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 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?”:

*At 39th and Oregon on the 17th, around 8 pm, a man driving by noticed another citizen being threatened by a man with a gun. He honked his car horn, and the suspect — along with a second man — ran off. The driver picked up the victim and drove him home while the victim called 911. Due to heavy foot traffic in the area, the K9 unit couldn’t pick up a good trail. The man with the gun was described as black, 22-29 years old, around 5’10”, wearing a dark hoodie. The other man (who stole the victim’s cell phone) was described as white, aged 22-29, about 6’2”, wearing dark clothing.

*On the 18th, in the 7300 block of 30th SW, a man found two young men peering into his car, which was warming up in the driveway. He asked, “Did you take something from my car?” In response, one youth turned and punched him four or five times. Officers tracked down two teens matching the description in the restroom at EC Hughes Park. The 15-year-old who threw the punches was booked into the Youth Service Center for investigation of assault and for investigation of marijuana possession. The other, 16, was released to his parents.

Nine more summaries ahead:

*An officer on routine patrol noticed a “known transient” peering suspiciously into a car near California and Hinds. A female “known-transient” was standing nearby, seemingly acting as lookout. Spotting the police vehicle, the pair disappeared eastbound on Hinds. After checking the car (which was not damaged) the officer ran the suspects’ names on the computer. The woman was wanted on two $3,000 misdemeanor warrants for theft and assault. The officer tracked down the pair and booked the woman into King County Jail.

*Around 8 p.m. on the 15th, an officer tried three times to pull over a car in the Morgan Junction area. With each stop, the car pulled back into traffic before the officer could initiate contact. The officer maintained pursuit for a time at street speeds, but was ordered to cease. As he did so, a citizen flagged him down, concerned about a speeding car through an alley. As they spoke, the officer looked up and saw the suspect’s car come to a stop and the driver run through a nearby carport. Because the car was blocking an alley, the officer arranged for a tow. In the meantime, a citizen came out of a home in the 6000 block of 49th SW and said that her alcoholic ex-husband had been the driver and had been staying with her for several months. Because of the passage of time, and because the officer wouldn’t have been able to absolutely ID the man as the driver, he was not contacted. The car was impounded.

*As he made his way through The Junction on the 16th, a citizen was pursued by two intoxicated men. He climbed aboard his bike and tried to flee but was forced to stop when the bike got a flat. For safety, he entered a convenience store, but was followed inside. The two suspects assaulted a clerk and a bystander who tried to intervene and then fled down an alley. They were described as white, one 6’1” with a reddish complexion, strawberry hair, skin discolorations, and a red pockmarked face. The second is described simply as a white male in a blue t-shirt. No arrests were reported.

*In the 3200 block of Avalon, just after midnight on the 19th, a man left his condo for work and discovered a pile of burned garbage beneath the melted exterior wall of the building. The Fire Department reported that earlier in the evening there had been another arson incident nearby. No suspects were located.

*On the 11th, around 8:30 p.m., a stranger came up behind a citizen in the 4700 block of 40th SW and demanded money. He then hit the victim in the forehead with the butt of a semi-automatic pistol, ran southbound on 40th and turned left on Edmunds. The attacker was described as a white man in his early twenties, 5-11, with short dark hair. (Note: We had an initial report on this hours after it happened.)

*While on patrol on the 12th, an officer was flagged down by a man with severe facial injuries who was wandering in the street near 37th SW and Cambridge. He told the officer that he lived in Ballard but couldn’t explain why he was in West Seattle or what had happened to cause the trauma. The officer could make out only that he had been hit “in or with” a bar. Medics explained that it was likely his broken jaw that made him hard to understand.

*A sharp-eyed citizen near Lowman Beach was one of several who called in their suspicions about a man walking around in West Seattle yards. One officer saw a man matching the description trying to hide in a carport in the 7000 block of Lincoln Park Way. He followed the suspect, who ran up over rockeries and into a second apartment building stairwell and ignored all orders to stop. Eventually, the suspect was cornered and had to choose between two doors: He chose the one leading to the carport,–and to a group of officers who were waiting for him to emerge. He claimed to have been looking for bus stops. The officers noted that he wasn’t likely to find them by wandering through the yards of waterfront properties. A records check discovered he was on active supervision by the Department of Corrections. The 34-year-old Kent resident was interviewed and released at the precinct, with charges pending of obstruction and criminal trespass.

*On the 14th, despite two protection orders, a 30-year-old Magnolia resident decided to visit a 16-year-old West Seattle girl that he had impregnated. When the girl’s mom arrived home and heard his voice, she called 911. Officers arrived at the High Point-area home and booked the man into King County Jail for the violations.

*On the 18th, in the 6500 block of 32nd SW, a woman called 911 to report an argument with her boyfriend and asked to have him removed from the home. He left voluntarily with the officers, but a records check showed he was wanted on a no-bail Department of Corrections warrant and on an unverified $25,000 felony warrant from Renton. He was booked into King County Jail.

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EDITOR’S NOTES: Remember, the CRISIS CLINIC hotline is a resource for those in crisis, including thoughts or acts of self-harm, or trying to find help for someone in crisis: 206.461.3222 … Previous WSBeat roundups are archived here. We also publish crime reports when we get tips or otherwise hear about noteworthy incidents – they don’t all turn up on the scanner, so please don’t be shy about letting us know when you see/hear something happening = calling or texting 206-293-6302 is the best way.