Car full of Christmas gifts stolen on Ballard Ave.

Geeky Swedes Ballard

The holidays can be tough to get through. There are presents to buy and family to entertain. For those most affected by the present economy – those who were forced to take cuts in pay and hours, or are out of work entirely – the prospect of the holidays can be a little dim. It’s in these, the worst of times, that friends and communities come together to help others. One of our readers wrote to help a friend whose car was recently stolen in Ballard. Margaret wrote,

Last night (Wednesday) my friend’s car was stolen from outside of Second Ascent, 5209 Ballard Ave. NW. It was locked and unfortunately inside were a pair of borrowed XC skiis (details below), and in the trunk were her family’s Christmas gifts. Compounding the unfairness of this crime is that my friend has not had a job in year. She was laid off from an architecture firm that went bankrupt so she didn’t even receive her last paycheck or get any severance. Obviously this is an awful turn of events for someone already struggling. I’m hoping that your readers can help us find her car, which may have been abandoned in their neighborhoods.

The car is a 1990 white Honda Accord with a Washington license plate. The rear tinted window is peeling and it has a very loud muffler.

She says that the cross country skis are unique. 190cm light blue wood Pendleton skis have a homemade wood block screwed to one ski and the fiberglass is peeling up considerably. A pair of men’s size 9 Rossignol boots. “The police reported that a pawn shop on Aurora Ave was offered similar XC skiis but they did not purchase them,” she writes. There were also 195cm Fischer yellow skis are 195cm in length and have “touring” on them . Black leather boots and bright blue and gray poles have blue plastic nets wide on one side of each base.

If the car or skis are spotted Margaret urges you to call Sgt. Tom Doran with Seattle Police 206-684-8948.

Geeky Swedes

The founders of My Ballard

87 thoughts to “Car full of Christmas gifts stolen on Ballard Ave.”

  2. no, that's why they were trying to sell them.

    what a 'bummer'! I've heard a few stories about people who had all their x-mas presents in the car which were then stolen.

    hopefully, said robber won't be able to open the trunk and desert the car somewhere as they usually do. of course, the robber might also read this blog and realize the booty that awaits him/her!

  3. Another stolen vehicle to add to the huge list on Nickels tenure as mayor. How many is this? Apparently a personal vehicle just isn't as important to the owner as some feel? I spose our leaders will tell us this is “another good reason to ride the bus” too. Hooey!

  4. That really hurts but I have to ask; How does a person who has not worked for a year and recieved no severance, afford to ski? Afford presents?

  5. they said she was let go from an architecture firm–perhaps she's the crafty sort who made all her own gifts?

    also, x-country skiing is essentially free.

  9. Ytoo, I know it hurts that some people are better off than you, but don't let it make you class envious. . I could get laid off tomorrow and live fine for 2 years and not even touch the retirement money. Hurts, doesn't it?

    FYI she's driving a 1990 Honda. Something tells me she's not living beyond her means.

  14. that sucks. I believe that some early 90's Honda Accord was the most stolen model in Seattle this or last year. I had my ski boots stolen out of my trunk down by Safeco a few years ago… i kept thinking the same thing. Of all the things to take, why my ski boots? I guess when you've got nothing, thinking you might get $20 at the pawn shop sounds pretty good.

  15. plumbe, ytoo, et al; Seriously, you're judging a woman whose car was just stolen with some christmas gifts for her family inside? What does a person need to do to receive genuine empathy? Your comments are snide, dismissive, and unfortunate at best.

  16. Amen. There's a lot of hate in this thread for someone whose primary known characteristic is that her car was stolen. Lots of judging based on the fact that she was laid off. It's ugly, and I think it speaks to the stress of the holidays and the economic uncertainty of the times.

  17. TB…..The writer of that post opted to make her money troubles a central focus.

    I think,given that, its a valid question to ask and not a judgement; I could only judge if she answered.

    Speaking of judging..you should reread your post for an example.

  18. What is it going to take for the city to address the ridiculous level of property crime around here?
    My friend just had her car window smashed out at Ballard Blocks. She was told that “this has been happening at all the gyms around here” and yet nobody is doing anything about it.
    Unless the police take more of an effort to catch this scum in the act, and the prosecutors actually press the charges, we're all just going to have to get used to having our windows smashed regularly and our stuff stolen…oh wait, that's exactly what we have now.

