West Seattle Crime Watch: Stolen car; found knife; road rage

| Crime | West Seattle news

Extra edition of West Seattle Crime Watch this afternoon, since we try to get auto-theft reports out relatively quickly. From Josh:

My 1997 Honda Accord was stolen from 2000 block of SW Trenton ST right behind Staples between the hours of 830 pm last night (9/21/13) and this afternoon (9/22/13). It is a forest green Accord and the passenger side door handle is half broken off and there is a green Mesa Verde National Park parking sticker that’s about 1.5×1.5 inches on the left bottom front windshield. License plate ALC6772.

Call 911 if you see it.

Ahead, a road-rage incident reported to police, and a knife found in The Junction (stolen? lost? maybe you know):

From Elizabeth:

My friend and I were driving south on 16th Ave SW today near SSCC, when we saw that the car in front of us was really swerving a lot. They swerved for about a block and they started swerving and pulling into the curb lane, so when they were in the curb lane we passed them. They swerved back onto the road and almost hit us, so I honked at them. They honked back, continuously, and sped up to tailgate us while honking (they had been driving very slowly before).

They followed us for about a mile like this, while we called 911. The 911 operator told us not to stop, and when we got to the four-way stop at SW Henderson St., we sort of slowed down and rolled through instead of stopping, and the passenger of the car following us opened their door. We kept going, and when we got to the red light at 16th and Roxbury, the passenger opened the door completely and got out. I turned off Roxbury quickly as the passenger chased us on foot. We kept driving for about a mile and they didn’t follow. A police officer followed us and took our report, and chaperoned us to our designation.

The car was a black, 90’s model Cadillac (or similar car), with tinted windows, on VERY large lifted tires, with black rims. The license plate started with AJS. Watch out, and stay safe!

Final note – Jodi found a pocket knife, in a case, in The Junction. If you lost one or had it stolen, please comment – she’s looking for descriptive information to help match it with its owner.

West Seattle Hipster September 22, 2013 (5:49 pm)

Whenever possible, try to get pictures or video of the road rager with a cell phone. In most cases it will calm them down very quickly, it also provides critical documentation of the incident.

Mike September 22, 2013 (6:05 pm)

Regarding the road-rage event. Just to clarify, was it on oversized tires that would typically be on a 4×4 that’s lifted or did they mean it had very large diameter wheels? It would be really really rare to see a Cadillac on oversized tires with a lift. The large diameter wheel, 24″, is a more common urban mod to older American cars.
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I’d assume if they did as stated, the people in the Cadillac where looking for somebody to fight with, high on something (meth, cocaine, other), drunk, possibly more. The best advice is that people not honk, not make sudden acceleration, etc around a vehicle swerving like that. Turn off the road, call 911 and then find a different route home.
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On that note, just remember to not brake quickly in front of people rolling on 24s, they can’t brake worth a damn. Unsprung weight + tiny brakes = crash. Physics are not something those people think about, they want the Hot Wheels car look, not performance.

Philosurfy September 22, 2013 (7:59 pm)

I’m pretty sure we had a run in with a similar car – are you sure it wasn’t a mercury or Lincoln?

Eric1 September 22, 2013 (8:04 pm)

It always amazes me that people in a highly identifiable vehicle will do something this dumb. How many people own a black 90’s Cadillac with huge rims in W. Seattle? If you get a partial plate, that should equal to 1.
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Speaking of not taking Physics 101, they also missed Econ 101 by spending $4,000 on rims and tires for a $500 car.

Elizabeth September 22, 2013 (8:31 pm)

Philosorfy, it could have been a Mercury or Lincoln (like I said, it was a Cadillac or similar car).

Thanks for the advice, Mike, but I honked to keep them from hitting me, not to escalate the situation. There was nowhere to turn off the road, and I didn’t feel safe being behind them for much longer. It seemed at the time the safest route to go past them while they were pulled over. Also, the tires definitely looked larger than the size of normal tires. The passenger was young looking, maybe 20.

Chuck and Sally's Van Man September 22, 2013 (8:50 pm)

@Hipster: “In most cases…” Yeah, and in the other cases it could get you shot. Fact is, you are dealing with people with unclear motives and it’s not wise to blanket these apparently hostile situations with a warm and fuzzy “in most cases” statement. I think these people dealt with it extremely well, letting the cops handle it. ‘Cause “in most cases” the cops know what the hell they’re doing. Just saying.

T September 22, 2013 (11:00 pm)

Based on the description of both the car and the behavior they were displaying, this sounds like a vehicle I see traveling on Trenton between 16th and Delridge on a regular basis.

Trackguy1978 September 22, 2013 (11:03 pm)

My partner had a road rage experience last Sunday. He was turning to go to the West Seattle bridge from 35th. He thought he had enough time to merge but a black suv, possibly Yukon sped up and seemed like my partner cut him off. The Yukon was tailgating him over the bridge and when my partner would slow down the other vehicle did too. The yukon finally pulled to the side of my partner’s car and the driver flashed a gun. This guy then got behind him and my partner finally lost him after turning off onto the Seneca exit of 99. The Yukon couldn’t get over in time to exit. I tried to convince him to report it to the police but he was too worried.

