CRIME WATCH FOLLOWUPS: Charges filed in Don Armeni Boat Ramp robbery, Upper Morgan stolen-car crash

We have charging documents in two West Seattle cases:

DON ARMENI BOAT RAMP ROBBERY: The three men arrested after crashing their car at Delridge/Genesee following the Sunday night holdup are all now charged. 29-year-old Isai Hernandez is charged with first-degree robbery, attempting to elude pursuing police, and first-degree unlawful gun possession. The other two, 18-year-old Roberto A. Lizama Diaz and 20-year-old Angel M. Macias, are both charged with first-degree robbery. Hernandez has a criminal record dating back to 2009, with adult felony convictions for assault, drive-by shooting, and possession of stolen property. The other two have no records. The charging documents tell basically the same narrative as reported in our Tuesday followup, alleging that the three held up a man who was sitting in his parked pickup truck at the park, stealing his wallet, money, and phone. Hernandez is accused of being the one with the gun, who fired a shot as they fled, and the driver of the getaway car. The documents also contain photos, which is unusual – here’s the photo reported to have been taken by a bystander, showing the three running away:

The documents also include mugshots of all three:

From left are Hernandez, whose bail remains set at $265,000 (including $15,000 in other unrelated cases), Lizama Diaz, whose bail remains at $50,000, and Macias, whose bail remains at $175,000. They’re all scheduled to be arraigned, entering an initial plea to the charges, on October 26th.

UPPER MORGAN STOLEN-CAR CRASH: Also filed this week, charges in a case we covered when it happened in June. This too involved a crash following police attempts to pull a suspect over. 30-year-old Dancho J. Gardipe of North Shorewood was arrested after crashing a stolen Subaru Forester near 40th/Morgan a short time after police had started trying to pull him over in The Junction.

(WSB photo, June 17)

Before coming to a stop up on the sidewalk, as our photo shows, Gardipe also hit a pickup truck whose driver complained of shoulder pain. He hit a parked vehicle too. Our original story mentions a man being taken to the hospital; that was Gardipe, who the charging documents say suffered a collapsed lung and broken leg. He is charged with one count of attempting to elude police; his record includes a conviction for obstructing police and several pending charges in other cases including a 2021 charge of stolen-vehicle possession. He is not currently in custody.

14 Replies to "CRIME WATCH FOLLOWUPS: Charges filed in Don Armeni Boat Ramp robbery, Upper Morgan stolen-car crash"

  • onion October 14, 2022 (8:02 am)

    Feel bad for these stupid sh*ts pissing their lives away and causing great misery for their families and people who care for them. And for what? A small amount of cash and a cell phone? I hope at least one out the three is able to turn their lives around. Get a clue guys.

    • oerthehill October 14, 2022 (11:09 am)

      Onion, unfortunately it’s not just about the wallet and cell phone. It’s about respect from his peers. It boosts his ego and gives him street cred. That to me is the scary part.

  • Robert October 14, 2022 (8:12 am)

    Wow, we have some true geniuses here.  A gun point robbery in the day light, on a crowded beach, and stole a wallet and a phone.  

    • WSB October 14, 2022 (9:51 am)

      Just for the record: Robbery is of course wrong and illegal any time/anywhere, but Don Armeni is a parking lot, not a “crowded beach,” and it wasn’t a crowded lot at that time (we had passed by a short time before this happened); also, it happened shortly after sunset (6:40 pm)- sorry, I should have recapped the time frame in this followup.

  • Skeptic October 14, 2022 (8:42 am)

    Two comments.  First, the body language on Mr. Hernandez’s mug shot is not conveying regret or contrition, only disgust at getting caught.  Can we please put him in a cell for a long time? Second, eluding police in a chase almost always puts other members of the public at risk.  Can the DA and SPD review dash camera footage in these chases to find other charges that would make it more difficult for people like Mr. Gardipe to make bail?  He sent someone to the hospital and likely could have killed them.  I don’t understand how this person is not in custody.

    • WSB October 14, 2022 (9:54 am)

      I don’t know how the initial timeline played out but given his serious injuries, he was taken to Harborview rather than jail on the day of the crash. The record doesn’t reflect what happened from there and when. But after 72 hours, if he was able to leave, given that he hadn’t been charged then, he would have been released. With this charge there would now be a warrant and/or summons for him to appear at arraignment in two weeks.

    • Jort October 14, 2022 (1:06 pm)

      Must be a real bummer that the “body language” (???????!??!?????) of a suspect in a photograph doesn’t meet your personal standards for visible contrition, and therefore justifies additional incarceration time (???????????!!!!!!!??!!!). Maybe we should restructure our justice system around how “sorry” people look? Extremely weird. Super weird.

    • Brian October 14, 2022 (2:34 pm)

      Boy it’s a good thing we don’t put people in jail for *checks notes* “body language”.  What is wrong with you?

      • Zipda October 14, 2022 (3:40 pm)

        Yep agree. I suspect my usual body language and cynical appearance  would likewise get me arrested if that was a criteria. 

  • Question Authority October 14, 2022 (9:18 am)

    Maybe it’s time Armeni becomes a paid parking lot for vehicles actually pulling boats, because it’s a boat ramp parking lot run amok.

    • Mike October 16, 2022 (7:31 am)

      Oh sure let’s have more cr@# we have to pay for bravo question authority!

  • bradley October 14, 2022 (11:18 am)

    From the comments in the original story, it sounded like more than 3 people exited the car (including what a witness thought was a women).  Confusion at scene?  Suspects still at large?  Is there a reason one of the bails was significantly higher/lower ($175k vs $50k)?

    • WSB October 14, 2022 (11:53 am)

      Why the bail discrepancy, I don’t know. The bails were all lower than prosecutors’ requests. As for the number of people, there was a fourth person in the car, described as one suspect’s “female companion,” who the victim said was not involved in the robbery, so she has not been arrested or charged. – TR

  • West October 17, 2022 (4:25 am)

    There’s more to life then creating havoc with no reason except to chase a thrill of adrenaline by hurting or robbing someone or stealing. It’s just wrong and it just leads to people going to jail and upset families.. Where are the positive influences that can turn things around in these types of situations why do young guy’s take after the criminal world don’t they know that there is more to life… Why waste all that. life is precious and live a little and love your family make them proud

Sorry, comment time is over.