The WSBeat: Arrests including violent gang member, unregistered sex offender, fugitive turned burglary suspect…

By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog

This edition of The WSBeat contains summaries written from reports on cases handled in recent weeks by Southwest Precinct officers – generally cases that (usually) have not already appeared here in breaking-news coverage or West Seattle Crime Watch reports, but that might at least answer the question “what WERE all those police doing on my block?” Or on the bridge, or the beach, or …

*On the afternoon of Wednesday the 16th, a car with heavily tinted windows drove past an officer on patrol at Don Armeni Boat Ramp. A routine records check of the license plate showed that the 27-year-old owner was wanted on a misdemeanor warrant for car prowling. A check of the owner’s name brought up a no-bail felony warrant, extraditable throughout the United States, for unlawful firearms possession in the second degree. The officer was able to take the suspect — described in the warrants as a violent gang member — into custody without incident.

*In the Admiral area on the 14th, an officer recognized a man who was violating a protection order by walking near a girlfriend’s residence The suspect was also wanted for failing to register as a sex offender. When arrested he was carrying an illegal switchblade knife and a bag of crystal meth. He was booked into King County Jail for investigation of all four violations.

*A woman paid a visit to her ex-boyfriend’s place of employment and argued with him in the parking lot. After he went inside, she rammed his car with hers six or eight times, yelling all the while, before driving off. The woman has been trespassed from the property.

This roundup covers a longer timespan than usual, and includes 13 more summaries ahead:

*A Westwood-area business hired a new employee and then fired him after a few days. The man was later arrested for allegedly burglarizing the place. A simple criminal background check might have saved the business this trouble. It would have disclosed that the short-term employee was wanted in New Mexico on a probation violation and for pimping and sexual exploitation of children.

*On 12th Avenue South, a tenant in a rental asked a yardworker why he was cutting branches from trees on her lawn. He waved her off, saying, “Don’t worry…I’ve already talked to your husband.” When she told him to leave he raised the chainsaw toward her and made a “swiping” motion. She ran inside and called 911. He then stumbled to his vehicle (she thought he might be intoxicated) yelling and threatening to come back that night and “F*#^ you up.” It turns out the neighbor had hired the worker and claimed she had cleared the work with the victim’s landlord…which she had not. The officer made a call to the yard company and is awaiting a response.

*Also in South Park, on the afternoon of the 16th, an alert citizen called 911 to report that a Level 3 sex offender was standing in front of the library, trying to talk to children. (A records check showed that particular offender was wanted on a felony warrant for failing to register his status.) Officers arrived and spoke with the man, who claimed to have no ID. He gave permission for a backpack search and told officers it contained nothing sharp. Inside? Two knives, one 7.25 inches long and another 4 inches long. This led officers to do a body search. Again, the suspect denied carrying anything sharp. Inside his jacket pocket (and easily accessible)? Two knives, one 3 inches long and one 4 inches long. He (along with his 17 aliases) was booked into King County Jail.

*Also on the 16th, a woman visited Westwood Village, stopping at the bank to withdraw $600 and then heading to buy groceries. In the bread aisle she stopped to assist an older couple who were having trouble finding a particular type of hamburger bun. When she arrived at the checkout, she realized that her wallet was missing. She also realized that the male half of the couple she had helped had not only stood by her cart (and purse), but had suddenly said, “OK, let’s go” to his companion. The suspects are black, aged 50-64 and of medium build. The man wore all beige clothes and the woman wore all black clothes and had lots of freckles on her face. They remain at large.

*Claiming he had been attacked near 35th and Morgan, a 18-year-old High Point resident visited an emergency room and got stitches for knife wounds on his neck and ear. The nurse was required to contact police (though he asked her not to). The officer noted that the victim’s clothes were clean and showed no signs of an altercation. It also turned out that the victim had been carrying a cellphone but, oddly, had not called 911 to report the incident. The victim quickly became hostile, calling the officer names and at one point turning to his mother (also in the room) telling her to “shut up.” The officer’s offer of a ride home was “rudely declined.”

*The April 11th effort to catch and transport four juvenile burglary suspects in Highland Park required the resources of at least 13 Seattle officers and the crew of King County Sheriff’s Office Guardian One helicopter.

*Because of a middle-school student’s detailed suicide plan, officers had her transported (accompanied by her school counselor) to Children’s Hospital for involuntary observation. Two weeks earlier the child had been admitted to Children’s after drinking bleach.

*On the afternoon of the 12th, officers were called to a Alaska Junction medical clinic after a despondent woman awaiting transport to the hospital tried slashing her wrists with a broken tongue depressor.

*At least eight mental health crises–several involving suicide attempts–were handled in one recent week.

