The WSBeat: Teens attacked; booze-party bust; dogs rescued; more

| West Seattle news | West Seattle police | WSBeat

By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog

As always, the WSBeat summaries are from reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers, incidents of note that (usually) have not already appeared here in breaking-news coverage or West Seattle Crime Watch reports, but that might at least answer the question “what WERE all those police doing on my block (whenever)?”:

*A 17-year-old was attacked from behind while she waited for a bus at California and Hanford late Thursday. One attacker covered her mouth, walked her to a nearby alley, and slammed her head against a tree. When she fell to the ground, five peoplie began kicking and punching her. She was taken to Highline Medical Center for treatment. The attackers were described as two Hispanic males, 15-17 years old, wearing gray hoodies; one Hispanic female, 15-17, wearing a tank top, dark basketball shorts, with her hair in a tight bun; and two other Hispanic females.

*Around 4 p.m. Thursday, a junior high student was attacked from behind by three people described as older male teens near 35th and Thistle. He did not recognize the suspects.

*A 36-year-old Highland Park mom (described as having an anecdotal history of throwing underage drinking soirees) is facing charges of unlawful furnishing of liquor to a minor after officers responded to complaints about a party in the 7700 block of Highland Park Way SW on Sunday, April 29th. Five juveniles ran from the scene but were caught and sent home to parents. Fifteen others — ranging in age from 18-14, and all showing serious signs of intoxication — were released from the apartment. One officer stated, “I can’t express how strong the smell (of marijuana) was.” Mom copped to the alcohol consumption but had nothing to say about the pot.

Eight more summaries ahead, including dogs rescued from a car, and a theft that happened in a flash:

*On Monday the 7th a citizen reported that three dogs had been locked in an unattended vehicle for at least three hours down at 61st and Stevens. Officers were dispatched and rescued the animals: a pit bull, a chihuahua, and a yellow lab. The pit bull had blood on her head and chest with bite marks around her eyes and muzzle. The chihuahua had blood on her scruff. The dogs were transported to the Seattle Animal Shelter. The car was registered to a Cle Elum address.

*Security video from late Thursday shows that in the moments between when a man parked his car at a Westwood Village lot and when he locked it using a key fob at the entrance to a store, someone sneaked into his vehicle and grabbed a briefcase. The suspect then ran across the parking lot and got into a white SUV with dark rims. The victim’s briefcase contained his laptop, passport and visa, Bose headphones, camera, and other items.

*Around noon on Wednesday, a citizen called in a report about a suspicious man taking a cell phone from a car parked near 39th and Alaska. When officers arrived, they ended up booking the 33-year-old Lynnwood resident into King County Jail — not for the car prowl, but on a $5,000 felony drug warrant.

*After observing a likely drug transaction, and then noticing that the car involved had two broken taillights, officers pulled the vehicle over in the 6300 block of 34th SW. The driver was evasive and nervous and lied about his identity and age over a dozen times and kept reaching into his underwear—a likely sign of (uh….among other things) concealed weapons or narcotics. Officers took him into custody, and once at the precinct he provided his true name. He was wanted on a no-bail felony escape warrant and his record had several cautions: “Violent offender. May be armed and dangerous. Resists law enforcement.” He was booked into King County Jail on the warrant and received a verbal warning about the traffic violation.

*Helpful Hint: If you’re filling up with gas, do not put your wallet on top of the car and then drive off, especially if the wallet contains both your ID and your bag of meth.

*A man who was aggressively panhandling customers at a Delridge gas station turned out to be wanted on a $1,000 theft warrant.

*A woman walking her dog was rattled by being followed near 36th and Graham on Thursday afternoon, the 3rd. The suspect was a white male, aged 45-60, with a stubbly salt and pepper beard. He drove an older dark green Saturn.

*The catalytic converter thieves are out and about again, this time striking overnight in the 2500 block of 56th SW and near the intersection of SW Fauntleroy and SW Raymond.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: WSBeat roundups are archived here. We also continue to publish crime reports the rest of the week, when we get tips or hear noteworthy incidents via the scanner, so don’t be shy about letting us know when you see/hear something happening = calling or texting 206-293-6302 is the best way.

G May 14, 2012 (1:37 pm)

Sorry to hear about the kid beaten just up the street from me. What a pack of hyenas, 5 on 1.

Wouldn’t have happened when I was growing up here. West Seattle used to be a blue-collar place where our turf was protected – physically if need be – and thugs knew that.

But now we just put a “Coexist” or a “Peace” bumpersticker on our cars.

steph in wseattle May 14, 2012 (1:52 pm)

I heard that party on Highland PKWY. Loud teens til pretty late. Glad they busted the parent.

