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ALERT: Strangers Seen Lurking Around Cottage Lake and Leota

Spidey-senses are tingling in Cottage Lake and Leota areas and it has nothing to do with Halloween. Residents are reporting an increase in suspicious activity that appears to be burglars casing the neighborhoods.

Residents in the Cottage Lake and Leota area of Woodinville are reporting an increase in suspicious activity in the neighborhoods that they are afraid could result in break-ins.

That assumption may not be far from the truth, and neighbors are wise to keep an eye on suspicious acting drivers,

“If people see a car or strangers on their street that look suspicious, they probably are. People know their neighborhoods better than we do,” he said. “Don’t hesitate, call 911.”

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In one email received by Patch a homeowner on the west side of Cottage Lake noticed the same black 90s Honda parked down the homeowners long driveway, out of view of the street. A man got out of the car and rang the door bell of the house seeming surprised that someone answered and claimed to be looking for downtown Woodinville.

About two weeks ago another homeowner living near Leota Junior High had an attempted break-in and called police to file an incident report. This week the same homeowner reported a suspicious person knocking on the door and asking for “yard work for extra money".

Find out what's happening in Woodinvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“This person neither appeared ready for work nor as if did he work in the landscaping business. What peeked my Spidey sense were the pair of baseball batting gloves in his front pocket and shady look in general,” the homeowner wrote in an email. “He became very defensive when I asked to take a picture of him, because I was suspicious of people stopping by the house. He left the property, but I took a photo of him leaving and when I called the police to report the activity, used it to describe him (see attached). He's a white male in his late 20s to mid 30s with dark hair and with several scabs on the right side of his face, about 5' 11" maybe no more than 175 lbs. I also believe he had an accomplice that drove him off in a dark car, neither of which I had a good look of. This all happened around 11:15.”

Patch is waiting to hear from the King County Sheriff’s Office for further information on these latest reports.


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