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Plus several gathered earlier but not yet published:
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*A nearly naked John Doe was hanging out in an alley near California and Walker around 6:30 a.m. on the 3rd. He was taken to Harborview for a mental evaluation.

*Saying he was hungry and wouldn’t do it again, a Morgan Junction man was caught shoplifting $65 worth of beer and groceries from a market near his home. His plea for understanding rang hollow when an ID check disclosed that he was wanted on two warrants for theft totalling $10,500. He was booked into King County Jail.

*A SeaTac resident who claimed to be afraid of the dark was booked into King County Jail after stealing a flashlight from an Alaska Junction hardware store. It turns out that she, too was wanted — on a $1,000 domestic violence assault warrant.

*A 38-year-old Burien resident caused a disturbance at a Westwood Village store on the evening of the 8th. He was told to contact customer service and leave. He did not. First calm, then angry and yelling, he threatened to slap and then kill an officer. Told he was free to go, he left and then returned, three times altogether. He activated his cellphone camera, obtained the officer’s name and badge number and demanded a business card with the same. He again threatened to slap the officer and this time kill himself. Given the cirumstances, the officer felt that the man warranted a mental health evaluation. The subject refused to respond to verbal commands, and it took four officers to take him to the ground to be handcuffed. He claimed he needed water, pretended to pass out, and at the hospital he tried to bite a security officer on the arm.

*Also at Westwood Village, on the afternoon of Wednesday the 2nd, three officers were hurt while arresting a 17-year-old juvenile wanted on a no-bail felony warrant. The suspect resisted arrest, hit one officer in the face and at one point during the struggle he managed to get his hand inside one officer’s holster. In addition to the original felony theft warrant, the suspect now faces investigation of nonaggravated assault against officers.

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EDITOR’S NOTES: Remember, the CRISIS CLINIC hotline is a resource for those in crisis, including thoughts or acts of self-harm, or trying to find help for someone in crisis: 206.461.3222 … Previous WSBeat roundups are archived here. We also publish crime reports when we get tips or otherwise hear about noteworthy incidents – they don’t all turn up on the scanner, so please don’t be shy about letting us know when you see/hear something happening = call or text 206-293-6302.

28 Replies to "The WSBeat: Arrests including violent gang member, unregistered sex offender, fugitive turned burglary suspect..."

  • ScubaFrog April 23, 2014 (4:32 pm)

    “The woman has been trespassed from the property.” I sure hope she was arrested and charged with a crime for ramming the ex-boyfriend’s car 6 to 8 times.

  • Ron April 23, 2014 (4:33 pm)

    The level of increasing crime around Westwood Village is getting disturbing and worrisome.

    • WSB April 23, 2014 (4:40 pm)

      Ron – we’re still finishing our story on last night’s West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network, which includes some updates from the precinct commander and a CPT officer about that.

  • alki resident April 23, 2014 (6:23 pm)

    A pray for that middle school child who is suicidal. I hope they get the treatment they deserve and has a long happy life.

  • onceachef April 23, 2014 (6:34 pm)

    What is this world coming to? If I were ever to have a super power it would be to end addiction (of any kind)…it’s the root of so many problems.

    • WSB April 23, 2014 (6:40 pm)

      Once, just about every time I go to the courthouse to cover a sentencing, that’s the case over and over and over again. Usually I wind up sitting through sentencings preceding the one I’ve come for, since scheduling is imprecise, and they’re typically like one I tweeted about last Friday even though it had no West Seattle tie … the defense lawyer opened by telling the judge his client “loves methamphetamine.” It was just such a stark declaration. The burglars, the car prowlers, the thieves, they’re all doing it to get drug money.

  • Danielle April 23, 2014 (6:36 pm)

    How can a “routine records check” on a car with heavily tinted windows not be considered profiling? And that’s not to say the person arrested shouldn’t have been, but the way police “police” is so crooked.

  • Eric April 23, 2014 (6:55 pm)

    That’s just terrible profiling the poor heavily tinted windows

  • Bob April 23, 2014 (7:17 pm)

    “Profiling” it doesn’t say anything about that in the story. Police run checks on License plates all the time and is how they catch people like this that should be locked up. Either Renton or Kent have the abilities with cameras on the cars, to scan, read and run plates automatically. Koodos to them !

  • Community Member April 23, 2014 (7:24 pm)

    Heavily tinted windows are illegal. It’s a $124 ticket.

  • Danielle April 23, 2014 (8:19 pm)

    Wordsmith all you want and pick apart technicalities. You know as well as I do, AS WELL AS POLICE DO, who they are targeting when they run the plates of cars with heavily tinted windows. Such bulls–t. Meanwhile, another middle aged white pervert finds a local school to park by and expose himself. Lord only knows where he goes after that…

  • trickycoolj April 23, 2014 (8:28 pm)

    I guess I shouldn’t be surprised how many of these miscreants are roaming around causing trouble while wanted on large warrants. I feel like that shouldn’t be happening.