Eric September 23, 2013 (5:18 am)

Trackguy,

Your partner should definitely report this. This is serious and when people do not report serious crimes

1. The police don’t know about it and cannot do anything about it.

2. People will become more brazen when they realize they can get away with doing such things.

Virgilbikes September 23, 2013 (6:10 am)

Ditto. I was a passenger in a car just 5 or so blocks south of SSCC ready to take a left when this black car comes up hard behind and swings around us to the right into the intersection blasting its horn. The driver seemed to be shouting something. We took our left and tried to figure out why they were so animated.

Smitty September 23, 2013 (6:55 am)

Can we get a better description of the driver or passenger who chased you?

White, black, hispanic, asian……?

It certainly helps the rest of us, and is not in any way discriminatory if that is what you are thinking.

Silly Goose September 23, 2013 (7:49 am)

I know this car, it is all over west seattle and Beacon Hill usually around Garfield High School area, as for the swerving this seems to be a driving tread for thugs, I have to communte down 23rd over Beacon Hill in the mornings and the thugs drive like this swerving across all lanes so noone can pass them as they drive below the speed limit taunting everyone who tried to go around them! Very Scary

AE September 23, 2013 (8:29 am)

These incidents of road aggression (attacks, really) are way too common now! Trackguy, CALL THE POLICE. They won’t do anything, but when one of these idiots finally hurts someone, maybe they will have a record of previous attacks. And yes, “attack” is the right word – I was attacked by yet another of these freaks (not any of the vehicles listed above) and tried to report it, but the police simply could not be persuaded to care.
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What is wrong with people?? Cars are suddenly weapons there are way too may gangster wannabes out there.

keden September 23, 2013 (12:19 pm)

Mike, how can you tell what kind of tires are on the car *behind* you?

j reddish September 23, 2013 (5:23 pm)

“these” people, are thugs moving into the area, and are directly responsible for the decline in livability in the seatac region… thugs, drug dealers and gang bangers. are here, they are violent and un predictable….

lxm2352 September 23, 2013 (5:45 pm)

I live on 16th and know this car well. It often drives by. It maybe has about a 6″ lift kit and wide 60 series tires on 35 inch wheels. it is quite a ridiculous car. I will try to get a full plate the next I see it. I also had a much less dramatic interaction with car possibly this same day.

Ajax September 23, 2013 (10:19 pm)

I’ve had more recent experience with the other end of the road rager spectrum: the psychotically entitled guy in the expensive midlife crisis car. Anyone or anything on or near the road is a highly problematic impediment to his destination, which is the most important thing in the history of the world. This is the type that is more likely to back off from the encounter due to filming or obviously writing down the license plate, as perhaps he’s on his way to pick up his kid(s) for a just-barely-granted-in-the-divorce unsupervised visitation…

Sarge September 24, 2013 (9:30 am)

Black 90’s Mercury with, tinted windows, chrome grill and rediculously large wheels perhaps? Frequents the Delridge Shell station for Swisher Sweet cigars.

Copy link to your browser to view photo.

http://i39.tinypic.com/mj73np.jpg

Dave September 24, 2013 (11:59 am)

Nice work Sarge. Time to post this photo with a ‘call police’ if seen note.

I’m assuming (wait, hoping) the Seattle Police tracked this car down on Monday after the 911 call that included a detailed description with plate information. I’m assuming also that anyone even remotely connected to this car is (a) a felon; (b) has outstanding warrants; and(c) is affiliated with gang activity or associates.

Todd September 24, 2013 (3:40 pm)

WAY TO GO SARGE!!!!!
Love the pic!!!!!!
Now we can all be wary of this FOOL in a big black car…

Elizabeth September 25, 2013 (6:17 am)

Thanks for the photo, Sarge. That is the car that chased us.

Sarge September 25, 2013 (9:23 am)

Glad to help Elizabeth.

Your detailed description make it easy to spot the vehicle.

Details for SPD if needed;
The driver at the the time the photo was taken was African American male,early to mid 30’s clean shaven,short hair, approximatly 5’6″ tall 150 lbs, brown eyes (bloodshot), driver and vehicle both had strong odor of marijuana.

Time/location;
Monday Sept 23rd 8:25 AM, Delridge Shell station between SW Brandon an SW Findlay st.

Josh September 25, 2013 (10:30 am)

I have cropped a previous photo of my car. This waiting game is awful, hoping this will at least help in the search.

http://imgur.com/kXQVXmd

The license plate frame says “Wayzata Nissan” which is where I bought the car when I used to live back in Minnesota.

The wait continues…

Thanks for the help!

Elizabeth September 25, 2013 (6:25 pm)

Dave, I’m going to follow up with the report we filed when this happened (Sunday) and tell the reporting officer that this photo of the car exists. We only had a partial license plate number to give, so I hope this helps.

Sarge, that matches the description of the passenger who chased us, but we never saw the driver (the windows were too dark).

steve September 25, 2013 (6:51 pm)

http://i39.tinypic.com/mj73np.jpg

I’ve seen this car too. Trouble.
Who’s the little 4′ 11″ boy pumping the
gas? My grandma used to drive one of those.
Does his mother know that he has her car?

fiona enzo September 26, 2013 (7:43 am)

Great photo. I have had a question for a long time about heavily tinted windows, esp on driver’s window. It seems a potential safety issue for police as well as other drivers. That anonymity seems to bring out the worst in more average folks and certainly offers additional cover for thugs.

Sorry, comment time is over.