West Seattle Crime Watch: 2 items from SPDBlotter

Just in case you haven’t already seen these items on the WSB Crime Watch page, which instantly picks up whatever Seattle Police publish to their SPDBlotter site: First, early this morning at a Roxhill-area home (the address is not mentioned), police went to a house whose resident reported the second break-in in two weeks; the alleged burglar was found in another house nearby, and police say they found “property” from both burglaries. Full SPDBlotter writeup here.

Then, late this morning, police went to a house in the 3800 block of 19th SW (map) to check out a report of people in what was supposed to be a vacant building; while talking to people they found inside, according to the police report, they were “charged” by a pit bull. One officer shot and wounded the dog. Full SPDBlotter writeup on that one here. (We also have received a note from a nearby resident who says police activity continued at the house through the afternoon.)

alki neighbor March 27, 2009 (8:01 am)

this is soo wrong, the house was not supposed to be vacant… the police listened to a landlord who’m didn’t even own the property. The officer was hand cuffing the man that was living there outside when the dog came up, and because the officer was on the ground he assumed his throat was open for attack… this dog, was not a danger… this dog is friendly, and it is wrong to post that its a pitbull to further the suspicion it was dangerous… it’s a terrible stereotype… and now the nicest dog is shot in the head… thanks SPD.

goodgraces March 27, 2009 (9:08 am)

I feel very sad about the dog, too. A victim based on breed and bad timing. However, I do want to say that as a neighbor, the dog ran out of the yard, across the street and right for me/my dogs many many times as we walked down the street. The owners did not seem to have very good “voice control” over the animal, and it was rarely leashed. Of course, none of that means it deserved anything close to the fate which befell it, but I did think it was worth noting that lots of neighbors had voiced concerns and issues with the dog — not b/c it was “vicious” or anything (I never witnessed that), but because it tended to run toward passers-by and not listen to its owners. The sad truth is that if you’re a pit bull owner, you probably need to be even more vigilant than most about making sure your dog is super obedient, or people will fear the worst.

TheKingofNorway March 27, 2009 (9:33 am)

I don’t know where alki neighbor gets her information that this dog was not a danger, but we live in Pigeon Point and have had multiple run-ins with the dog. From what I understand, the people who have been living (or squatting?) in the house have been spoken to several times about keeping their dog under control.

I feel bad about the dog, but these owners should have known better.

Sad mistake March 27, 2009 (9:43 am)

I know where alki neighbor got her their information about the dog because I too know from experience that she is not harmful. I have never ever been a fan of pitbulls but after giving this dog a chance I has found that she is a very sweet dog. Maybe, at times they have not had her under the best control but that dog intentions were harmless. Also, that house has been forclosed for months but the tenants have indeed been paying rent.

alki neighbor March 27, 2009 (11:06 am)

Multiple run ins? what does that even mean? you were bittin? attacked in any way? No, I’m not going to say it listened the best but it was harmless none the less… so i would like to know how the owner “should have known better” when the cops entered their home and let the dog out? Then it’s owner is being arrested and you expect it to sit in the corner patiently? please explain that to me kingofnorway?? and i got my information from personal experience, you should try it before spouting off ignorently

JF March 27, 2009 (12:55 pm)

alki neighbor,
YOU are wrong. Did you witness anything that occurred there on Wednesday? Many neighbors on the block did witness what happened and everything that has been reported thus far is correct. The squatter kids that were there should not have been there. They were slobs, noisy, inconsiderate, and brought more sketchy people into the neighborhood. The whole neighborhood is glad they’ll be gone and along with their mean dog that sh** in everyone’s yard. *good riddens*

Rich March 28, 2009 (12:46 pm)

I live in Pigeon Point as well, and walk my dog past that house all the time. That pitbull has ran out into the street twice to check us out and seemed to me to be nothing more than a poorly trained dog. Hard to blame the SPD for this one in my opinion, any dog charging you in that situation could be deemed as a threat, regardless of breed.

alki neighbor March 28, 2009 (4:26 pm)

JF… i’m not wrong. They payed rent and lived there for over a year, the landlord lost the house and still charged them rent, when they found that out.. they didn’t pay and were packing up to move. You have no idea what you speak of, and just because you didn’t like the way they looked or didn’t agree with how well they kept their frontyard, doesn’t mean it was ok how all of this went down. The police have a apologized and are now going after the landlord.

that mean dog? what at all do you base that off of?

I don’t argue anything but the fact the dog was harmless. If you didn’t like them as neighbors thats fine, your welcome to an opinion.. but your dead wrong when you call it dangerous.

And i don’t necissarily blame the SPD… but they shouldnt have been there the way they were in the first place.. the landlord lied to them, and they went with it… now the SPD is going after the landlord. So again, please know what you’re talking about.

alki neighbor March 28, 2009 (4:35 pm)

and penny(the dog) didn’t survive. Another thing, if you have problems with neighbors or don’t like how they handle their dog… try growing a pair and walking over and voicing your concerns.. not just waiting for a day to complain about people and make harsh judgements when they have no chance to defend themselves.. coward. If they were as bad as you say, you would have called the police a long time ago on them.. Young kids, having fun, don’t have much money, with a nice dog and neither the dog nor the tenants would hurt a fly, they weren’t bad people.. who if you really were concerned about the way they lived would have done something about it a long time ago. ugh.. i have to go back to work and not get worked up over this.. RIP penny, you’ll be missed

Wayne Cunningham March 30, 2009 (11:17 pm)

The SWAT team bungled this one. Instead of knocking on the door and asking questions, they broke down the door, and started taking bodies. Of course a dog, who is there to protect the home, is going to growl. But to shoot the creature FOUR times? Come on. I can understand a single shot in self defense, but FOUR times???

It’s the act of a coward and a sadist.

And the creep who called the cops should be strung up by his tiny privates for a week, and then thrown in jail for life. If the cops had investigated who was making the phone call, they might have acted more judiciously.

Wayne Cunningham March 30, 2009 (11:19 pm)

I really hope the family of the kids who were arrested brings legal action both against the SPD swat yahoos, and the Russian mobster who started this nonsense. The problem with SWAT teams is that they think they need to shoot something in order to feel like they’ve been successful. Guys, take a valium before you start aiming that thing at innocent creatures.

westseattlekid April 8, 2009 (1:36 pm)

personally, i spent extended amounts of time at that house. if “sketchy” is a word you’d use to describe the kids thee, then call everyone between the ages of 17 and 25 sketchy, because we ALL look this way. the kids in this house did nothing more than throw parties, and maybe things could get noisy, and maybe the dog liked to run around everywhere, but to call these kids squatters is ignorant and presumptuous.

as aforementioned, the house had been foreclosed for a while, and the tenants were duped into paying rent to a guy who no longer had the house. when they were enlightened to the state of affairs, they had been proceeding to pack and move out when their ‘landlord’ decided to call the cops on them for ‘squatting’.

if the badge was dumb enough to leave the door open, he didn’t have to shoot an animal, a sweet animal at that, who wasn’t attacking him in the head four times. even further still he could have asked one of the two kids to restrain her.

so shame on their landlord for being so shady, and shame on the cops for shooting first without asking ANY questions as to the nature of the situation or speaking with the residents. leave it to the government to take and adult’s word for it vs the young people.

shoot me in the had four times the next time i step out and growl at you for cuffing my friend for no good reason…

Sorry, comment time is over.