West Seattle Crime Watch: Gunfire suspect out of jail; tonight’s helicopter

Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes:

GUNFIRE SUSPECT OUT OF JAIL: 30-year-old Daren Atwood, charged with a firearms offense after last Thursday’s gunfire incident near Fairmount Ravine, is out of jail after one day. We reported Tuesday night that he had been charged and booked; this afternoon, he appeared in Seattle Municipal Court. According to the online docket, the city asked for $50,000 bail; a judge let him out on personal recognizance. His next court appearance is set for November 13th.

ABOUT THE HELICOPTER: Just before 9 pm, a relatively brief burst of helicopter activity brought some questions from north and northeast West Seattle. Via Twitter, the Guardian One crew confirmed it was them, helping Seattle Police with “a disturbance call.” No further details, so if we find out anything in the morning, we’ll add it here.

14 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: Gunfire suspect out of jail; tonight's helicopter"

  • Eric October 16, 2014 (5:11 am)

    I guess actually shooting someone would give you two days before the judge lets you out on personal recognizance. After all, this guy is probably mentally stable to do what he did. *ends sarcasm*

  • Crazy Judge October 16, 2014 (9:31 am)

    WSB – Do you know which judge that was?? May want to keep in mind at next election cycle.

    Thanks

    • WSB October 16, 2014 (9:34 am)

      Wasn’t on the docket and unfortunately I couldn’t be there in person. We’ll generally identify judges if the information is available.

  • JanS October 16, 2014 (12:19 pm)

    I certainly hope they removed all the weapons from his home…

    • WSB October 16, 2014 (3:47 pm)

      As extensively discussed in Tuesday night’s comment section.

  • Guy Olson October 16, 2014 (6:43 pm)

    ^Ha!!!

  • Thomas M. October 19, 2014 (10:58 am)

    Mental Health Court is not going to be on docket. Due to my volunteer work with homelessness prevention programs, I know one of the judges. The judges are largely volunteers doing a frustrating and nasty job, with no pay. They operate under some very restrictive conditions and often can’t do much more than what you see here. Last week we had the baby-out-the-car-window Defendant released because there is no room on the mental wards. Fixing this people problem is going to be expensive. Complaining won’t fix it.

    • WSB October 19, 2014 (1:19 pm)

      Thomas – The Muni Court docket for this case said that the defendant did not “opt in” so that’s why I’m not even sure if the case wound up in MHC after all. Have not yet checked with the city attorney’s office. I’ve covered several cases there so I’ve seen a bit of how it works; longtime repeat offender Ryan Cox, most notably. – TR

  • Thomas M. October 19, 2014 (9:20 pm)

    If something is in mental health court, or even if it is in family court and this issue or an issue related to child neglect, molestation or abuse comes up, the court regularly excludes everybody who is not essential to the event. There’s something about psych cases (and records) that puts them a little farther out of reach. I don’t appear on files like this, but I have spent time in court house hallways because of them. I was volunteering at HJP in Kent when that case with the Mom who claimed to have left her kid in the car while she went to a service station for help…and the little boy was gone when she got back. There was a media circus in the hall, and everybody came pouring out of the room when that case was called. Unfortunately our Municipal courts are not like the Superior Courts (No ECR). The District Courts are just as primitive.

  • Thomas M. October 19, 2014 (9:45 pm)

    The process appears to operate behind something of a wall of voodoo. The state courts database shows a lot of Atwoods but nothing on this Daren. There may be no charges yet filed so no “information” means no “case number”. if he is still “in” there is a reason. Constitutionally, a person must have a Gerstein Hearing to determine probable cause to hold a person in custody — within 48 hours. I will have to ask somebody who does criminal what it means to “opt in” (to what?). I do homelessness prevention, but I don’t do criminal or divorce.

    • WSB October 19, 2014 (10:24 pm)

      TM – the info, such as it is, is in the Municipal Court system via this search http://web1.seattle.gov/courts/cpi/ Choose defendant search, use his name, not directly linkable so I can only describe the motions to go through. Eventually you will have the option to click case 601018 – choose the “events” tab and you’ll see the docket notations, including the part about opting in, and the part about probably cause. It indicates he pleaded not guilty, and has a hearing set next month. – TR

  • Thomas M. October 19, 2014 (11:38 pm)

    If he pleaded then that was an arraignment. I wonder why the state database did not contain this file? It usually updates super fast.

  • Thomas M. October 20, 2014 (12:08 am)

    Thank you. Found it. Per the Events Tab, the Case was referred to the Mental Health Court. The court granted PR which I will assume is Personal Recognizance (i.e. no bail). Likely due to his lack of any prior record. The Sheriff’s Jail Inmate Lookup page also says bail is zero. He did not surrender ownership of his firearms. The pretrial conference is at 0900 on 11/13/14 in Courtroom 1002. Hopefully things are serene and calm wherever he is.

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