WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Andover shooting suspect in court; bus assault; car break-in

| Crime | West Seattle news

We start this West Seattle Crime Watch roundup with a followup:

ANDOVER SHOOTING SUSPECT IN COURT: As noted this morning, police arrested a 38-year-old man hours after Thursday’s early-am shooting near 26th/Andover. They identified him through security video. He had a bail/probable-cause hearing this afternoon, and the documents from that hearing have more details on what police say happened. First, the document says the suspect shot the victim after a “verbal altercation.” The security video showed a woman was with the suspect at the time; 10 hours later, after 1 pm Thursday, police were called to a “domestic disturbance” heard by other tenants in the woman’s Junction apartment building. Police watched security video showing the same two people, wearing the same clothes as in the shooting-scene video, arriving in the suspect’s vehicle. Officers were waiting in the hallway when the suspect left the woman’s apartment, and arrested him. Along with the shooting, he is also under investigation for domestic-violence allegations including threatening to kill the woman, and for unlawful gun possession, as he has “multiple felony convictions.” Prosecutors asked for $500,000 bail; a judge set it at $300,000, and he remains in jail

BUS ASSAULT: Harold was on the C line headed downtown with his wife and children when, he reports, a woman “suddenly reached out and smacked me over the head with a long, plastic object she quickly tucked away in her bag. She screamed that I should get away from her or she would do it again.” He was not seriously hurt but is troubled that the bus driver “said he couldn’t and wouldn’t do anything about it, or even report it to Metro police because they have other things to deal with. He said just stay away from her. He said he would only do something if I wanted him to pull the bus over so I could call the police and wait until the woman is arrested. I chose not to do that. The driver declined to talk to her or ask her to leave.” Harold did end up calling transit police directly because he “just wanted to make sure she didn’t stay on the bus and assault other passengers. They had the bus driver stay put downtown and would send someone to ask her to get off the bus.” This sort of situation was not addressed in this recent announcement about a Metro safety initiative; we’ll be following up Monday about what the protocol calls for, as well as drivers’ ongoing safety concerns.

CAR BREAK-IN: Andy‘s car was broken into after midnight last night on 37th SW near Providence Mount St. Vincent. The thief/thieves stole two longboards and a laptop in its bag. If you’ve seen any such items dumped, let us know and we’ll connect you. Andy’s also reported the theft to police.

CarDriver March 26, 2022 (6:42 am)

Back in to ’80’s my brother drove for Metro. They REALLY discouraged drivers from calling in problem passengers. Their reasoning was A) it delayed the bus B) it wasn’t a good “look” and might keep people from riding.

Bus Rider March 26, 2022 (6:51 pm)

I have a friend who said similar. He drove Metro for 10 years. Drivers are constantly under pressure to stay on schedule at the expense of bathroom breaks and dealing with unruly passengers. I’m not surprised with the driver’s lack of action. My friend said Metro hardly ever has the driver’s back. Having said that, I’ve told driver’s about things happening on the bus, smoking, drugs, masturbation, and those driver’s did do something. I really think its up to the driver. This one maybe thought it wasn’t worth it.

west sea neighbor March 26, 2022 (11:37 am)

This is the type of thing that keeps me from riding the bus. I’ve had too many experiences like this.

flimflam March 26, 2022 (12:04 pm)

Wow. Harold is a pretty easy going guy. It’s ridiculous that people are supposed to “stay away” from people like the woman described here as opposed to someone actually doing something about it. Wow.

Nicholas Kerr March 26, 2022 (1:30 pm)

Metro continues to discourage speaking out to this day. That’s how you know, when you read this recent statement by the amagamated transit union on transit safety (or the lack thereof), that things are actually far worse than what they’re admitting to. https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/seattle/metro-drivers-union-memo-rising-crime-buses-king-county/281-b5ff5665-c45b-49bb-a9af-116cf484d66c

Mj March 26, 2022 (5:22 pm)

flimflam – agreed! One of these days ….

Community Member March 26, 2022 (5:58 pm)

The bus driver is not a police officer. He offers to pull the bus over and wait for the police to come. That sounds like a sensible course of action. I’m not understanding why anyone is thinking that that isn’t the way to respond. If you want bus drivers who are trained and qualified for police work, you’ll have to raise their pay quite a bit.

StopCuttingDownTrees March 26, 2022 (6:54 pm)

When I was a transit driver in San Diego in the late-80s we were required to remove unruly and disruptive passengers or face disciplinary action. If we couldn’t do it ourselves or if it seemed to dangerous we were required to call for police assistance before moving the bus.

