All posts by Kirk Hall

Crime Spree in Sunrise Terrace Monday 2/21

On Monday, February 21,  two cars in the neighborhood were stolen out of garages. The car theft south of 122nd St E possibly occurred sometime in the morning or afternoon, a garage door was forced open and a vehicle was stolen.  Other homeowners on 136th Ave E, north of 122nd St E reported items stolen from their vehicles which were parked in their driveway or carport .  The incidents to the north of 122nd St E happened between approximately 1:30pm-2:30pm. Both stolen cars were reported to the PC Sheriff’s Office. We don’t know if the car thefts were related.  A neighborhood camera on 136th Ave E captured images and time-stamps of the potential suspect walking north on 136th Ave E and recorded the stolen vehicle when it left the neighborhood.  The victims of the car theft north of 122nd St reported a tool bag was stolen out of their car.  It was later recovered at another neighbors property across from the property where the second car was stolen. In the snapshots below you can see that the suspect is carrying both the tool bag and the backpack. The second car was taken from an open garage.  Some neighbors had encounters with the potential suspect who was wearing a backpack and carrying a large bag with tools.  He told them he was at the wrong house or asked if they needed handyman help.  He was also spotted crossing a neighbors backyard.

Potentially there are more victims of this crime spree in our neighborhood.  If you have information to share or have another incident to report please contact the PC Sheriff’s South Hill Precinct, 253-798-3278 . You may also respond to this gmail address ( STACC <sunriseterraceacc@gmail.com>   ) as we continue to compile information for the incident report.

This was very brazen and bold criminal activity pulled off in broad daylight when many people were actually home.  Keep a watchful eye out, call 911 to report suspicious activity or theft. Do not approach on your own as these people may attack you.

The images below were retrieved from our Neighborhood Camera System.  They show an individual with the tool carrier and backpack which was found across the street from where one of the cars was stolen.  We think it is a pretty good bet that the individual shown is the car thief, as we know that the tools were identified as being stolen from a vehicle on 136th Ave E. The third picture down shows the thief when he approaches one of our neighbor’s vehicles, then sees the camera looking straight at him.  He quickly left the property.

We would like to remind all neighbors that more cameras are needed to increase the visual coverage within Sun Rise Terrace Camera Project. If more of our neighbors had cameras with at least one covering the street we would have more evidence against this individual.

There are no cameras guarding access to 136th Ave East so we cannot determine arrival and departure date/times into Sun Rise Terrace. There are many blind spots within the neighborhood that also limit our ability to assist in the identification and date/time of intrusion.

11731sw136

Capture of 14412hrs

InkedEide House_2_LIIMG_0553

 

Police Unable to Detain Criminal

Below is a disturbing story form one of our neighbors in Heather Hills.  It is sad that law enforcement seems powerless to keep the bad guys in check. Finding this man and being unable to arrest him, just empowers him.  He has seen that law enforcement is unable to do anything to him and will be emboldened to commit more and more serious crimes.

” This morning, Saturday 12 February at 8:00 AM, we saw an intruder in our fenced backyard and called 911. The intruder appeared to be a white male, about 6′ and 200 lbs wearing a gray baseball cap, camo jacket, black pants and large black backpack. He had entered our yard from 132nd Ave Ct E through a side gate. He spent about 10 minutes in our yard, took some property and left out the back gate. He turned right onto 134th Ave E, walking towards Military Rd E. At 8:45 AM Deputy Chapman arrived and said he found the intruder, who already has a warrant for theft at a commercial property from two weeks ago. The intruder, who is likely a transient, was not detained or booked because our law enforcement is currently restricted to only taking people in for certain things (ie DWI).  

We are stunned and disturbed that nothing more can be done. We plan to contact our county council representatives and let them know that we aren’t safe as long as intruders like ours can continue helping themselves to our property with no consequence. ” 

SR162 Community Group needs help

Elvin Lerew aske me to post this for the SR162 Community Group.

