Normandy Park Police announced Tuesday (Aug. 24) that up to seven large metal signs have been stolen from a construction site located at 199th and 1st Ave South.

According to police, the thefts took place between Aug. 6th and Aug. 10th.

Police say that these thefts are expensive and time-consuming for not only the construction crew, but also for the City of Normandy Park.

Local metal scrap yards were put on notice about the theft, and there is no word yet on suspects.

The Normandy Park Police Department is looking for anyone who has information about these thefts – if you know anything about this, you are encouraged to call 206-248-7600 and ask to speak to an Officer.

Today, someone took a hack saw to the undercarriage of my Toyota Tacoma at the Burien Transit Center.

My truck is LOUD as hell now because I am now missing a large chunk of pipe leading to my muffler, and probably the catalytic converter… and I thought riding the bus was a cheaper option, geez.

From what I can tell, the converters have precious metals which can be scrapped for $$$.

- Ethan Janson

The next day (July 10th), Ethan wrote this followup:

Apparently, stolen catalytic converters are reaching epidemic proportions.

I just heard a good tip…etch your contact info into the converter so that the thieves have a harder time scrapping it.

I recommend avoiding the Park and Ride if you have a high clearance vehicle with easy access to the undercarriage.

Now, just six to eight more months of riding the bus so I can break even.

Anyone else out there in B-Town have similar experiences?

Email us or post a Comment below…

The three family members were accused of paying drug addicts to shoplift glass art, Armani suits and other high-end goods from local stores in Seattle.

They fenced the stolen merchandise at the well-known Liberty Jewelry and Loan pawnshop at 116 Pike Street, according to prosecutors.

Leslie Calvo, 39, who ran the shop owned by her father, pleaded guilty to six counts of first-degree trafficking in stolen property, two counts of possession of stolen property and two other theft-related crimes.

She faces between 4 1/2 and nearly six years in prison at the sentencing for all three defendants June 13.

Her 71-year-old father, Martin D. Levy, pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree trafficking in stolen property, two counts of possession of stolen property and one count of second-degree solicitation to commit theft. He faces two to 2 1/2 years in prison.

Calvo’s husband, Richard, 38, who has a Burien dental practice and pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree trafficking and one count of first-degree possession of stolen property, faces up to a year in jail.

Leslie Calvo and her father originally faced charges such as leading organized crime and money laundering, which would have carried stiffer penalties, said her attorney, Allen Ressler.

Prosecutors from the state Attorney General’s Office would only accept the deal if all three pleaded guilty, and Leslie Calvo didn’t want to expose herself or her elderly father to additional prison time, Ressler said.

“She accepted the most responsibility and to some extent what motivates her is the desire to see this whole thing resolved, and the concern about going to trial and losing on the more serious offense,” he said.

The three are accused of selling glass pieces stolen from art galleries, shoplifted Coach purses, a $500 bananawood soap dish and other luxuries from Levy’s pawnshop. They also unloaded more than $300,000 worth of goods on eBay and kept some merchandise for themselves.

Investigators said the three used a group of street drug addicts who were willing to walk into a store or gallery, shoplift the goods and deliver them to the pawnshop — often with the price tags still intact.

The thieves were often given 10 percent of the retail value for each item and used it to support their drug habits, police said.

Police began investigating in March 2004 when they were tipped about a major fencing operation involving the pawnshop. One informant later told police he had been delivering stolen items to the store since 1988.

In July 2005, police searched Levy’s Mercer Island home, his pawnshop, and the Calvos’ West Seattle home and found hundreds of stolen items, including more than 300 glass-art pieces, golf clubs and electronic devices.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: You know in the Google Map below where it says "1 Review"? We happened to follow that link, where we found the following "review":

DANGEROUS DENTIST!!  

By Anonymous

Dr. Calvo is in practice w/ his father and sister. Although the rest of the family might be on the up-and-up, he is NOT! I think he is on drugs, one time in his chair was way too many. Face it you are placing your life in his hands and there are enough honest dentists out there. Dr. Calvo is currently facing 32 Felony charges, do your homework and get a reliable dentist! I personally FIRED Dr Calvo and now go to a dentist miles away!]

SOURCE:

• The Seattle P-I

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Images of the thieves, who have been helping themselves to hundreds of gallons of gas, have been captured by surveillance cameras (see left) – but the bad guys have still eluded police.

They fill up blue barrels in the back of a pickup truck, often when gas stations are closed.

They struck at one SeaTac Shell station.

“It’s just unbelievable, it really is,” said Lynelle Martin, who works behind the counter.

In the weeks since the story first broke, King County Sheriff’s detectives have developed new leads on the suspects and uncovered more bulk fuel thefts.

They now know of at least four Shell stations in the South Seattle area that have been hit and have lost up to 800 gallons at a time. Some have been targeted more than once.

Shell manager Tom Nguyen says the thieves had a key to open his pump and they expertly switched it on and filled up on $3.80 premium gas. Worse yet, they paid him several visits.

“It’s happened totally four times… over a month or so,” he said.

Sheriff’s detectives believe the man pumping gas seen on surveillance video is known as “D.” Another suspect’s name is “Steve.” They have a photo of a 6-foot Asian man with a frizzy pony tail.

And the truck often used is a red Nissan Titan.

Investigators aren’t sure what the men are doing with the fuel, but customers aren’t surprised that criminals are cashing in on record-high gas prices.

While some people think these guys are sticking it to “big oil,” it’s mostly small business owners who are hurt.

One gas station owner lost $3,000. He says that’s almost a month of gas profits for him.

Sheriff’s detectives are asking anyone with information about these thefts to call 911 or King County detectives at 206-296-3320.

SOURCE:

• KING5 News