More Homeowners Woke Up on 10-14-21 Finding That Their Vehicles Had Been Ruffled Through & More for Some.
There are additional homeowners/renters that were visited by the prowler(s) in the neighborhood and each experienced different items taken from their cars. After neighbors woke up and read the HOA News Post from yesterday throughout the day new neighbors shared their stories that were a direct result of them reading the news post or finding out about it from WRS staff that were working on the grounds yesterday as they were sent the news announcement too, along with Judy Hamner.
Others affected in addition to Heather and Brad’s home on Ashbury Court included the following:
- Jason Rinne on Ashbury Court reported to me by email that his wife’s Audi in their driveway was, unfortunately unlocked. Luckily they had just prepped the vehicle for sale, so nothing significant was in the car. The door was ajar, glove box open, and a non-functional flashlight was in her seat from the console. Nothing broken, nothing stolen her coat was still in the back seat, so they were looking for things that were easy to flip for cash he assumed. The Volvo was untouched as it has an alarm system.
- Jack and Debbie on Castlerock Drive reported to Judy Hamner (HOA Property Manager) that there was a prowler in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, it was one of the only times that my wife left her car unlocked and no alarm set. Missing was the car registration and a mess that was left from the glove box being emptied. Also, mentioned in the report was that their video camera has been offline since October 10th. They found this out when they attempted to review the videos yesterday morning. He mentioned though that generally when anyone drives by or approaches their house at night the video camera light comes on and tapes this activity. They have contacted ADT and the issue has been resolved now.
- Mary on Ashbury Court also phoned me mid-afternoon yesterday to report that prowler(s) burglarized one of their two cars; however both were unlocked. Her husband’s truck appeared ok and nothing taken that she was aware of at the time she called me; however, this was not the case for Mary’s vehicle. She had left her purse in the car which just happened to be something she does not do but on this occasion. Mary reported it to the Sheriff’s office right away too and filed a report. It did not take long for the thieves to move forward with their next actions. Her purse contained normal things such as cash, a gift card, credit cards, driver’s license, and other very important documents, and more. Right away, early in the am they had already used the gift card at Bellingham store as well as putting charges on her credit cards. The prowler(s) obviously were more professional at this the Sherriff’s Office mentioned as they wasted no time using the items they stole from her purse. She has contacted all parties already to get replacements and reported everything to companies. Also, as of yesterday she is now subscribed to receive the HOA newsletter and posts. She did mention what happened to the WRS crew staff member who then mentioned they were aware of the prowling incident by Kevin their supervisor of WRS as an email had been sent to him in the morning also for them to look for anything suspicious possible items that might have been discarded around the Loomis Trail neighborhood. Unfortunately, they found nothing to report, but it was good that Kevin shared this information with his crew so they were “in the know” to have Mary make contact to report it too which she followed through on.
- I just wanted to mention that I was up at 4:00 am doing some paperwork sitting in my living room and I did see two cars go by my house (I have two glass panels by my front door making it very visible to see cars going by) but did not think much of it since my Bellingham paper is delivered anytime between 3-5:30 am. So, it could possibly be that given the time that the prowler(s) were in the neighborhood it could have been possibly the cars and they may have driven through the gate rather than walking through the neighborhood. In many cases, thieves at times may want to steal large items and having a vehicle to stash something in is an easier way to get going faster than on foot.
So we may never know if the prowler(s) were on foot or in a vehicle unless maybe someone caught any activity on their security cameras. If any neighbor has cameras if they could view their footage and see if any specific details show up and report this please to the Sheriff’s Office. Also, we highly encourage anyone to call the Sheriff’s Office to report the incidents and any more that may occur too. Thank you all for looking out for each other and the neighborhood safety.
Thanks again to Heather and Brad on Ashbury for probably stopping the prowler when Brad apparently scared the prowler(s) off or there may have been possibly more incidents to have happened.
Also, with it being really dark at night it might be a good idea if homeowners can to keep some lights on at night and this was a suggestion of a few neighbors, so I am sharing this comment too.
Thanks to Aaron Rockwell for posting the Safety News Alert with an immediate posting given the nature of the prowler(s) on the early morning of October 14th.
One last item, if you know any neighbors that are not subscribed to the newsletters and postings (reasons can vary for this for different neighbors) please share this news with them as a caring neighbor as this is worth sharing. Thanks to all that reported and shared their incidents for this post too.
Submitted,
Kathy Barnes
BOD Secretary and Newsletter Volunteer
[email protected]