The SR162 Community Group has been working alongside the Tehaleh development and Tehaleh has submitting a formal request to the legislature that SR162 be examined along with the other possible state corridors to serve the traffic from Tehaleh’s new highway down to SR162/128th.

The Tehaleh development will be bringing a massive amount of traffic to the valley when their new road is built.  A large portion of that traffic will be westward bound and will be using Military Road as that east-west corridor.  As you may know, the SR162 Community Group has proposed that the county consider a 128th street westbound extension from SR162/128th to reduce traffic on SR162 and Military road.  The county has completed an initial study on this proposal and have agreed that it is viable.

We need to move ahead with the next level of a feasibility study.  Because this new corridor would serve to lighten the load on SR162, the state has a stake in the success of this new corridor and should support it by joining with Pierce County on the assessment process of how to create it.

Your support is needed to convince the legislature that SR162 is an important corridor for Pierce County and needs to be included in the ongoing study for an improved east-west transportation corridor that would improve traffic flow on SR161 (Meridian), SR7 (Pacific Ave) and SR507 (Spanaway McKenna Hwy).

The legislature is now in session, but only for 90 days. Please contact your legislature now and ask that SR162 improvements be examined along with other possible state corridors to serve the traffic from Tehaleh’s new highway.  You can find an easy reference to key legislators and their email addresses on the SR162 Community Group Please Help web page, https://sr162traffic.org/Please-Help/ 

We need your help so that Military Road does not end up with stop and go traffic and so that SR162 does not become even worse than it is. 

 

Mail Thief Interrupted

Last night (Sunday 9 Jan)  Wayne Flood called me around 10:30PM about a white SUV with one headlight that Cindy had scared away from her mailbox. Wayne suggested that anyone searching for mail on Sunday might actually be looking for mailboxes which were full of several days mail, indicating that the owners probably were away. They might have been marking homes for a burglary attempt later that night.

If you are going to be away overnight it would be a good idea to have someone pick up your mail, or have the Post Office hold it for you.

A Call for Video Security Systems

I came across an article (in red below) from Pennsylvania about an incident which happened there on 18 May 2021 and thought it was important enough to share with our Neighborhood. The main point I wish to get across is the fact that the police have a good chance of rounding up all of the people who took part in this Home Invasion.  The homeowner who was the target of the Home Invasion had Security Cameras, which recorded the images of the invaders.  Additionally, many of the man’s neighbors also have Security Cameras and the police were able to obtain further images of the invaders, presumably they also recorded the vehicle used by the invaders. With the ever-expanding population in our area, the steady growth of property crimes and the heavy load on undermanned area law enforcement departments it is essential that we take steps to safeguard our lives, property, and community. One thing all of us can do is invest in Security Cameras for our homes.

On the evening of May 18 in Smithfield Township, Pa., a 26-year-old man was home alone when he became the target of a home invasion.  A group of five individuals entered the home and began assaulting the lone occupant. During the assault the victim was able to get one of his guns and defended himself, shooting and killing one of the invaders and seriously injuring a second one. The remaining three suspects fled the scene, but their images were captured by the home’s security video surveillance footage as well as by many of the surrounding neighbors’ security cameras.

Comments I found in other articles are:

Helping the Police: Democratic Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf is calling on residents to install security cameras to help track criminal activity, “Pointing the cameras towards the street and register it with the Oakland Police Department,” she said.

About Catalytic Converter thefts:  Ensure your video system at home captures where your vehicle is parked.

Important Pierce County Survey

Elvin Lerew ask that this be posted. We need to answer this survey to get our voices heard.

Hello,Pierce County is running a survey through Dec. 20, 2021 to find out how people use active transportation in unincorporated Pierce County. Visit www.PierceCountyWa.gov/Active to learn more and take the survey.Survey available in several languages

The survey is available in English, Spanish, Russian and Korean.

Visite www.PierceCountyWa.gov/Active antes del 20 de diciembre de 2021 para realizar la encuesta en español sobre por qué y por dónde camina, anda en bicicleta y utiliza otras formas de transporte activo.

