WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Stabbing suspect arrested; readers report burglary, car prowl; WSCPC meeting

The latest in West Seattle Crime Watch:

STABBING SUSPECT ARRESTED: As promised, we added followup information yesterday to our report on a stabbing in The Junction. And today, another update: The suspected attacker is in jail. Seattle Police tell us that the 44-year-old woman is “well-known to the (Southwest Precinct) bike officers” and they arrested her on suspicion of felony assault after spotting her yesterday near 44th SW/SW Alaska, not far from where the 16-year-old victim was stabbed early Sunday. Online files show she has an extensive misdemeanor record, with more than 50 cases in Seattle Municipal Court dating back to 1992. (TUESDAY NIGHT UPDATE: The suspect’s bail hearing this afternoon resulted in a judge setting her bail at $220,000. She is due back in court Thursday.)

NORTH DELRIDGE BURGLARY: Joane reports a break-in on Monday afternoon:

Our neighbor, who works from home, noticed that there was a white van in our communal townhouse driveway around 12:15 yesterday. About 10-15 minutes later she noticed that the van was gone, but that our other neighbor’s garage door was left open. After texting with our other neighbor, it was apparent that they were not expecting anyone at their house, and that whoever was in the white van had used some sort of a universal car/garage door opener to get into their garage. Thankfully, nothing was stolen (the door from the garage into the house was locked) but they were in the garage doing something for at least a few minutes. The police were called and they came out to take the report of what happened. After looking around, they noticed that several houses on our street have white chalk markings at the end of the driveway near the sidewalk. The police officer stated that they did not look like city markings or anything he’d ever seen before, and we’re now assuming that they have something to do with the break in.

Joane added, “We caught about 30 seconds of video on our Ring device of the van/man in question. Not a super clear picture, but it’s something.”

NORTH ADMIRAL CAR PROWL: From Tracey in the 2200 block of California SW: “We had our car rummaged through (Sunday) night. It was locked and (I) woke to an alarm but didn’t think it was mine. Nothing was taken but what was weird is there was no damage. They have the equipment to unlock the doors.”

WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL: This month’s WSCPC meeting is one week from tonight, 7 pm Tuesday, February 21st, at the Southwest Precinct. WSCPC’s Richard Miller says the active-shooter expert who was unable to appear last month due to a sudden illness has re-committed for this month. WSCPC is also your chance to bring neighborhood crime/safety concerns directly to local police. The precinct is at 2300 SW Webster.

9 Replies to "WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Stabbing suspect arrested; readers report burglary, car prowl; WSCPC meeting"

  • unknown February 14, 2017 (1:14 pm)

    Is there more to the video, looks like the person is wearing a yellow vest, maybe the van has a company marker???

  • Alan February 14, 2017 (3:50 pm)

    I’m not sure if this is still true, but it used to be that garage door openers came with a default setting. It was up to the owner to flip dip switches on the opener and the remote in order to change the settings. Since many people didn’t go to that much trouble, it was possible to buy replacement remotes for the various manufacturers. You could then drive up and down streets pressing the remote button and watch for garage doors to open.

    Whether or not that is still true, I would not assume that the person had some magical device. I would change the code on my garage door.

    Of course, it is also possible that your neighbor forgot to close it on the way out. Or something got in the way of it closing and stopped it.

    • chemist February 14, 2017 (8:13 pm)

      Dip-switch-type openers generally have fewer options, such that even kids toys can be used to brute-force an open. https://www.wired.com/2015/06/hacked-kids-toy-opens-garage-doors-seconds/

      Of course, there’s still less elegant ways to pull the release cord from the outside using a hook like you’d use a “slim jim” for a car lock and it wouldn’t leave a trace after pulling the door down.

  • Super Doe February 14, 2017 (6:04 pm)

    We have noticed that there have been small white squares of cut up t-shirts placed in front of various houses in our neighborhood – very deliberately.  There were also two blue disposable gloves along the way (thieves wear these).  From time to time during the past year, there have also been white pieces of paper, napkins, or other white objects placed along the street directly in front of homes – too methodical to simple be random garbage. Is this some kind of theft-ring code? Do  WS police offices have any idea? Anybody else notice this? Weird!!

  • James February 14, 2017 (8:01 pm)

    What is the name of the stabber? I think I might have seen this lady before.

    • WSB February 14, 2017 (8:20 pm)

      We don’t identify people until and unless charges are filed. She is due back in court on Thursday. I am updating the story above with the results of today’s bail hearing.

  • ChannelingLewisBlack February 14, 2017 (8:38 pm)

    Is it only  me that’s wondering how someone tallies up 50 misdemeanors and still walks the streets, much less clears 220k bail?

    • Junction Dad February 14, 2017 (9:58 pm)

      Did not post bail, still in Jail as of this evening.

      50 misdemeanors in 25 years for someone living on the street is not means to lock up and throw away the key.  

      • ChannelingLewisBlack February 15, 2017 (8:56 pm)

        I’m sorry, but if it’s a stabbing, yes.. yes it does.  Or it means do something different.  Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result.  If she’s back on the street again, it is a failure of  our government and justice system.  What is your proposed solution?

Sorry, comment time is over.