    I'm sorry to hear that this happened to someone who can least afford it, and I'm even more sorry to read the comments above from our resident Dbags. Attack the victim for not fitting your personal ideal of a victim…nice.

  19. plumbdumb, you are an ass. You attack the victim for not holing up in an unheated unlit room sobbing until she gets a new job, or wait are the unemployed allowed shelter? No exercise for you unemployed person! No walking down the nicer streets until you have a job!
    A 1990 Honda and used cross country skis are hardly the signifiers of the elite.

  21. Do you realize that you just attacked someone who agreed with you?

    The level of reading comprehension and retention in these forums is dreadful. But the amount of speculation and prejudice based on a tiny sliver of factual information is truly astounding.

    You may note that the original post was made by the theft victim's friend. The theft victim herself has NOTHING to do with this discussion…she didn't start it, she hasn't participated in it; with luck she isn't aware of it. Her friend was trying to help her out, but all that's resulted is a frenzy of misplaced anger. This is not people at their best.

    Could this just stop, please? It's not helping ANYTHING.

  22. SPG, have you ever lived in a city East of the Mississippi River? Ballard does not by any means have a “ridiculous level of property crime”.

  23. It's going to take a great many more police meaning a large increase in taxes. I recommend you get a petition going for that today. No doubt your neighbors will be lining up to sign.

    There is not a terrible increase is property crime. We just have three times the information as was avaiable before and too many have too much time on their hands and sit and read this sort of stuff on the nternet.

  25. This happens every week. It even happens to police officers parked on the streets of Seattle. There are some desperate folks roaming the area.

  26. I'd vote for more cops, put it on the ballot…but instead we only get to vote to subsidize the rent of junk shops at Pikes Place Market, booze hotels for bums and yet another parks levy that vanishes before our eyes.

    Did I mention that brilliant idea to tax lattes to teach gang bangers the lute or some such thing?

  27. How horrible! I hope they catch this scumbag, though it would be of little comfort to this lady if he'd already thrown out or sold her Christmas gifts. To be laid off is terrible enough, but to have your Christmas gifts and car stolen……..
    I can't even imagine what hell she's going through right now.
    Oh, and FYI, for all the self appointed judges here, being unemployed doesn't let you off of the obligation of Christmas presents, especially if you have kids to shop for.

  28. A. Cross country skiing is basically FREE, all it takes is gas. And perhaps she carpooled. I ski, and I usually get a ski pass for my birthday.
    B. Crime IS up, you silly person, according to the SPD 19% this year. Finding out about it 3X faster doesn't mean that there is somehow less crime.
    C. Don't blame the victim.
    D. This woman is probably getting unemployment. Why does her financial status worry you, plumbe? It's oh-so-much worse for someone who has to scrimp and save to buy Christmas presents to be ripped off, than your average yuppie. Thanks for the empathy, Mr. Scrooge.

    So, I guess people here believe that poor people (of whom I am one) do not deserve to ski, buy Christmas presents, or drive a car. Oh, Bah Humbug.

    “Are there no workhouses?” Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

    BTW, I've had my car broken into twice. OTOH, the other night I left my car all night on Ballard Avenue with the back window ROLLED DOWN inadvertantly…on the front seat was a bag of crab legs, on the driver's side was a pair of sunglasses….and in the back of my (truly, it is) beater car were bags and bags of clothes to take to the thrift store, a cooler, a bunch of firewood, etc. When I went to get it the next day it was intact. My only explanation (and, yes, I am ashamed) is that the local homelsss left it alone out of professional courtesy, because it truly looked as if a homeless person had taken up residence in it. No one would steal my car, not even as a getaway car.

    IF I weren't unemployed myself, I'd send her some money myself.

  29. Ballard is ridiculously underpoliced no matter which side of the Mississippi you're talking about. And I believe SPG is from east of the Mississippi.

  30. Cross country skiing is FREE. One year I was unemployed, and the State of WA in some way figured my entire year's salary based on one month, because of some administrative thing…and I got $542 a MONTH. Not a week, a month. I'd didn't cover my rent, not to mention things like, oh, utilities, and eating. And I managed to buy Christmas presents that year, by selling stuff on Ebay, etc.