По адресу www.PierceCountyWa.gov/Active можно до 20 декабря 2021 года пройти опрос на <язык> о том, почему и куда вы ходите пешком, ездите на велосипеде или пользуетесь иным видом активного транспорта.

2021년 12월 20일까지 www.PierceCountyWa.gov/Active 를 방문하여 능동 교통수단을 이용하는 이유와 장소에 관한 <언어> 설문조사에 참여해주십시오.

We need your help

This survey will help us develop the Pierce County Active Transportation Plan, so we are hoping for a large response. Please help us by promoting this survey to your customers, clients, families, members, etc.

Visit www.PierceCountyWa.gov/Active to find a toolkit with materials you can use to help spread the word.

Request paper copies or contact us

Please contact us with any questions. You may also request paper copies of the survey, a promotional handout, and a promotional poster.

Online: www.PierceCountyWa.gov/Active

Phone: (253) 798-3552

Email: ActiveTransportation@piercecountywa.gov

Mail: PPW Transportation Planning

2702 South 42nd St. Suite 109

Tacoma, WA 98409

Thank you for your consideration,

Shawn Phelps

Senior Transportation Planner

Pierce County Planning & Public Works

(253) 798-3552 | shawn.phelps@piercecountywa.gov

he, him, his

 

 

The Traffic Mess – 122nd St E. & Shaw Rd. E.

Currently new roads are being approved or updated without looking first at what the end result of those projects will be. Three good examples come readily to mind.

  1. Shaw Rd. E. on Puyallup’s South hill was closed for many months, which forced traffic to find alternate routes to areas south of Puyallup. Traffic increased on Military Rd./122nd E. as a result, and when Shaw Rd. E. reopened it was with a series of planters down the middle and an extra wide sidewalk on the east side. Effectively it is still a two-lane road, which now will be more costly to widen because of the useless planters and wide sidewalk.
  2. A new road has been approved from the huge Tehaleh subdivision to SR162 in the valley. This will route more vehicles up Military Rd. E./122nd E.
  3. A new 120-unit subdivision is being constructed on the corner of Shaw Rd. E. and 122nd E. The planners stated that it would put almost 1000 new trips per day on 122nd St. E. yet would “have no significant impact on traffic in the area”.

In all three cases the result has been/will be greatly increased traffic on 122nd St. E. with vehicles trying to get to South Meridian and/or points south.  Already Military Rd. E. is a virtual parking lot at certain times of the day.

I live east of Shaw Rd. E. and must take 122nd St. E. to access the main part of South Hill unless I want to go down into the valley and take SR 162 in a very circuitous route. As you know the traffic on 122nd St. E. has increased several fold over what it was as little as seven years ago. I no longer take Military Rd. E. to the intersection of 122nd St. E. and Military Rd. E. when I am going down into the valley as I feel it has become too dangerous to do so. A couple of years ago I was entering 122nd St. E. from Military Rd. E. traveling towards Shaw Rd. E. and had accelerated so that I was a hundred yards or so on 122nd St. E. I was overtaken by a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed which swerved into the oncoming lane to pass me and then swerved back to miss the oncoming vehicles. Fortunately, this is not a common occurrence, but I remember it many times when I go onto 122nd St. E.

Now we have another potentially serious problem at the corner of Shaw Rd. E. and 122nd St. E.  where a housing project with 120 dwellings is being built. I understand that homes 300ft. from the project were notified of it and a yellow sign was posted along Shaw Rd. E. at some time.  Since there is no place to pull off and read the sign it was not very informative. Therefore, the project was kept pretty quiet. I understand that it is estimated that the project will generate almost 1000 trips a day, and this was deemed as insignificant. So insignificant that a dedicated turn lane was not even required.  When the road from Tehaleh is pushed through and traffic uses 122nd St. E. to access South Hill, South Meridian and all the subdivisions to the south, things will become truly horrible.