Drive March 26, 2022 (8:33 pm)

My bus driver friend wears a stab vest and so do many many drivers. They see way too many stabbings and near stabbings.I feel bad that some people don’t know about the bus risk ahead of time. That’s what happened here. Honest surprise by Harold however zero surprise by anyone else on the bus.My wife used to ride the c line to work until it was literally held up at gunpoint. This was years ago and the holdup was actually in West Seattle. WSB covered it.

BrianD March 26, 2022 (9:54 pm)

I am a retired Metro Transit Communications Coordinator, i.e. the guy that the bus driver talks to over the radio. If someone is assaulted on a bus, the driver is to call in immediately, before proceeding! The passenger will be asked if they need a medical response, or want a police response. If either, the bus is tied up at that point. If no response is requested, the passenger will be asked if they would be willing to provide information – name, address, etc. . Most buses now have cameras that records what happened. How this driver reacted is totally against policy, and could have faced disciplinary action. It sounds like they were more concerned about loosing break time at the end of the trip. In hindsight, the passenger should have written down the time, location and bus number this happened. Yes, police responses are slow. No, Metro doesn’t discourage drivers from calling in. The driver would be required to submit a Security Incident Report. Don’t believe everything KING-TV or any other media source says, they are attracting viewers (the answer may surprise you!). And the Union (which I belonged to) sees things from the drivers side without knowing what supervisors or management are trying to do. Next time something like this happens, get the bus number, time, location, description of the driver and any other details, then call it in to the Customer Service Office. The driver WILL be spoken to.

Colonel Mustard's Wrench March 27, 2022 (12:29 pm)

We can thank Ronald Reagan for repealing JFK’s and Carter’s federal programs to care for the mentally ill in 1981.
Ronnie effectively removed financial responsibility from the federal gov’t and placed it on the States. People were turned out of mental hospitals and the states were unprepared for them.
The criminal justice system saw an uptick in the mentally ill.

If we get to a point where we are willing to deal with the mentally ill on a federal level, we can do a better job of providing them the help that they need.
In my utopia, violent mentally ill people would not be riding transit, assaulting people – they would be in a home, getting the care and medication that they need.

Rhonda March 27, 2022 (7:32 pm)

So, incarcerated and warehoused in a large facility with guards (mental hospital) rather than incarcerated and warehoused in a large facility with guards (prison), both of which medicate and council the mentally ill. Potato, potato.
- WS Res March 27, 2022 (8:07 pm)
  
  Prisons rarely effectively medicate and do little or nothing to counsel people with mental illness. And they often warehouse them in solitary confinement which only makes it worse. What was meant to happen was that large institutions would be abandoned in favor of small community-based group homes. But the funding never showed up.
  - Rhonda March 27, 2022 (9:38 pm)
    
    Small group homes cannot safely contain the violently-mentally ill.
- Colonel Mustard's Wrench March 27, 2022 (8:39 pm)
  
  Are you suggesting that we continue to allow violent mentally ill people to assault people ?
  Why do we bother to have public transportation if we are going to allow assaults ? No one will ride public transportation in this present crisis. The roads will not be able to handle the increase in cars as recovery from the pandemic occurs.
  Do you find the status quo acceptable ?
  What are your solutions ?
  Or are you cynical and indifferent ?
  - anonyme March 28, 2022 (11:01 am)
    
    Colonel, I absolutely agree with you. I had an uncle who was in one of the homes that Reagan shut down. He was not mentally ill but had been brain-damaged during birth. High functioning, but he was also gay, so his good Catholic relatives would do nothing to help him. He was preyed upon by older men and eventually vanished. A very sad story that has been replicated thousands of times since the Reagan era. We need care and facilities for those who cannot care for themselves, including the violently mentally ill. And yes, those individuals do need guards, and no, they should not be sharing the same facility. Entirely different needs. There is not a one-fits-all solution. None of which has anything to do with the bus situation, but as a full-time Metro rider for over 35 years I can tell you that bus drivers (for the most part) do nothing to intervene on behalf of customers who are being harassed – or worse. If the drivers do nothing (and administrators have told me that they should not) then who protects riders? NO ONE. Metro is dangerous on many levels, both from the perspectives of health and physical safety, and it’s getting worse. Their policy is hypocritical and seemingly designed so that nobody is responsible, often leaving drivers in the lurch and customers unsafe because of it.

Lola March 28, 2022 (7:31 am)

This is one reason why I will not ride the bus. Who wants to be assaulted while trying to get to your destination. And for them to let her keep riding because they do not want to get involved. Nope sorry will keep my car for getting myself somewhere.

Sorry, comment time is over.