    And I did ski that year…I got a season's pass as a gift,

  31. My wife and I have been parking our cars in front of our house in Ballard for 11 years, and neither one has ever been broken into. Not so when I lived in Massachusetts in the 70's and in California in the 80's. Nor in Capitol Hill in the mid-90's.

    So what does that prove? That our perceptions are influenced by our personal experiences, perhaps? I see cop cars patrolling in Ballard every single day; my cars and house haven't been broken into. Therefore, my perception is that the police presence in Ballard is effective.

    How has your experience of Ballard been different, so that you have such a radically different opinion of the policing level? Do you live in a part of Ballard where crime is rampant and unchecked?

    I'm not disagreeing with your statement that “Ballard is ridiculously underpoliced”. I'm just trying to understand why you feel that way.

  32. Plumbe, I didn't say judgement was wrong on these posts. Far be it for me to be the first to cast a stone on that front. I only said that I thought your – and others' – judgement (or “questioning”) seemed unsympathetic and dismissive. You're correct, I judged you in my comment. I still contend what you wrote was dismissive and rude. Your response has really only solidified that.

    Ytoo; well put.

  36. I certainly have sympathy but if she has been receiving unemployment for a year, tax payers are paying for her skiing and gifts through federal grants.

    I never begrudge small pleasures for the poor but one hopes they choose to spend my money wisely.

  38. Oh I completely agree Nora and believe that the way we handle our measly dole is terrible. If I ran the world, which I don't, you would take your lease into the unemployment office and your rent would be paid directly as would your utilities. I loathe the idea of food stamps because there are other necessities such as soap and deodorant etc. that are not covered. I would give you a check straight out that you could cash and spend as you felt needed. No stamps or cards that indicates to others you are on assistance.

  41. That's kind of ironic. I lived in the worst part of Atlanta, GA, the worst part of San Francisco, CA and a “bad” part of Sacramento, CA. At no point was my car ever broken into. But my car has been broken into numerous times in Seattle. And neighbors on my block have had their cars broken into more in Ballard than any of the “bad neighborhoods” I lived in – at least the one on the other side of the Mississippi. If you look at the crime statistics New York City now has less property crime than Seattle. So “I'm from the East Coast and crime doesn't bother me!” doesn't really apply any more.

    I have to say Capitol Hill is far worse than Ballard though. If I ever left anything on my porch on Capitol Hill it was taken – even my potted geranium. I think the feeling that the property crime is super high is because even ten years ago it wasn't this high. It's really frustrating. And saying, “Well, our neighborhood isn't as bad as Tehran or the Left Bank” doesn't really make it any less frustrating when some little punk-*ss piece of [poop] steals stuff that you can't afford to replace even though you work really hard to afford it in the first place. Yes, it could be a lot worse – everything in life could be a lot worse. That doesn't mean any of us should be expected to live with having our cars stolen and getting mugged because that's just the way real life is.

  42. I live in the 5400 block of Ballard Ave NW and leaving my apt at 4:45am I saw two males dressed in dark clothes with a woman in dark pants and a white ski coat trying the doors of car handles near the corner of Ballard Ave and NW 22nd. I called the cops but had to go get to my car pool for work before they arrived. I called my roommate when I got to work and she went and checked her car about 7am and it was fine. Reading this, I kind of wished I stayed and watched these clowns.

  43. “if she has been receiving unemployment for a year, tax payers are paying for her skiing and gifts through federal grants.”

    You don't know what you're talking about! Let me explain this very slowly so you can understand:
    1) She was employed.
    2) When she was employed she paid Federal income taxes.
    3) If she was paid even a modest salary and worked for more than a couple of years she will have paid more money in Federal taxes than she is currently receiving through unemployment.
    4) Since she has put more into the system than she has received her unemployment payments are not “grants” from the tax payers.

    “Federal grants” are paid for with the Federal income taxes we all pay. What part of this don't you comprehend? What is so wrong with someone receiving something back for all the taxes they paid?

  44. Hey now, mikiec420, don't go telling the Judging Judys on here that you left your apartment at 4:45 in the morning. Because anyone leaving at that hour must be up to no good, right, plumbe?