It seems to me that Pierce County is going at things backward.  They have known for a long time that their plans will funnel traffic through 122nd St. E., turning a sleepy secondary road into a nightmare for residents who live along it.  Especially since some homes have driveways which meet 122nd St. E. directly. Would not it have made more sense to first connect 122nd St. E. to S. Meridian even if you had to exercise Imminent Domaine to do so and widen the existing 122nd St. E. to accommodate the increased traffic that other road projects will bring? Or perhaps extend 128th St. E. so that it meets 128th St. E.  on the top of South Hill. Instead, Pierce County has chosen to create a problem by not looking at the consequences of their actions and doing things backward. When Pierce County closed Shaw Rd. E. for a long project, people discovered that they could go from the valley and up Military Rd. E./122nd St. E. to bypass the construction on Shaw Rd. E. This greatly increased the traffic on Military Rd. E./122nd St. E., and it remains increased to this day. The plan to drive a new road into the valley from Tehaleh will surely increase the traffic up Military Rd. E./122nd St. E. many fold.

It is past time for Pierce County to be proactive in its road planning and to look at the problems new roads will produce.  Then they can start at the correct place to alleviate potential problems the increase in traffic will cause.

Stolen Mail – Packages & Voting Ballots

I received the information below from one of our neighbors. Stolen mail is a chronic problem these days.

I found both my mailbox and the neighbor’s open last Sunday morning after forgetting to get my mail on Saturday evening (10/16).  A package was likely stolen as Amazon stated it was delivered but we didn’t receive it.  We reported it with the USPS.  I just recognized this evening that Val and I didn’t receive our voting ballots for the upcoming election.  After looking it up, I find they were sent out on Friday 10/15 (the day before).  Now I suspect that maybe someone was collecting ballots for nefarious reasons.

I thought I might inform you as this might have happened to others in the neighborhood and folks might not recognize the didn’t get their ballot until it was too late to vote.  I sent an email to the Pierce County election office for guidance and then navigated to the  https://voter.votewa.gov/WhereToVote.aspx   site to check my voting status.  I was able to have a new ballot mailed to me from that site (in the location where you view your voting status).  Hopefully I will have more information by tomorrow (Friday).  I’ll let you know if I receive more information.

 

Junk Lot on 136th Ave. East

A message from the Sunrise Terrace Homeowners Group

Dear Sunrise Terrace and Shawnee Homeowners,

We hope you can help us out this week by sending a brief email or phone call to Jason Arbogast at Pierce County Code Enforcement.  His phone number is 253-798-8582 and his email is jason.arborgast@piercecountywa.gov

The issue is the former caretaker’s lot, Parcel # 0419122068, 11715 136th Ave E.  The lot is now filled with junk cars, 2 RV’s, miscellaneous tent-like structures and garbage.  For reference in your email, Code enforcement case numbers are 71874 and 71875.  Jason Arbogast was assigned the case when these issues were first reported to Pierce County Code Enforcement in January 2021.  If you want to read more details check out the Pierce County Code Enforcement website, https://www.piercecountywa.gov/1571/Code-Enforcement

Scroll down to case search and enter number 71874 to see the status.

What’s changed since January is the addition of a 2nd RV on Oct. 1 which is now occupied (lights on at night), additional inoperable and damaged vehicles and more accumulation of solid waste and garbage.  In case you missed it we had an erratic driver on 136th Ave E the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 21.  The driver knocked over a “stop sign warning” sign, hit a tree, drove off the east side of 136th Ave over a rhododendron and straight into the gate code security post on the driveway next to 11715 136th Ave.  From what has been seen on the cameras a car similar to that of the erratic driver may now be parked inside the fence on the “junk” lot.

In January, 2021 the case was closed because the property owner said he would get rid of a vehicle and hire someone to cut down the vegetation but that has not happen.  The case was reopened on Monday, October 11.  If many of us express our concern regarding the code violations we hope the Code Enforcement team will come visit, re-examine the situation and not close the case until it is resolved.  If you have had a personal encounter or issue with the lot occupants that would also be beneficial information for Jason to know.

Thanks in advance for doing what you can to help.