Daycares worry they are targets for car prowlers

In broad daylight outside a North Seattle daycare, a car prowler spots his target. The suspect quickly backs his white car next to the blue minivan and waits.

A minute goes by before the soon-to-be victim exits her vehicle and grabs her child out of the back seat. When she walks inside, surveillance video captures the suspect as he makes his move.

Within seconds, he has smashed in the passenger-side window of the van and taken a diaper bag off the front passenger seat.

Inside the bag was the victim’s checkbook, credit cards, iPhone and house keys.

It is not the first time the daycare has been hit by prowlers, and parents and staff worry the thieves have identified such locations as prime targets.

“I mean, we’re carrying children inside,” said the director of the daycare. “We’ve got more than our hands full to begin with. We don’t need to carry in purses and everything just to drop off a child.”

The daycare, which KIRO-FM has chosen not to name, installed a surveillance camera following a string of larcenies in the area last year, including several incidents where vehicles belonging to parents were broken into while they dropped off their children.

The most recent incident occurred on August 9.

The director is convinced that car prowlers stake out daycares to learn the routine of parents.

“It’s easy, everybody’s based off of a routine,” she said. “When you have kids, it’s always a routine. They know where we’re going to be at.”

Plus, she said, many parents leave their valuables in their vehicle when they carry their children inside. Parents who are on their way to work often have laptops, purses and cell phones.

The Seattle Police Department, however, said daycares are unlikely targets for car prowlers given the amount of parents coming and going.

“You’ve got a non-stop stream of parents who could be arriving or departing at any time,” said Sgt. Sean Whitcomb. “It’s a very risky proposition for thieves.”

The director of the daycare, however, believes such crimes are more common than police have let on. She said even with usable surveillance video of the August 9 incident, police have not made it a priority to solve the crime.

The daycare staff has urged parents to take extra precaution when dropping of their children.

“If you want to be safe, please bring your stuff inside, or at least keep your stuff out of the front seat,” the director recommended.

Sergeant Whitcomb said the department has responded to more than 12,000 larcenies so far this year, but detectives are assigned to cases where evidence such as surveillance video exists.