  45. Hm… probably shouldn't admit this, but when I was young and even more irresponsible than I am now, my friends and I used to do late night drunken surveys of cars in Ballard to see how many were locked. We never took anything, but were amazed to find 80-90% unlocked. So – it is possible, albeit improbable, that their actions were innocent.

  47. You are kidding me? What makes you think you have the right to open other peoples stuff? locked or not? If you open my car door without my permission then your actions are far from innocent. I find it hard to grasp that an educated person could justify doing that as an innocent action. In a perfect world if I caught you opening my car door for any reason with out my permission I should have the right to blow your fool head off. Dude, think!!

  48. Fair enough. But why, in your opinion, is Seattle worse than those other cities? Or is everywhere worse now? Or does NYC have better stats because:

    There are fewer crimes attempted (because: everyone is nice; anything you want is free for the asking; no one wants anything they don't have), or

    Because more potential crimes are thwarted (by: police presence; armed citizens; guard dogs; good locks; bright street lighting; effective deterrent laws), or

    Fewer crimes are reported (due to: higher tolerance for crime; lack of confidence in the police and the legal system; social enforcement within specific communities), or

    What?

    What makes Seattle so bad, and Ballard so bad, property crimewise?

    Personally I think it's proximity. The closer a crime occurs to home, the worse it seems. It makes me think of the fact (and I am not making this up) that in EVERY place I have lived, on both coasts, north and south, people have claimed that that place had the WORST drivers in the country. Not every place can be the worst, right? (Of course, maybe they were referring to the fact that I was living there, but that would be ridiculous, because I'm an excellent driver. :-) Really, I am.)

    I'm not arguing that Ballard and Seattle aren't cauldrons of crime (though I don't really think they are, all things considered). Given that there's a lot of crime here, why do people in this forum think that is?

  50. And by “both coasts, north and south” I mean the East Coast and the West Coast of the US, northern and southern parts of each coast. Just in case someone intended to inform me that there is no northern coastline in the US. :-)

  51. But she has in no way paid more in federal taxes she has received. That is without even taking into consideration that most of the federal taxes she did pay are used to pay benefits other than unemployment compensation. Do you REALLY think that ALL your federal tax goes into unemployment? That’s moronic.

  52. Sorry to burst your libertarian bubble, but a few more cops won't run your taxes up much, if at all. I'd be happy to pay it if they can cut down on the car prowls and property crimes. My neighbors would line up to pay it. They've all had their windows smashed or their cars stolen over the past ten years and if you add up all the expense and increased insurance rates, a tax hike to pay for more police would pale in comparison.
    Check the Seattle Police stats and you'll see that these types of crimes are up over previous levels, and those levels of property crime are too high to begin with. Seattle does have a relatively lower rate of violent crime so they'll always point to that to justify the lower ratio of police per 1k residents (which is 1/5th what NYC has and 1/2 what any other city this size has). We've reached the tipping point where we're not getting away with policing on the cheap anymore. The costs of the crime are far exceeding the savings of having a small police response force.

  54. its totally insane yet interesting (like a charles manson interview) how seemingly any and every topic/situation can be turned into a no-holds-barred texas barbed wire cage match. thats all.

  55. Phinney you need top read ther links you post, I quote….

    “Employers in the state of Washington pay for unemployment insurance through unemployment taxes; workers do not pay unemployment taxes. (Note: Most government agencies, public schools, tribes and some nonprofits pay dollar-for-dollar for benefits paid to former employees, rather than paying a tax.)”

  56. Seattle is worse because we police on the cheap. The police do not actively patrol so much as they depend on 911 calls to respond to. My street does not get patrolled ever. I know this because the police have told me so directly.
    NYC has better stats now than they did in the 90's because they changed a few things. Departmentally they made a big change in how their departments operate and it had the effect of getting a lot more cops on the street and where they were needed. They also placed an emphasis back on nuisance crimes. Where they used to ignore graffiti, car prowls, and small scale thefts, they started to really go after these petty crimes and make the perpetrators face real penalties. This had the effect that criminals were more likely to already be in the system for the little stuff before they could graduate to the bigger stuff. Breaking into a car was no longer something kids thought they could get away with, so they were less inclined to try it.

