Crime Watch update: 1st hearing for Fauntleroy burglary suspect

| Crime | Fauntleroy | West Seattle news

During a brief hearing this afternoon in a courtroom at the King County Jail downtown, a judge “found probable cause” to keep 41-year-old Richard L. Lovejoy (left) in jail until a hearing Wednesday on what, if any, bail amount should be set for him. Lovejoy is the convicted rapist arrested early Sunday morning (WSB coverage here, including victim’s story) in Fauntleroy, where he is suspected of breaking into a home shortly after trying to break into the Colman Pool building in Lincoln Park. Thanks to King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office media liaison Dan Donohoe for providing us with the document used at today’s hearing (which we attended, though the suspect himself did not actually appear); it says in part:

Suspect Lovejoy broke out two windows at the Colman Pool in Lincoln Park. The sound woke up the on-site caretaker, who confronted the suspect as he tried to enter via a broken window. The suspect ran off into the park and officers were unable to locate him. A truck registered to suspect Lovejoy was located illegally parked at the entrance to the Lincoln Park beach service road at 7171 Beach Drive SW. Several hours later, a report of an occupied residential burglary came out several blocks away. The suspect (Lovejoy) in that instance was captured.

The report goes on to say that a witness from Colman Pool identified him as the same suspect in that earlier break-in attempt, and later in the document, under the section that asks whether law enforcers would object to the suspect’s release, it says “Do not release. Suspect is a convicted felon and sex offender (and is on active Department of Corrections supervision).” His sex-offender status emerged in the comment thread on our followup report; we found him in the public lookup system, registered to an Arbor Heights address, and that’s where the photo you see at above left comes from. The document from today’s hearing also lists his criminal history as including: Rape, escape, drugs, harassment, domestic violence.

Bob Loblaw November 10, 2008 (5:19 pm)

If our friend Mr. Lovejoy does get released, Bob Loblaw would like to hold a “Welcome Home” party for him. Pacifists, please do not RSVP.

GenHillOne November 10, 2008 (6:04 pm)

A) didn’t know there was an on-site caretaker at Colman
B) ughhhhhh, I’m so glad they got this guy

CB November 10, 2008 (7:05 pm)

Too bad they will have to let this guy go since nobody wants a jail.

WTF November 10, 2008 (8:22 pm)

Tool. P.S. Go Bob, go. :O)

Johnny Davies November 11, 2008 (8:43 am)

Grade A Turd. Hurt him badly. But not enough that he can’t stamp license plates in prison.

Jonas November 11, 2008 (9:10 am)

Waste of flesh. Terminate. Life is a responsibility and a privilege.

VDP November 11, 2008 (10:02 am)

Hee hee….he parked his own truck in front of the gate to the service road….then walked down to Coleman to break in? And steal what? Kickboards? Long ropes with floaters on them? The change out of the pop machine? Not quite worthy of a Darwin award, but none too bright. Then again, neither are some of you here: “Termintate…Life is a responsibility and a privilege?” Who appointed you god? This man is probably a tweaker who needs help. Show some compassion. Right now the world needs more NICE people.

Lisa November 11, 2008 (10:20 am)

Gosh,
This guy looks familiar. Does anyone else recognize? Wonder where he works in the community? I know I’ve seen him somewhere. EWWW Creepy.

WSB November 11, 2008 (10:26 am)

VDP, according to the document, one detail which I neglected to quote in the report above is that he apparently had $242 in his possession at the time of the arrest. Whether in pockets or car or what, the report didn’t say. Another data point … TR

Rich November 11, 2008 (11:37 am)

Shaved eyebrows?

Johnny Davies November 11, 2008 (12:20 pm)

VDP – Right, the world does need more nice people. Unfortunately, recitivism rates show that its not likely possible to teach someone to be “nice” – prison or otherwise – once they’ve become a career criminal. He’s done horrible things many times, to many other people, before this terrible event. You should be glad it wasn’t your house Sat night and throw away the key on this POS.
.
I hope you can help him get over his (assumed) addiction and other problems, since it sounds like you’re willing to have him over to your house?

