In West Seattle Crime Watch tonight – an update on the knifepoint robbery reported last night, plus a new report of street crime. First: Police went back today to the scene where a woman was held up at knifepoint last night by a robber who took her iPhone. They didn’t find the phone (a black iPhone 4S) but they did find the knife, described as a “dagger-style” weapon. We also have learned more about the arrest made in the case. After the victim reported the holdup in the 3400 block of SW 106th – where she was walking after getting off a Metro bus – Officer Scott Luckie (of “tweetalong” and burglary-arrests fame) was “working the area,” according to an SPD summary, and “spotted the suspect in the 9200 block of 35th … The suspect tried to hide from Officer Luckie, but Luckie was able to relocate him and detain him …” The summary identifies the suspect as a boy who turns 17 next month and is “on probation for robbery.” Since he is a juvenile, online records don’t show whether he is still in custody tonight, nor do they show full details of his record, but we did find partial information on a case in which he appears to have been charged with third-degree assault last August and pleaded guilty in late October.
Second – a robbery attempt last night in the Genesee area. The victim is a visitor from out of the country, and the people he’s staying with say it’s the second time he’s been victimized:
Joshua’s family is hosting the 26-year-old man, a “homestay” student from Saudi Arabia attending UW to study English before seeking an MBA. Joshua sent this note late last night:
I’m sorry to report that our homestay student has been attacked again tonight at about 8:45 pm on his way walking home from California Ave to our house. There were 4 teenagers, again all late teens, all caucasian. One of them grabbed (the victim’s) backpack from behind and tried to take it off his back. (The victim) fell down, got up and ran back to our house. It happened at approximately 47th and Dakota St this time. This was again on a Friday night, which says to me, these are kids from outside the area coming to see what things look vulnerable to take. We again reported it to the police. This is the second incident, the first being Dec. 23rd. I hope with these reports the patrols will increase in our area.
We hadn’t previously heard of the December 23rd incident, but Joshua says it happened a few blocks away, at 51st/Dakota. We looked up the report, which was filed a few days after the incident happened – the report says the victim didn’t know to call 911 since he had just arrived in the country days earlier, but the one last night was reported immediately. The would-be robbers, the report says, asked the victim for a cigarette, then tried to take his cell phone, which the victim managed to wrestle back. They were described as white, male, roughly 18-20 years old, wearing dark hoodies, and “intoxicated.”
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