Trying! May 14, 2012 (1:53 pm)

Why have we never heard a report on this May 10th incident? As reported to the GSNC:
I live a half block down the street from Genesee Hill and was walking toward the school today at 3:30 to find a couple of folks that had stopped to assist a 13 year old boy who was beaten up on the school grounds. While I didn’t see the incident a woman who stopped to assist the boy told me she saw a group of about 20 boys fleeing as she drove up. She called 911 and police and fire/emt came to investigate and assist the injured boy. Police asked us to leave immediately. We did. So I don’t know anything else. Sure hope the police are keeping you in the loop. I talked to Rick about the incident, and he wondered whether it might have been some sort of gang initiation, because the two kids who were there didn’t want to say their names or identify their schools (this was before the police and aid car arrived). One kid was white and had a black eye, perhaps received some time ago; he was standing up. The other was Latino and had at a minimum been kicked hard in the groin and was spitting some blood; he was lying on the ground and may have had some internal injuries as well. He definitely needed to be checked out by the aid responders.

WSB May 14, 2012 (2:11 pm)

Where does the GSNC (Genesee Schmitz Neighborhood Council) keep crime reports? If this is a public site somewhere, please advise, and we will monitor. Otherwise, that one’s news to me. There is no timely, accurate log of events available, and even scanner listening yields only a fraction of what’s out there – an increasing amount of police business is conducted off the radio (screen to screen, phones, etc.). This is why we all but beg people to let us know, TOO, after you call the police, if there is a significant incident, especially WHEN IT HAPPENS …. it is seldom easy to get information afterward. As for this roundup, May 10th reports are not generally publicly available yet. The police map, which posts some incidents with a 6-hour lag but NOT with details until days later, has nothing in that area: http://web5.seattle.gov/mnm/policereports.aspx Looking back at the SFD log for that day:
.
http://www2.seattle.gov/fire/realtime911/getRecsForDatePub.asp?incDate=5%2F10%2F2012&rad1=des
.
there appears to be an aid response at 3:20 pm, 50th/Dakota. We routinely check out the high-level (assault with weapons, medic response 7 per rule – which means resuscitation needed – heavy rescue, automobile rescue) calls but there are so many other calls, if nobody flags us (206-293-6302 round the clock) to say “hey, fire crews are checking out a little kid who got beat up,” we will never know. This may turn up in the next batch of reports Megan reviews later this week … TR

Brandon May 14, 2012 (2:06 pm)

I’m not saying that you are wrong G but how can you make a blanket statement saying that would never have happened when you were growing up? And if it did how would have known about it. In this day and age of 24 hours news reporting, we hear and see way more than at anytime in human history. Are there more fights now or are we, the community, just more aware? Just a thought.

A May 14, 2012 (3:24 pm)

Around 4 p.m. Thursday, a junior high student was attacked from behind by three people described as older male teens near 35th and Thistle. He did not recognize the suspects.

How is it possible that this happened at a major intersection at 4pm on a Thursday and no mention of the 30-40 drivers or pedestrians in the area in those few minutes having helped? People, TAKE ACTION. PLEASE. Griping about it doesn’t solve it. Channel your busybody auntie and tell those kids off or call the cops and then stay as a witness – something.

gina May 14, 2012 (3:37 pm)

Madison and WSHS had almost.daily group attacks on lone individuals in the 1970s.

J May 14, 2012 (4:12 pm)

I wonder if the “man who was aggressively panhandling customers at a Delridge gas station” is the “gas man” from the Arco station. He is there every day and when you refuse to give him money for gas he spits and cusses at you. FYI this is a scam. He has no car and sells the gas for money behind the building.

Kerrie Schurr May 14, 2012 (4:41 pm)

Hi Tracy-

We have never posted crime reports anywhere, and did not hear about this incident until reading email late Thursday evening. We had planned on sharing the above information with our mailing list (and still plan to do so), but were still awaiting further details when a busy Mother’s Day weekend hit.

I personally saw a lot of young male students in a 1- or 2-block stretch along Charlestown near the bottom and top of the hill when I went past around 2:35 p.m., enough that it caught my eye. If these students were indeed involved, they would most likely have been Madison students, since it was too early for students from any other school to get to that location after school let out.

We will share further details with you as we become aware of them.

Kerrie Schurr
Communications Chair
Genesee-Schmitz Neighborhood Council

WSB May 14, 2012 (4:51 pm)

Thanks, just wasn’t sure why the commenter attributed it to GSNC, unless the commenter WAS the person who reported it, so I thought maybe there was a website somewhere; there are scattered individual neighborhoods with Block Watch type microwebsites, some public, some not … TR
- WSB May 16, 2012 (10:57 am)
  
  For anyone checking back here: So far, two different records searches by SPD – media relations and the local officers who work this area day in and day out – have not turned up anything on this reported incident. Still checking. – TR

G May 14, 2012 (6:21 pm)

Brandon,

West Seattle has changed, the “makeup” of West Seattle residents has changed (I’m 50 by the way). We can have all the bloc watch parties we want, all the real-time information we want on our iphones, but it starts with a street-level stiffening attitudes by West Seattleites, that, hey, don’t come here and start trouble. Done en masse, the word gets out quickly.