July 9

More reports of teens going house to house. Suspicious?

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In the five days since we posted “Suspicious teenage boys” reported in Maple Leaf today, a number of folks have commented on the issue. More recently, two neighbors have reported new spottings.

Steve sent us the photo at right, from a surveillance camera at his house this morning.

“Saw two teenage boys taking pictures of houses on Northeast 88th Street around 17th Avenue Northeast where we live this morning at 9:30. Called it in, and neighbor saw the police talking to them. Claimed they were interns from Zillow.”

And on Monday Victoria commented: “Saw two teenage boys taking photos on each house on 95th between 12th and 15th.”

Anyone have more information on this?

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Sara W

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  1. Regarding the gold SUV, three people, acting odd. They parked, walked far down the street away from the vehicle. I kept an eye on them and made sure they knew it. They turned around, got in the vehicle and took off. Found burned tin foil (evidence of drug use) that wasn’t there prior to their arrival. Two men, one woman. My belief was they were going to break into a house. Men had dark hair, one had a bald spot, medium build, the other had angular features, thin. Both about 5’9″. The woman had red hair dye, slender, 5’7″. All were mid to late twenties. I kick myself for not writing down the plate number. I’m going to start taking pictures myself.

  2. I think it is because its close to the Northgate area. Our other neighbors got into an argument with a guy talking on the phone trying to sell drugs while they were out in the yard. He started yelling at the neighbor, and more neighbors came out and the guy finally left. You could hear him talking about drug sales. Drugs are most likely the reason for a vast majority of the break ins in the first place. Drug addiction isn’t a victimless crime when they are stealing your stuff and damaging your property to steal it.

    The way I see it this is our neighborhood and we are all an integral part of it (even visitors). Its public property surrounding us but we should keep an eye out for ourselves and our fellow neighbors.

  3. I must say I have dealt with both these types of situations over the years and it is always good to be a vigilant but a respectful neighbor. A couple years ago we clearly had someone dealing in our block off 82nd. The scenario was always the same-idling car would wait for dealer to arrive they would then go around the block and make the transaction and come back. The reasons for this are twofold: One the dealer does not want users to know exactly where he lives, and two seizure laws could force him to lose his house if he was selling/manufacturing from the domicile. No big deal unless the corner of your block is approved pickup/drop point. I had two young kids at the time and to say having these aforementioned toothless types out front all hours was unsettling is an understatement. Confronting them did usually result in some nasty insults and profanity but the suggestion of calling SPD to determine who was in the right always resulted in a quick driveoff.

  4. As someone whose home was recently burglarized I appreciate neighbors watching out for suspicious behavior. It’s possible to be vigilant without being paranoid. Let’s not turn on each other, folks. We all just want a safe happy place to live.

  5. Ronald: A few weeks ago, I saw what was probably that same gold SUV at 7 11 and then about 10 minutes later parked outside my house a few blocks away. I was pretty sure they were doing drugs. Nasty looking lady and a strung out dude inside. Fortunately the left rather quickly when they saw me in my yard. Glad they didn’t pee in my yard. EWW.

  6. Photography is not illegal, and I’m going to go photograph some houses in the neighborhood JUST BECAUSE I CAN.

  7. It’s easy to call it paranoia until your house or car gets broken into.

    If they really are Zillow interns, Zillow should give them a t shirt with large writing on the back that says “Zillow” then people will know and not have to ask questions, take pictures, or call the cops.

    @Ronald:

    “toothless wonders” I love it. I have some old baby food I should leave out for them.

  8. Teenage boys out photographing houses or knocking on doors for no reason in the middle of the day is a classic scoping technique for fencing operations. We have no shortage of house break-ins in this neighborhood, and it is absolutely not unreasonable to call 911 when you see something like that going on. Paranoia would be calling 911 for no reason; this is not “no reason.” Failure to call for fear of paranoia is something fencing operations count on, actually. So it’s best to let the police do their jobs and find out what’s going on. If the people are on the up and up, then yay. If not, then the police have a chance to take out some of the scum committing property theft around here.

  9. I walked up to a gold SUV parked partly in my driveway to ask them if they needed help and they were smoking meth. An old skank came from my driveway and had urinated there. The three of them were irate that I was asking them what was going on. I did not back down from them but I would not advise everyone to just “go talk” to these people. There are crazies out there and you should keep that in mind. I felt like they could have easily become violent because I interrupted their smokeout (they were very irritated and offensive). No worries about being bitten by the toothless wonders but they finally just sped off as I stood next to their car.

  10. PARANOIA is the rule of the week around here…
    Relax people. Maple Leaf is a hot real estate market as of late. Lots of photos being taken for Zillow and other property sales/websites.

  11. When we were about to get a new roof our guy said to look around the neighborhood and see if there was some color we really liked. Voila pictures! Or maybe a paint color, or, or…. No fear people, not useful.

  12. The Wedgwood Community Council followed up with Zillow last week on 7/3/13 about this same issue (kids taking photos of houses claiming to be with Zillow). They responded with the following:

    “…there actually ARE contractors taking photos for Zillow around Seattle. They should have some form of Zillow ID and present it when asked. The photos are only being taken from the street or sidewalk, similar to Google Street view. We are collecting images that are only already available to the public. If you do have anymore questions, please feel free to reach out to pr@zillow.com.”

    Thanks, Per. -Mike

  13. Yeah, we had a couple in a maroon Chevy Z10 pickup taking photos in our neighborhood on Sunday. I was about to go out and ask them what was going on, but they drove off. Probably a similar thing where they were looking at comparables or landscaping.

  14. On Sunday afternoon (around 4:30 or 5), a young couple in a silver SUV took a photo of my house (located on NE 91st, between 17th and 20th). I assumed it was either for comparables or maybe the architecture. However, I wanted to go “on the record” about somebody taking photos.

  15. I saw someone in my neighborhood taking pictures like that a few years back. I asked them what’s up? (talking to them, what a concept!) They were a student of photography and some of the old architectural details in my ‘hood caught their eye. Hey, I got a kid about to take their third year of photography at Roosevelt and totally get where they are coming from. Police had 2 thousand calls come in on the fourth of July, responded to one. Really people, if you keep acting this way it will not bode well. Unless they are wielding a chainsaw TALK to them and ask questions.

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