Update: 3 arrested in Westwood incident; 2 hurt, but not shot

New details from police this morning in the incident dispatched last night in Westwood as an “assault with weapons.” While shots apparently were fired, police tell us, no one was hit – but two people were beaten. Det. Mark Jamieson says the first call went out as a “fight disturbance in progress with shots fired” at 29th SW/SW Trenton. Several people said they saw teens fighting and heard four gunshots. When police got there, they found, according to Det. Jamieson, “a group of about 20 people huddled around a male victim who was sprawled out on the sidewalk, northeast corner of the intersection. At first, officer thought victim had been shot, because of the way he was lying and he was unresponsive. He was, in fact, not shot, but had been badly beaten up.” He was taken to the hospital; another male had injuries to the face and head, Det. Jamieson says, but didn’t need hospitalization. The two had been “‘jumped’ by at least 12 other males,” who allegedly shot at them as they tried to run away; police “were able to locate where the shots were fired from (29th SW/SW Cloverdale). After officers were able to interview everyone involved , three young men were arrested and booked into King County Jail for investigation of assault.”

WTF June 10, 2010 (9:56 am)

Can these pieces of $#!+ go back to the hole they crawled out of and stay away from our neiborhoods. If SPD doesn’t start stepping up patrols and VISIBILITY in Westwood to Highpoint and all of the streets inbetween, some will eventually get killed. No block watch group can solve or at the outset eleviate this problem. Getting tough and not worrying whether daddy did or didn’t hug his kid enough. WAY TO CLOSE TO HOME!

As-If June 10, 2010 (12:04 pm)

So…help me understand. How were these three arrrested and booked, and the two with blood on their hands in the Highpoint racial beating were let go? Did I miss something?

HolyKow June 10, 2010 (12:16 pm)

Because there were witnesses/911 calls that were not 5 hours from the start of the incident/and license plates given of cars that were involved by quality citizens reporting to 911. And the primary and only witness did not have the living crap beat out of them to the tune of un-conciseness.

One of these days, a law-abiding citizen will shoot back in defense of the helpless and get one of these guys and that will make the news for sure.

I hope that never happens but hope in this hand and #$%@ in this one and see which one fills up first….

k2 June 10, 2010 (1:15 pm)

Vigilance! Where is “Kick Ass” when we need him?

We need to send a message.

bridge to somewhere June 10, 2010 (1:19 pm)

SPD, it appears you are losing control of this area . . . get a handle on the situation or it’s only going to get worse. I have been in the Westwood/Roxhill area for 5 years, and it really feels like the tone has change drastically in the past 2 months or so . . . there’s way more intimidating behavior in parks, way larger groups of young adults drinking in plain sight, way more aggressive behavior (people shouting at/mocking passers-by) by groups of thugs, way more gang grafitti, and unfortunately, way less police visibility. for the first time i feel not only worried about my household possessions, i’m worried about my (and my family’s) physical safety. that’s completely unacceptable.

dawson st. June 10, 2010 (1:45 pm)

Some of you must be new to the area,lucky you weren’t here from 88-95..makes today look like sesame street.

MB June 10, 2010 (2:09 pm)

Dawson st., I agree! I have lived here every single one of my 28 years on this earth and none of this feels new to me…scary yes, it always has been, but not so new. My childhood was spent on 26th ave., south of the Delridge community center and there were all kinds of “incidents” while I was growing up, we just didn’t always know what was going on. I remember when the rule was “ok kids, lock your car doors when we go through highpoint,” it wasn’t a big deal to us, it’s just what we did. I think we just have more ways of hearing about details than we used to…this blog for example, which I am grateful for! I don’t mean to dismiss any of it, that’s for sure. There are some really bad apples around here, there always have been.

