break in.  

I did not have an alarm system, although I was in the process of researching the best system and service!  That will be installed shortly.

The Laurelhurst Blog alerted the Laurelhurst Community Club Crime Prevention Board Member who said, " We’ve alerted the officers to focus on the area of 45^th and around the school."