  • Nice try April 23, 2014 (8:28 pm)

    @Danielle: what you conveniently fail to mention is “racial” profiling, though it feels implied in context. If the windows are that dark, how could the cops tell race?

    As others have pointed out, too-dark windows are by themselves illegal. And, obviously preferred by crooks of all races. I’m very happy the cops are doing “random” license plate checks when their cop spidey-senses are tingling. This vehicle and the actions of its driver (likely creeping along if I had to guess) were worthy of investigation. Suspicious VEHICLE profiling? Absolutely. Go cops!

  • Abc April 23, 2014 (9:01 pm)

    Nicely said, NT. Funny how cars often take on the aura of their owners.

  • Me April 23, 2014 (9:10 pm)

    According to the SPD twitter entry for the incident, the John Doe on California and Walker was masturbating. I didn’t see him masturbating personally, but I did see them carry him away on a stretcher wearing nothing but boxer-briefs. He left his wallet behind, however, so I had SPD come out and retrieve it and had a lengthy discussion with the officer about it… so, “John Doe” no more…

    • WSB April 23, 2014 (9:26 pm)

      Me – I can’t vouch for the report on this incident but do need to note that (as reiterated at the Block Watch Captains’ Network meeting last night – story almost done) SPD auto-tweets do NOT necessarily indicate what the incident turned out to be. There is an initial tweet about what was reported and therefore what was dispatched – but then there will be a second tweet (pro tip: look for the incident numbers to match) about what was found, and it’s not always the same thing. Might be a shots-fired dispatch and then, if no proof of gunfire was found, “noise disturbance” for the resolution. I don’t have time to look this one up but just since you mentioned it … thanks! TR

  • Liz April 23, 2014 (9:12 pm)

    White Center doesn’t Seattle’s problems. Annexation is a bad idea based on selfish motivations by Southwest Seattleites who want to move their problems south.

  • Liz April 23, 2014 (9:14 pm)

    Whoops! “White Center doesn’t need Seattle’s problems….”

  • maplesyrup April 23, 2014 (9:15 pm)

    How can running plates on a heavily tinted window be profiling? The police can’t see the occupants of the car.

  • Tony April 23, 2014 (10:57 pm)

    Unregistered Level 3 sex offender with 17 aliases, carrying 4 knives and trying to talk with children in front of the library….wtf???

    Kudos to the proactive citizen and SPD!!

  • Eric April 24, 2014 (4:48 am)

    maplesyrup: How can running plates on a heavily tinted window be profiling? The police can’t see the occupants of the car.

    Eric: Well in Danielle’s rant about profiling, she overlooked the obvious fact that she, herself was profiling and over generalizing a race or races. You know, like the implication of only middle age white people are the perverts at the schools exposing themselves in the statement she made.

  • CandrewB April 24, 2014 (5:50 am)

    Eric, before Danielle’s generalizing about middle-aged, white males, she generalized about minorities and tinted windows.

  • Eric April 24, 2014 (8:42 am)

    Exactly Candrew, that’s what I said, though it might not have been as clear as I thought

  • gina April 24, 2014 (9:19 am)

    Generalization about the most prolific taggers in the Admiral district–white, male, middle school, high school age. Overheard a group of teens talking about “how not thinking before doing” (heavily paraphrased) the pair are.

  • Eric April 24, 2014 (9:37 am)

    Not sure if my last message went through, but yes Candrew, exactly. That’s what I was referring to, but looking at my initial reply is not as clear as I thought

  • bolo April 24, 2014 (10:58 am)

    @Danielle,

    It mostly depends on the preconceptions of the reader. When I first read the report, the image of a fancy limosene came to mind. That image changed after I read your first post.

  • Danielle April 24, 2014 (6:11 pm)

    Right….that perfectly explains the disproportionate amount of limo drivers incarcerated in our country.

  • Eric April 25, 2014 (5:10 am)

    Danielle,

    Your statement about a disproportionate amount being incarcerated in this country is obviously referring to the statistics that a disproportionate amount of young black males are being incarcerated in this country.

    Yet, I don’t recall anywhere here where the person arrested race was mentioned. All that was mentioned was that the person was 27 years old and was considered a “violent gang member”.

    So once again in your ranting against profiling, you yourself from the information provided here on the blog, made the assumption (obviously profiling and over-generalizing) that the “violent gang member” was black. You don’t know that. You just assumed that. The irony is not lost here.

Sorry, comment time is over.