WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: More burglary-ring charges; 2 reader reports

One followup and two reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch tonight:

CHARGES FILED: Prosecutors filed charges today against the two burglary-ring suspects arrested at an Alki house on Monday – 26-year-old Joseph F. Sims, below left, and 29-year-old Shon Shanell, below center. 25-year-old Alonzo Severson, below right, had already been charged, as we reported yesterday in our coverage of the media briefing about the case.

(Washington Department of Corrections photos)

The documents finally provide a little information about why Sims and Shanell were at the house in the 3200 block of 62nd SW where they were arrested by Bellevue Police on Monday. BPD had been trying to arrest Sims for several days and, according to the charges against Shanell, “received information that Sims was staying at a residence in (that area of Alki).” They staked out the house starting around 6 am. At 9:30 am, Shanell drove up in the matte-black Audi we photographed yesterday at BPD headquarters:

Sims walked out of the house, the documents say, and that’s when police arrested them both. They both were described as having thousands of dollars in cash in their possession, and both were said to be wearing diamonds – Shanell was wearing the watch stolen from Mariners star Felix Hernandez’s house in Clyde Hill.

The documents include a few more details, such as that Sims had been out of prison for less than a year before his alleged crime spree started. He’s described as “probably one of the most prolific and dangerous burglars in recent Seattle history.” And the charging documents show that much of the evidence involved cell-phone tracing; Sims allegedly would turn his off just before a burglary, and then on again afterward, and the documents mention a trace on January 1st in West Seattle, though none of the accusations involve any burglaries here.

Sims is charged with 11 crimes, including eight counts of residential burglary. He is being held without bail. Shanell, who got out of prison last October, is charged with possession of stolen property, and also has been charged in an unrelated case involving alleged eluding and animal cruelty. His bail is set at $175,000. And Severson’s bail is set at half a million dollars. Prosecutors say more charges are possible, given these barely scratch the surface of the 100-plus break-ins they believe were committed by the suspects. The documents also mention an alleged accomplice, a woman who allegedly assisted with some of the burglaries while dating one of the suspects. She is not charged.

Two reader reports via e-mail:

STOLEN MAIL FOUND: From LL:

I was out for a walk this morning and found a pile of mail on the corner of SW Trenton and 17th Ave SW. The addresses were all from the 8800 block of 24th Ave SW. I called the USPS 800 # to report the theft and their reply was “put the mail in a bag and give it to your mailman.” I took it to the Westwood post office instead. This happened last year in January. Someone was stealing mail on 17th & 18th Ave SW between Elmgrove and Henderson. The thieves seemed to target houses that had mailboxes next to the sidewalk.

CAR PROWL: From Michelle: “Another car prowl. (Wednesday) morning a window in my husband’s car shattered when he closed the door. The car dealer said there was evidence of crowbar marks on the door. We are on 46th between Hill and Walker.”

5 Replies to "WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: More burglary-ring charges; 2 reader reports"

  • bolo January 26, 2017 (11:36 pm)

    Pleasing news on Seattle’s “Bling Ring.” Seems all too rare to see crime-fighting progress in the right direction. Waiting to see what new charges they can apply.

  • Andy January 27, 2017 (6:04 am)

    They should be locked up until hell freezes over. I won’t hold my breath, though. With people like this committing burglaries while armed, in broad daylight, and our esteemed Attorney General, Bob Ferguson, wants to limit legal, law abiding gun owners to 10 round magazines?

  • Sassy January 27, 2017 (7:10 am)

    With all this organization and greedy motivation, these guys should have gone into politics where they could do all this stealing legally. There’s a new administration that would reward these kinds of skill sets.

  • iggy January 27, 2017 (8:22 am)

    LL:  What a nice person and good citizen you are for going above and beyond and taking the mail you found to the post office. 

  • Seattlite January 27, 2017 (10:40 am)

     Career criminals that need to be locked away forever.

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