WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Spray-bottle assault; fence-jumping prowler

| Crime | West Seattle news

Two reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

SPRAY-BOTTLE ASSAULT: This happened to Chris in Admiral:

A young (early 20’s), white male, wearing a baseball cap, backpack, and with a milk crate with a rolled-up sleeping bag at the bus stop in front of Circa, sprayed me, the front door, and the bushes in front of Circa. He used a generic household spray bottle that appeared to contain a yellow liquid. There was no smell. I yelled at him to stop and he backed off but he walked forward and sprayed more at my legs and the restaurant.

He sprayed the liquid into his own mouth, laughed, and went back to the bus stop bench. I yelled at him to stop several more times and then a Circa employee unlocked the door. I went inside Circa to pick up my order and saw him get on the 128 bus. I informed the Circa employee and pointed out the liquid drops on the front-door glass.

FENCE-JUMPING PROWLER: From PD:

I thought I’d share vids of a guy that jumped my fence and snooped around my house around 2 am Monday 9/27 – (9200 block of) 21st Ave SW.

stickhog September 28, 2021 (5:01 pm)

The description of the guy with the spray bottle sounds very much like a guy seen daily in the Alaska Junction area. Wandering around up and down 44th around the closed Keybank.

Beckyjo September 28, 2021 (5:17 pm)

Please notify the West Seattle Junction Association.

Auntie September 28, 2021 (5:53 pm)

And file a police report. It may have been a harmless liquid this time, but who’s to say he wouldn’t load his spray bottle with something toxic?
- people_are_strange September 28, 2021 (6:31 pm)
  
  Whole-heartedly agree with this.
- This September 29, 2021 (8:11 am)
  
  This may be a dangerous path to go down. Just because someone does something odd and makes you uncomfortable doesn’t mean they would try to cause actual harm. Making these kinds of assumptions can cause harm to people already struggling with issues. Sounds like this person was altered or having a mental health issue or felt antagonized by the person, maybe with an unkind look, and reacted in an inappropriate way.
  
  This incident would have made me uncomfortable too, I understand that, and feel for the person’s discomfort. And yet wonder, in these moments of discomfort if we have more choices… we can react outraged and preciously, or perhaps there’s a stronger and more compassionate response that might deescalate and help the person. Like what about saying, ‘hey, please stop that. Are you okay? Do you need something? Are you hungry?’
- This September 29, 2021 (8:25 am)
  
  … might be interesting for us to consider possibilities of where the spray bottle guy was coming from, other than intended harm. Like, maybe he was hallucinating fire and was actually trying to help put out ‘flames’ by spraying his bottle?
  
  Exploring this doesn’t mean the behavior is ‘okay.’ just think it might be interesting to consider.
- This September 29, 2021 (1:04 pm)
  
  This may be a dangerous path to go down. Just because someone does something odd and makes you uncomfortable doesn’t mean they would try to cause actual harm.
  
  This incident would have made me uncomfortable too, and I feel for this person. And yet, in these moments of discomfort, think we have choices about how we respond. We can be outraged and concerned for ourselves, or also recognize others suffering and see with softer eyes and offer some compassion.
  
  Seeing the sleeping bag (after multiple days of rain), might wonder if offering some help or food would make a difference for this person. Also good to consider if we have contributed to the others behavior, perhaps with an unkind look or our behavior around them.

Just wondering September 28, 2021 (6:49 pm)

What time was this?

Chris September 28, 2021 (7:40 pm)

11:20 am.

Concerned Neighbor September 28, 2021 (9:08 pm)

The fence jumper has been prowling the area aggressively. He’s been all over surveillance footage in the Neighbors app. We saw him break into our neighbors storage on 14th yesterday and trespassed on my property on 15th twice today. He had what appeared to be a hunting knife clipped to the front of his shorts when I saw him.

StopCuttingDownTrees September 28, 2021 (9:54 pm)

Spraying someone with anything besides clean water (and in some cases even that) is criminal assault. Please do everyone who may be his next victim a favor and file a police report with SPD.

Balderdash September 29, 2021 (7:07 am)

Aggressive and more aggressive these incidents are getting each week. Ugh

Beto September 29, 2021 (8:39 am)

After all these incidents -some of them worse than the one described above- I have become very aware of people around me, especially people who look they’re not mentally sane. Even after I walk by them I look back to make sure they’re not following me.

Westwood September 29, 2021 (8:53 am)

I had a similiar experience a few weeks ago at the White Center Starbucks… someone matching that description pretending like he was going to throw a liter of alcohol at my car, laughing and walking away. I believe he did the same to the drive up window of the Starbucks as well

Mj September 29, 2021 (5:36 pm)

I was assaulted 4 year’s ago and the cop had the perp and didn’t arrest him on the spot. The City still has failed to catch and prosecute this perp. This ongoing failure of the City to prosecute and hold perps accountable is extremely frustrating.

Sorry, comment time is over.