The WSBeat: Telltale tire; sleeping suspect; drug necklace

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the sixth weekly installment of this new WSB feature, and now it has a name! If you missed the explanation/introduction with which we prefaced the series, you can see it here.

By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog

From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:

*On Wednesday around 3 a.m., officers were dispatched to 26th SW and Hudson, where citizens reported that a man was driving up and down the street with a flat tire and repeatedly trying to start the already running vehicle. Officers found the abandoned car in the 7000 block of 21st SW (complete with a smoking engine, shredded tire and with fresh damage to a fender and door).

The registered owner lived a couple of blocks away, so officers went to the home to continue their investigation. Smelling strongly of alcohol, the owner insisted that his car was with friends: “I’m not supposed to be driving because of my three DUIs.” He denied he had been driving the vehicle, and went back inside.

A while later, the owner showed up as officers were arranging to have the car towed. (Interestingly, he knew just where to find the car, even though the officers hadn’t disclosed its location.) He demanded the officers’ badge numbers before leaving and then spent several minutes—to no avail—trying to persuade the tow truck driver to simply drop the vehicle off around the corner.

(Four more summaries, including the case of the sleeping suspect, after the jump:)

*Just after midnight last Wednesday, an officer tracked down a man who allegedly violated a no-contact order. The 47-year-old suspect was sleeping in his truck near 36th SW and SW Snoqualmie. He was booked into King County Jail on four outstanding warrants: Three from the Seattle Police Department for domestic violence (totaling $120,000) and one felony warrant from King County for the same charge ($20,000).

*Around 8 a.m. Saturday, a man called 911 after he spotted his brother-in-law’s stolen truck parked at the 7-11 at 16th and SW Holden. A suspect got into the vehicle and drove off, but was quickly pulled over in an alley near 12th SW. The suspect had a firearm up his sleeve (which turned out to be a BB gun but looked real), a key ring full of gold Toyota keys inside his jacket pocket, and some meth and pot in containers around his neck. He was booked into King County Jail.

*Officers checking the names of some people loitering in the 5400 block of Delridge Way discovered that two of them were wanted on warrants. One man, a 27-year-old Bellevue resident, had an $866 warrant from King County. The other — a 23-year-old West Seattle resident — was wanted on a $20,000 felony warrant from King County. Both men were taken into custody on Monday evening.

*Late Sunday, as officers took her boyfriend into custody for domestic-violence assault, the girlfriend came running out to the patrol car in the Westwood area, demanding that he be let go. She was told to go back inside and stay away from the car, but she instead yelled that officers would have to arrest her too and that she’d hit one of them if that’s what it took. True to her word, she took a swing, the officer ducked, and she ended up in King County Jail.

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Now that this feature has a name, it has an archive category of its own, though we’ll still link the weekly reports on the WSB Crime Watch page, so you can catch it there if you miss it in the main news stream.

9 Replies to "The WSBeat: Telltale tire; sleeping suspect; drug necklace"

  • miws November 10, 2010 (3:52 am)

    I’m so glad to see my former Lafayette Classmate as part of the WSB Team! :cool:

    .

    Mike

  • Dill November 10, 2010 (9:00 am)

    “which turned out to be a BB gun but looked real”

    A BB gun is a “real” firearm.

  • jay November 10, 2010 (9:06 am)

    Regarding that first incident, I’d be curious if the “fresh damage” was to the right side of the car. I think it was early Wednesday morning, right around 2:45am that we heard a loud bang outside, and on Wednesday afternoon I noticed a pickup parked at Delridge & Alaska that looked to have been sideswiped and its front bumper torn off. That’s just a few blocks north of the 26th & Hudson call. My memory could be wrong…but I don’t hink so.

  • ellenater November 10, 2010 (9:14 am)

    This is fast becoming my favorite segment on WSB. “interestingly, he knew right where to find the car”… hilarious.

  • Brian November 10, 2010 (9:18 am)

    Whoa… Longtime WS resident, and I just linked to this article DIRECTLY from the MSNBC news site. I have used the West Seattle blog quite a bit, but it’s cool that MSNBC’s new feature links to local sources.

  • Jim P. November 10, 2010 (9:42 am)

    Wed night at Trenton & Delridge around 5:15 or so there was a major accident that mucked up both streets. Any word on what happened? Looked like three or four cars were involved and someone on the corner said the driver who caused the accident was last seen “limping away” from the scene at speed.

    • WSB November 10, 2010 (9:53 am)

      It was listed on the 911 log only as a “fuel spill.” We were offline at the time it happened and by the time we saw a couple notes about it an hour later, the situation was all cleared up and the road was open. (Another pitch, anybody with a mobile phone, please put our number in for texting, and if you can, text or call when you see something – that will get us at any moment of the day or night, even if we’re briefly away from the computer, often checking out an incident while it’s happening is the ONLY way to get info … 206-293-6302 …) – TR

  • HolyKow November 10, 2010 (10:28 am)

    2 things:

    The definition of a firearm: (this is from the seattle city law code):

    http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~scripts/nph-brs.exe?d=CHAP&s1=12A.14.h2.&Sect6=HITOFF&l=20&p=1&u=/~public/chap1.htm&r=1&f=G

    (1) “Firearm” means a weapon or device from which a projectile or projectiles may be fired by an explosive such as gunpowder.

    And then the Seattle law regarding this issue (same link as above, near the bottom):

    Weapons in public places.

    A. It is unlawful to knowingly carry or shoot any spring gun, air gun, sling or slingshot in, upon or onto any public place.

    B. For purposes of this section, “public place” means an area generally open to the public, regardless of whether it is privately owned, and includes, but is not limited to, streets, sidewalks, bridges, alleys, plazas, parks, parking lots, transit stations, transit vehicles and buildings.

    So no, Commenter#2, a BB gun is not a firearm by local law. However, as I have posted before, this is classified as a “Dangerous Weapon” in the category of knives and brass knuckles and the like and should be treated as serious as a firearm in situations like the ones we have now where punk kids are doing “Drive-Bys” with pellet and BB guns.

    They can both kill you.

    Be safe and smart!

    hk

  • Big Phil November 11, 2010 (8:10 am)

    While I’m glad the police caught people with warrants, I have to wonder about “officers checking the names of some people loitering in the 5400 block of Delridge Way.” Is this legal? Are you required to identify yourself by name in the State of Washington? Are you required to show ID? It’s a slippery slope to “show me your papers”…

Sorry, comment time is over.