  57. They're hardly desperate. They know that they have little chance of getting caught so why not just do it? When the few of them that get caught get bounced out without so much as a slap on the wrist, what's to stop them from doing it again?

  58. I had a friend who made some poor choices and was doing this kind of thing for real. He wound up one night with a piss drunk DEA agent holding a loaded gun to his head while trying to pull a stereo. He made it out alive, but barely. He admits he had a 50-50 survival chance that night.
    I can assure you that if anyone tried pulling my car door handle in the middle of the night they'd have a dog attached to that arm while I called 911. It's burglary whether you take anything or not.

  60. I read “Blink” also and completely agree that there should be more focus on dealing with the nuisance crimes such as tagging, much of which is perpetrated by adolescent Ballard residents. But I'm not sure that doubling or even quintupling the number of officers will increase the police presence on the street enough to be a deterrent to opportunistic crime. And do you really want to jail every car prowler, petty thief and tagger? Aren't the jails overcrowded already? And if everyone's just getting a slap on the wrist or less, who are all those people in jail?

    Gee, why do things have to be so complicated in the real world?

  61. Oh, come to think of it, the book was “The Tipping Point”, not “Blink”. Right? It was Gladwell, I know that. Facts are such slippery things.

  62. “But she has in no way paid more in federal taxes she has received. “

    Wrong. Most people pay more in taxes than the benefits they receive because government funds pay for a wide variety of programs that do not universally benefit all citizens. If that wasn't the case the government would very quickly go bankrupt. Also I never said all the money she paid in taxes went to unemployment. My point is that Ytoo is implying that this woman is receiving an undeserved “grant” from the tax payers when in fact this woman is a tax payer and is simply receiving a benefit she paid for.

  63. Snark yes it would be lovely if the nature of humans stopped. Yes the world is a complicated place. Would you really want it any other way?

    There is a book out, The Great Depression, A Diary, by Benjamin Roth. I have not read it but I did see a review where the following quote was included. “This is the most puzzling period of my personal life. I can’t understand things. Everything I thought was right is now proving to be wrong.” The book is not the work or story of down and out Grapes of Wrath type characters. It is the work of a young educated professional man with a wife and children. Ballard, and I assume My Ballard, is attracting just this sort of young people. They have followed the rules and toed the line and worked hard and expected that would allow them to lead a perfect life with never a complication. Most have been taught little history beyond the myth of American exceptionalism.

    Americans in general are scared and angry right now. Ballard is no different. Times are a changing and this is nothing new. It’s just new to those you are very young or have led limited or overly protected lives. Our society infantilizes people but they do eventually have to grow up. It’s all perception and perception changes and we grow. This basic fact of life has pissed off a lot of people today.

    I taught young people for a long time and can tell you the hardest lesson any child learns is when he learns his parents, or other authority figures he respects and admires, are human beings right along with everyone else. The second hardest is when he learns that a man or a society can do everything right and there will still be complications. Eventually he will learn that there is no such thing as absolute right or wrong and that the world is a very grey place.

  64. Actually, what we were doing was not burglary: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=9A.52

    It wasn't even a vehicle prowl. Surely it was stupid! But young people who are drunk often do incredibly stupid things. Maybe you were never stupid, but I sure was. And it was back in the 80s when probably half the people in Ballard didn't bother to lock house doors either… although we never did check that out!

  65. So, Ebenezer Scrooge, the poor are NOT allowed to partake of FREE, YES FREE, healthful outdoor exercise? Perhaps they shouldn't be allowed to run around Greenlake, either, because YOUR tax dollars may have paid for the upkeep of Greenlake? How the hell do you know how she paid for her Christmas presents? Are you psychic?

    My taxes go to pay for schools, and I don't have kids. So, why should I have to pay for schools?

    “Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses? “

    Your money? I've been paying taxes (and working) for a lot longer than most of the people on this board have been alive.
    BTW, what people do NOT realize is that you are in fact TAXESD on your unemployment benefits. So, as a taxpayer, I strongly object to paying for the war in Iraq, Seattle Public Schools, and the idiotic boondogle thus far known as the Viaduct/Tunnel project as well.

  67. Well, this thread has certainly hit an all-time low for My Ballard. There are some mean spitited assholes on here. Plain and simple.