ToddinWestwood June 10, 2010 (5:17 pm)

Please SPD, step it up and be proactive. Please.

marty June 10, 2010 (5:39 pm)

Proactive? When they are proactive they get accused of profiling. You can’t have it both ways.

dawson st. June 10, 2010 (5:43 pm)

MB,I used to run around on 25th just north of the del cc,bout a block from you..brutal back then,especially for a teen,gang members everywhere..I could tell a million horror stories

Cheryl June 10, 2010 (6:23 pm)

I hate going over to Westwood Village or Roxhill Park, especially in the evening b/c it seems there are ALWAYS groups of young men dressed like thugs, sauntering around the mall & park intimidating moms, kids, the elderly, etc. Their big fat mouths are shouting profanity back & forth to other groups… Yeah, it makes shopping there TONS of fun. Not. Forget about taking my 4 yr old over to the park. I’m sick of having to tell these same thugs to get off the playground equipment & keep their foul language away from the little kds. No respect. No thanks.

Concerned June 10, 2010 (6:38 pm)

I lived here is 88-95 and still do! I don’t EVER remember so much hate going on! I too think it’s time for the SPD to get their act together! We’ve NEVER had a good response time or sometimes NEVER a response! It’s only time until neighborhoods take things in their own hands, and I don’t mean Neighborhood Watch Groups they aren’t cops and can’t do much! But several people in our neighborhood own guns and know how to use them if need be!

a mom too! June 10, 2010 (8:39 pm)

OK now it’s time for parents to step up too! You know your child (monster) is out there causing trouble! Do something about it! Even if it’s turning them in yourself. Or, maybe YOU are also encouraging violent behavior … I think most parents want their child to be a good upstanding citizen … don’t let your child run free, save them and others!

bridge to somewhere June 10, 2010 (8:47 pm)

@Cheryl: very true

furor scribendi June 11, 2010 (8:16 am)

I drove up to the crime scene right after the ambulance/fire truck appeared. Detouring around the jam, I then witnessed police arrest the perps near 30th and Henderson. There were perhaps ten police cars and fifteen officers on both scenes. Say what you will about police and criminals, but the arrest was quick, clean, and very professional.

amused June 11, 2010 (8:21 am)

SPD continues to do their jobs in spite of a liberal court system that CONTINUALLY releases these thugs. Don’t blame the cops, elect new judges.

cratewasher June 11, 2010 (8:37 am)

No so quick and professional, the two guys who beat and tortured the teen in Highland Park are still free to walk the street two weeks later.

HolyKow June 11, 2010 (9:05 am)

Honestly, I do not care what it was like in the bad old days. However, I know what it was since I have been here and this is not it.

This was an area where you hardly ever hear of people getting the cr@p kicked out of them by groups of thugs shouting kill whitey, innocent people getting stabbed or beaten by gangs of dirtbags in broad daylight and drunk thuggery just taunting people, asking them for cancer sticks then beating them to within an inch of their lives.

I don’t care if it used to be Beirut, it has not been like that recently and I refuse accept this reality and just be like you old timers and say, ‘well it could be much worse like it used to be’ and just live with it.

I will call the cops on suspicious behavior.

I will assist others in need if being beaten/assaulted/robbed.

I will protect my family by force if necessary.

I will not live in fear because the cops are not able to do their jobs for WHATEVER reason/excuse/circumstance.

Always be nice.

Until it is time to ‘not be nice’.

MsEvelyn June 11, 2010 (10:41 am)

What a mess! The business owners must be feeling the effects of having these punks hanging around. I know of a lot of Seniors that won’t go to WWood after the schools get out. Especially with the end of the school year, seems to be more of a presence of these idiot kids causing the probs. Most of them are old enough to be working, but “oh no” are to good to work at fast food or mowing lawns. Remember the days when a teen male would go around with a lawn mower looking for work?

a mom too! June 11, 2010 (11:03 am)

Amazingly the Police did respond fast to THIS call… but they DO NOT and HAVE not EVER responded fast to any emergency I have reported … and on at least 3 occasions they NEVER showed up at all!!!

