Mt. Baker neighbors hit streets to reduce burglaries

Residents of the Mount Baker neighborhood could scarcely believe it: Burglars hauling out a 50-inch television from a house in broad daylight.

Neighbors shook their heads again when thieves broke into another house and drove off into the night with a top-of-the-line stove, dishwasher and refrigerator.

Then on Jan. 22, armed intruders broke into a home on South Mount Baker Boulevard and gagged and beat a 67-year-old man. The assailants got away.

"That sent people over the edge," said Maureen MacCarthy, one of many neighbors who wondered aloud: How bad is it going to get?

Here in one of Seattle's most cohesive communities, where houses and lawns tend to be well maintained and neighbors routinely walk together, a sharp rise in burglaries — several brazen, one violent, most unsolved — has galvanized residents. They formed what police now say is the most active Block Watch network in Southeast Seattle.

"Neighborhoods have the amount of crime they tolerate," said Mark Solomon, crime-prevention coordinator for the Seattle Police Department's south precinct. "Mount Baker clearly said, 'No more.' "

The community held a meeting with police in November to get answers to their questions: Why did it take hours for police to respond to burglaries? Why were police unable to arrest burglars? Was the neighborhood really experiencing a boom in burglaries?

Residents were told that the Police Department was overwhelmed with 911 calls and that officers were focused on stemming a surge in violent crimes, such as armed robbery, in other neighborhoods in Rainier Valley, MacCarthy said.

Police also stressed that in order for officers to arrest burglars, they need a good description of a suspect and evidence linking the suspect to the crime.

One thing was clear: A crime wave was under way in Mount Baker, along with the nearby neighborhoods of Genesee, Lakewood and Columbia City. Burglaries in two census tracts covering Mount Baker peaked from August to October, averaging 22 a month, compared with nine a month for the same period a year earlier.

What got residents really moving was the home-invasion scare in January. At about 6 a.m., men with guns broke into a house and, according to police, put duct tape on the resident's hands, eyes and mouth, demanded cash, kicked him and beat his head against the floor. A 19-year-old Federal Way man has been arrested.

After that crime, Mount Baker residents say they discussed the idea of hiring private security patrols but dropped that plan because it raised logistical problems, let the city off the hook and smacked of elitism.

Instead, they began patrolling blocks and alleys themselves — wearing yellow vests and armed only with a cellphone and maybe a dog. They also began circulating e-mails about any activity in the neighborhood that struck them as suspicious.

One example: a possible scam involving at least two children going door to door selling candy. One asked if he could use the bathroom, while the other casually asked whether the homeowner had a dog. A homeowner's computers were stolen two weeks after the children's visit.

Another neighbor wrote to the group:

"I've called the police but wanted everyone to know that my nanny saw 2 boys sorting the contents of a jewelry box and child's bank in the Mt. Baker park on Thursday around 3:30. She estimated the boys were about 10 and 14 years old. Wondering if anyone else saw them and might be able to help with descriptions."

The neighborhood scored a victory late last month when police caught three teens suspected of breaking into a Mount Baker house. Several neighbors called 911, helping officers arrest one suspect and identify two others who ran off to Franklin High. The suspects, who are not Franklin students, were detained by school security until police arrived.

Marla Bahm-Scoville was the first to call 911 in that case. Not only that, she jumped barefoot into her car and, from a distance, tailed one of the teens, relaying information along the way to police dispatchers. She'd become suspicious after seeing the kids peering into her garage and hiding something behind a neighbor's trash can.

"It's such an invasion," said Bahm-Scoville, 54. "These kids at this age, if they keep going on, what's going to happen to them later?"

Seattle Police Detective Rick Bourns said the prompt action taken by Mount Baker residents is the kind of cooperation police need from neighborhoods.

"There are a lot of tools available to us today, but the truth of the matter is that most crimes are solved because somebody told us," he said.

Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or sbhatt@seattletimes.com