Johnny Davies November 11, 2008 (12:22 pm)

do we need to claim misspellings? I’ve seen it done before.. OK.. “recidivism”.

beachdrivegirl November 11, 2008 (1:18 pm)

i wouldnt worry about misspellings? my thought is it is a forum/blog we are writing quick posts on our opinions not novels, but then again i am the queen of poor spelling/punction etc on here. :)

charles November 11, 2008 (2:15 pm)

funny this, on cbc tv, comming from england is another lovejoy, loveable rouge in the antique business. of course this one comes under the heading of stupid, throw away the key. good work

wsf'r November 11, 2008 (2:38 pm)

Lisa, he does look very familiar.
I work at the ferry dock, maybe I’ve seen him there.

Shocked November 11, 2008 (4:18 pm)

I’ve worked with Rich recently in construction. He was a very good and hard worker. Very friendly. I am shocked and very disappointed.

Sharon Hanna Lovejoy November 12, 2008 (9:02 pm)

All of you people who think this man is a monster, Dont know all the facts. He has a disease called Pyroforia, which is affects your mental condition and alters your perception of your actions because of chemicals involved in drugs! unfortunently because it is such a rare disease, he wasn’t diagnosed for a very long time..the doctors told him he must have had a very hard life..The last two years he has been clean and sober therfor an assect to the commiummity.. If you havent guessed i am his mother!The last two years i finally found the son i didnt have, and i am suppose to just give up all the good that he is and has done!! i have three of his children and he has been the best upstanding father any child could be proud off. Sadly he met some girls who pursuaded him that he could have a good time just once! This WAS THE FIRST TIME IN TWO YEARS!!!! With his disease once is two many, instead of condemation, how about more reseach when many people have never even heard of the disease, and the chemical imblance it causes in the brain!! What if this was your brother, father, grandfather, would you judge so harsly then? I love my son and i will always be there for him and stand beside him whatever we must endure,I know without a dout he would never hurt anyone, he was lost and didnt even know where he was, so judge not least you be judged!!!

wssince1966 November 13, 2008 (8:37 am)

Well lets just say for a moment that this incident is due to his “pyroforia” (I thought that was a term for spontaneous ignition and not a psychological condition). Perhaps mom could explain the root cause for the several other felonies on his record. Just let him go, and hope that he never runs into some bad girls again who cause him to succomb to drug use that causes him to do bad things. Heck, no need to bring this to a judge or jury through the legal system. Just give him a chance. Maybe he will learn after five or ten more felony convictions for violent crimes.

Cindi November 13, 2008 (12:42 pm)

The name of the disease is porphyria. It is rare and can have a variety of manifestations including psychological. You can look it up on the internet.

I have seen only two patient with this disease but most likely many are misdiagnosed.

And while it is horrible that this man has this disease and I hear this mother’s request for compassion. Asking how would we feel if this was our brother or son.

I can clearly say that as difficult as that may be how would she feel is her sister or daughter, friend or other persons were the victim. Disease, drug use, gullibility due not preclude accountability or responsibility.

Although, I do not advocate vigilante justice, I also do not adovocate compassion for one over the safety of many.

Adam Lovejoy November 13, 2008 (5:49 pm)

my name ia Adam Lovejoy i am 18 years of age, Richard Lovejoy is my loveing and really caring uncle all u pathetic people need to get a life and stop useing all ur spare timeing judgeing other people you have no idea about. you look and hear and see thing and let them influence you , you say things that you have no idea what really happend, he may have made mistakes early on in his life but hasnt every body ? u cant just live in the past, but unfortinatly people judge you from the past. he has been working and doing very well for himself and his sons. his sons need him as much as his family does. we love and miss you uncle , well be praying for you god bless
adam

Rick McElhose November 14, 2008 (12:36 pm)

Turns out , this Richard Lovejoy, of Arbor Heights, is a real piece of work, all right.
He does, in fact work for various construction outfits, working on decks and fences and other things inside many of your houses.
He had been casing the Colman Pool, spending time in the woods above it, where he left a large amount of pornography- mags, cds, etc., as well as some of his criminal records and unpaid fines
in his day planner.
So, any of you who think he’s a good guy and we should all feel sorry for him- DON’T. Extensive record and porn freak. Look Out West Seattle!