Tom June 11, 2010 (11:59 am)

Two words: Chuck Norris.

bridge to somewhere June 11, 2010 (1:07 pm)

hk: you said it exactly right. who CARES if it was worse a long time ago — shouldn’t we care that it’s getting worse than it was last year? shouldn’t we be offended that it seems like the gangs are getting more aggressive, more territorial, more visible than they have been in WW and Roxhill than they have been in 5 years? i mean, are we saying that we’re OK with more crime as long as it wasn’t as bad as it was in 1985? that argument that people shouldn’t whine because it is not as bad as it used to be is the most tired, ridiculous, recurring argument on this blog.

bridge to somewhere June 11, 2010 (1:12 pm)

furor: i respect that the SPD may have responded to this crime quickly, but i’d offer if they were a little more present BEFORE a crime starts in those places where big groups of thugs amass perhaps we wouldn’t have to have kids in the hospital and moms too scared to bring their children to the park.

MB June 11, 2010 (2:49 pm)

Apparently I need to clarify my previous statement for a few of you. I don’t think I or anyone else was insinuating that we should say oh well and live with it just because it was like this in the “old days.” If anything, my point was that I have ALWYAS (as long as we’re capitalizing things) been cautious about my surroundings in this area, I have ALWAYS called the cops when I see suspicious activity, I have ALWAYS been ready to defend myself or my family if necessary, I have ALWAYS been ready to aid someone else in need, I have ALWAYS locked my doors religiously (even if I’m home) and I have NEVER and will NEVER walked around in fear because the cops don’t seem to come when we call…this is my neighborhood and no one will make me afraid to walk down my own street. What I was getting at is that I grew up this way because I had to, because bad things happen around here (and everywhere). I am not dismissing these incidents, they disgust me and make me just as mad as anyone else. But if you think that these things weren’t happening a few years ago you are either naive or you weren’t paying attention. The blog is a way for all of us to actually hear about things in a way that wasn’t available before. And as I said yesterday, I am so grateful for that because it makes me even more aware. I was never trying to make a “tired, ridiculous, recurring argument,” nor was I saying anyone was “whining”…I was simply agreeing with a previous poster that I too have always been vigilant, again, because I had to be…and I will continue to be. Hopefully now that you all are reading about these things you will start trying to be a bit more vigilant too.

MB June 11, 2010 (3:01 pm)

Dawson St. I hear ya…I have worked in Bellevue the last 6 years and it’s amazing to me how wide eyed my coworkers get when I tell them about the shooting down the street from my mom’s house over the weekend, or the crackhead next door I got in a bit of a verbal altercation with a few years back because I was fed up. I’m actually quite lucky no one has beat me up so far for standing up for myself and my neighborhood. I just can’t stand by and watch such nonsense without saying something. I guess alot of other people didn’t grow up seeing this kind of stuff…lucky for them.
-DISCLAIMER- The fact that it doesn’t shock me doesn’t mean I’m ok with it.

bridge to somewhere June 11, 2010 (5:09 pm)

@MB: fair enough. and in any event, it isn’t anyone on this blog we’re frustrated with–it’s the crime. :-)

MB June 11, 2010 (10:37 pm)

Agreed ;)

Phil Dirt June 12, 2010 (8:24 am)

If West Seattle were Laurelhurst the cops would respond in a jiffy. Any of you who are not too stupid to do so would be well advised to arm yourself, learn the legalities of armed self defense, get training so you know which end of the gun the bullets come out of, and then take responsibility for your own personal safety. The cops I know, and I know quite a few, will tell you this.

mimi bell June 15, 2010 (8:30 pm)

There are simply not enough jail cells to accomodate all of the scum hangin’ out in the ‘hood. NIMBYs don’t want a new jail in our backyard. Can’t say I do, especially, but I’d rather have these clowns inside one than outside flapping their jaws at me! I would never walk around my neighborhood (Delridge) alone at night, but even in a group I feel you can never let your guard down. I’m for old fashioned Gladiators in the arena. Let them beat the crap out of eachother until there’s no one left standing.

Sorry, comment time is over.