  68. Please don't ever define who you are by your crap. It’s a plan that is bound to fail. People spend their lives accumulating crap only to find they are still the same person they were before all that energy was spent.

  70. Be fair, Ytoo said no such thing. You attended public schools and you drive on the Viaduct which is maintained by tax dollars in the same manner as will be its replacement.

    I understand and sympathize with your current situation but keeping it real will go a long way in the solution.

  71. Oh but it is. As I said before, we live 90% of our lives in our heads and the internet allows us to see inside and observe what people think about break ins and petty crime.

  72. Of all the cars I've owned or borrowed in my life, only three have been stolen. And it was probably the ugliest and cheapest cars of the bunch: beat up Japanese cars from the 80's and early 90's. Apparently after so many miles the lock cylinders get worn out and you can start them with most any key. So guys go around with a keyring full of old Japanese car keys and steal a different car every week or so. SPD often finds the cars later because they were parked near where another was stolen. I was told that when these guys are actually caught they get away with it because they can claim they were given the key by someone they thought was the owner.

    So whenever possible, keep your cheap old car empty of valuables because it's not just expensive cars that are on a thief's radar.

  76. you misunderstand me, i do not define myself by my crap, i define myself by my actions. one of my actions however would be to defend my crap. its the most basic of human nature.

  77. did you go to Seattle Public Schools, jules?

    either
    a) I'm glad your family was well-off enough to send you elsewhere

    or
    b) I'm glad your predecessors weren't as stingy as you and DID pay their public school taxes so you could get an eduaction, deary

  80. Jules to answer that would be an insult to the intelligence I know you posses. To answer it here would be unkind. Neither it seems does any good anyway.

  81. That's part of your compensation as an employee. There are taxes on your wages that are being paid to cover your potential need to collect unemployment. Your employer withholds lots of taxes and pays them directly to the government. I suppose that means that the Social Security tax that my employer pays out isn't mine either, as it did not come directly as a check from me to the government, right?

    If you didn't exist, these taxes wouldn't be paid by your employer. The money is being funded from your work any way you slice it.

  82. Agreed. Did they have to add politics into this sad story. I hope everything turns out well. I have had my car stolen twice and it is a stressfull time.

  83. I know you weren't burglarizing cars. You know you weren't burglarizing cars. How does it look to the police who roll up on you trying door handles? How does it look to the car owner who catches you?
    From your link: “In any prosecution for burglary, any person who enters or remains unlawfully in a building may be inferred to have acted with intent to commit a crime against a person or property therein, unless such entering or remaining shall be explained by evidence satisfactory to the trier of fact to have been made without such criminal intent.” How do you prove that? You'd really be at the mercy of whoever catches you and I wouldn't be especially merciful in the wee hours of the morning.

  84. I haven't read the book, but I did live there for both the Dinkins administration and the first part of Guiliani's where I got to see it first hand.
    I take issue with your assessment that more cops on the street won't cut down on crime. Right now we often don't even have enough cops to respond to calls let alone follow up on the crimes and catch the perpetrators. More cops on patrol means a faster response and larger response. When you call in someone breaking into your car and nobody is close enough to get there in a couple minutes there's slim chance of the thief being caught. If there is a cop a few blocks away that isn't in the middle of another call you have a really good chance of catching the thief, especially if there's backup available to cut off the escape route.
    In a properly sized police force you'd also have cops who follow up on property crimes and take down the thieves days after the theft.
    We don't need to put five times the number of cops on the street, but we do desperately need more.

  86. Except that Seattle isn't following the national trend…

    http://www.seattlepi.com/local/413509_crime21.html

    “Led by a spike in robberies and assaults, the violent crime rate in Seattle increased by more than 21 percent during the first part of this year compared to last.”
    “The property crime rate increased in Seattle, too. The number of car theft, larceny, burglary and thefts rose more than 4.4 percent during the first part of this year (16,325 incidents) compared to last year, when there were 1,5629.”
    “Overall, property crimes fell nationally by 6.1 percent, and violent crimes by 4.4 percent, according to the six-month data collected by the FBI. “

  87. thats a real bummer, i searched stolen property and saw this. i was searching because my car was broken into in the same area. as i looked around not one camera, hmmm… must have been exactly what the theives were thinking.

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