Puthimaway November 14, 2008 (3:07 pm)

Dear Mom:

certainly do not envy your postion and understand that a mother’s love is a mother’s love however naive. My hope is that instead of making excuses for your son, you focus on his kids and keeping them from the same fate. The apple falling from the tree effect. You need to be a bigger person at this moment and see the bigger picutre. Dick is not a father of the year candidate and you are another victim in his web of tamultuous behavior.

He has eight serious convictions and you ask for mercy. We are not talking about driving without a license, these are major offenses and – the only the offenses that he was actually caught. If you have any say – tell him to plead guilty and save the tax payers the money for a trial. He is damanged goods and DESERVES to be put away for life. Pyroforia aside, this man does not act within the socail norms of society. What he does is portrays himself as normal only to come out at night to his true self and prey on the weak. We are fortunate to have caught him before his victimization continued even further.

Kudos to the Seattle Police for putting this Vampire away.

Rick in thepark November 16, 2008 (1:41 pm)

He can’t be too swift if he carries his day planner, medical records and criminal records with him on his “adventures” into other peoples’ homes, and leaves it all, with his extensive porn collection, in the park for anybody to find.
Let’s hope he does spontaeneously combust.

Brenda November 19, 2008 (9:42 pm)

Burglaries/break-ins/car prowls, domestic violence, gang violence and illegal drug dealers we are bombarded with crime every day. We see it on the news, we read it in our local papers, we see it on our streets and we fear.

The rise in crime in our communities, our neighborhoods and on our blocks has us all living in fear these days. It’s not just the news of a single burglary; it’s the accumulation of all crimes that has us in an uproar these day’s.

There are many causes and one reason to point the finger of blame here. Wouldn’t it be better served to focus our attention on our safety factor over all, where it really counts rather than sentence this one man to a life sentence without a fair trial?

I hear one single common factor in all this bloging of opinions; we can ALL agree that our police officers can be accredit to our over all safety.

Adding insult to injury we are now faced with budget cuts that directly influence our safety factor even more….with the recent declared political proposition to cut back our police departments’ budget we should be directing our opinions and concerns to the King County Sheriff’s Office.

This is where we can collectively make an over all difference, in our communities rather than prosecute one single crime due accumulated fears.

We can also attend the monthly safety community meetings held at the Officer Cox Memorial Park Center. This is where your concerns and voices count collectively.

For more information, go to: http://www.kingcounty.gov/safety/sheriff/ then click “go” in red box titled “Public Safety in Peril.”

A special thanks to Steve Shay for his devotion to this cause.

WSB November 19, 2008 (10:00 pm)

Thanks, Brenda.
We report extensively, daily, here on WSB about safety issues as well as crime issues. WSB is the only news organization to regularly attend both the White Center/South Delridge Community Safety Coalition meetings and the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meetings (we also post about the former on our partner site, White Center Now) – and in addition to reporting on each of those organizations and their meetings, we exhort people to attend them, as well – I totally agree that it’s important for each individual to take action, which is why we also publish reminders before each meeting on our front page. Our safety coverage (other types of safety as well as crime-related safety) is archived here:
https://westseattleblog.com/blog/?cat=44
and we have crime-prevention resources on our Crime Watch page (as well as frequent references in our articles):
https://westseattleblog.com/blog/?page_id=4988

thanks! – TR (WSB editor)

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