West Seattle, Washington
23 Thursday
Latest information from the P-I. Given the particularly grisly details of the deadly attack, it seems hard to believe the suspect could only get 25 years in prison.
The Seattle Weekly has just posted an article with a few points we hadn’t heard before, including documents suggesting Tatsuo Nakata’s family considered suing the city, and a quote from the driver charged with a misdemeanor in the crash (who also has hired a lawyer), saying he “will probably release a statement soon.”
A WSB reader who lives just east of The Junction wants to alert us all to a potential stepped-up burglary threat in the area. He returned from an out-of-town trip to find out from his alarm company that someone had tried to break in. Here’s the rest of his story; if you’re away during the day, it’s worth touching base with neighbors to see who’s home and who can keep an eye out for anything/anyone suspicious:
… since I’ve been back I have learned from a local real-estate agent (subsequently backed up by the Seattle Police) that there has been a local burglary ring that has been specifically targeting West Seattle as of late. Most of these attempts seem to be happening between 11 am and 6 pm while people are away at work. Sometimes these guys will even come to the door (asking for directions or seeking some random person) to verify that no one is home.
There’s some new information about the Sunday morning Cal-Mor Circle murder in today’s Times update, such as the suspect’s name and what allegedly set him off.
Times says police were looking for a possible armed student near Cleveland HS (which is housed at Boren on Delridge) earlier this afternoon.
Many new details in the article posted by the P-I late tonight. The victim’s sister told the paper her brother was mentally disabled and described the suspect as a homeless man her brother had taken in and was trying to help. EARLY AM UPDATE: The Times has added details to its coverage too.
Just hearing about this now thanks to reader tips: a man was killed at Cal-Mor (the cylindrical building on Cali’s east side just north of Fauntleroy) this morning; someone described as “an acquaintance” is in custody. The Times update says this is the third murder of the year in Seattle; by our count, that means two of the three were in WS (the other was the 37th/Findlay killing in March).
As noted and spiritedly discussed here 2 weeks ago, the driver who hit and killed City Council staffer Tatsuo Nakata at 47th/Admiral last November won’t face felony charges, but there’s a new development – the city has decided to charge him with misdemeanor assault.
On recent walks through The Junction and along stretches of WS waterfront parkland, we’ve noticed an increase in one of the newer variations of tagging vandalism — sticker tagging. Somewhat satisfyingly, you can take direct action against this if you so choose, unlike painted tagging (unless you happen to routinely carry paint remover with you at all times). We did just that with most of the stickers we passed; peel, crumple, toss.
Just written up by the Northwest Asian Weekly — had not heard it before, though it appears the decision happened earlier this month: No felony charge in the crosswalk crash that killed Tatsuo Nakata.
Haven’t seen this on any of the newspaper sites, but Seattle Police confirmed for us that they have arrested a suspect in the 37th/Findlay shooting that killed Dewayne West. The suspect’s name is Jabarie Phillips. Police couldn’t share a lot of details but do say their original suspicion that this “wasn’t random” was indeed the case. Our research found that he, like the victim, is in his 30s, and has a criminal record stretching back into juvenilehood, most recently some sort of drug case dismissed less than two weeks ago. He is in the county jail, bail listed as a million dollars.
Some commenters on our last post about 37th/Findlay shooting victim Dewayne West were discussing an online discovery of a violent criminal record for someone with the same name. Looks like they were on the right trail; the P-I posted an article tonight talking about the man having killed someone at a Torchlight Parade almost 20 years ago, when he was just 16.
Several people e-mailed us to ask if we had any info re: helicopter, police, all sorts of hubbubbery last night in the Arbor Heights area. Lt. Paulsen at the Southwest Precinct was kind enough to provide this report:
Last night’s incident was basically an unknown female suspect who was driving erratically. SPD chose not to pursue the vehicle given public safety concerns. The female fled from the vehicle. SPD was able to locate the abandoned vehicle. Fortunately, there were a number of available police including K9 and a helicopter who were able to check the area. We were unable to locate the suspect.
Doesn’t sound like anyone has been arrested yet, but the name of the man shot and killed outside a house at 37th and Findlay has now been made public.
Somebody shot and killed early this morning east of Fairmount Park. No arrest so far, apparently, but police say they don’t think it was “random” (which somehow doesn’t manage to be that reassuring). It’s been almost exactly three months since the last deadly WS shooting (a man killed in Arbor Heights).
Or at least, look closely … seems there’s a fake cop on the loose in WS, last seen on Fauntleroy, not far from Fairmount Park.
Seems that somewhere around the time some criminal idiots were stealing copper wire and throwing hundreds of people off the phone system the other night, some (other?) criminal idiots were smashing out car windows on lower Gatewood Hill. Happened to us near The Beach years ago. If the cops don’t get ’em, karma will. Here’s hoping.
Or the front SEVERED lines, anyway … those caught up in crime-caused phonelessness (see below) include one of the blogs linked from our Other Blogs in WS page, Cracks in the Facade.
The wire-theft epidemic has not only hit another utility, it also cut off phone service for hundreds of folks in WS.
Yes, we know new owners have taken over Huling. But the fallout from the recent scandal continues, in little ways as well as big, such as this blogger deciding to finally write, in furious detail, about a previous experience at the dealership.
Two bits of good news:
–The P-I says (opening with a couple of West Seattle anecdotes) car theft is way down.
-The minutes from the last SW District Council meeting say tagging is way down because cops have recently nabbed no fewer than 10 graffiti vandals.
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