CRIME WATCH FOLLOWUP: More on Friday’s LA Fitness arrests

On Friday, we reported on a police response at LA Fitness in The Junction, with two people detained after reports that at least one had brandished a gun at the front desk of the gym. We had several followup questions out to SPD and some are answered by an SPD Blotter post just published. SPD confirms that the two people detained – both described as 18-year-old men – were both eventually arrested and booked into jail. The police post includes this photo and says officers (corrected) seized “a handgun from the car (that) had an extended magazine and appeared to have been modified to make it fully automatic”:

According to SPD, “(LA Fitness) employees said when they asked the two suspects to leave because they didn’t have memberships, one of the men pulled a gun from his jacket pocket and the other verbally threatened to kill an employee.” Then they reportedly “fled toward the parking garage (where) officers stopped the suspects’ car at the garage exit as they attempted to leave … (officers also) identified and released a third subject in the car who was determined to not be involved.” Police say the man suspected of brandishing the gun was arrested for investigation of felony harassment, unlawful possession of a firearm (under the age of 21), possession of an unlawful weapon, and displaying a weapon to intimidate, while the other was arrested for investigation of felony harassment and obstruction. SPD says the latter is because that suspect kept giving them a false name; once they learned his real name, they discovered he had warrants for burglary and robbery. The jail docket indicates both remain in custody today; we’ll be following up with prosecutors in the coming week regarding possible charges.

29 Replies to "CRIME WATCH FOLLOWUP: More on Friday's LA Fitness arrests"

  • David February 4, 2023 (3:26 pm)

    How does a modified extended magazine make a gun fully automatic?

    • rob February 4, 2023 (3:42 pm)

      It doesn’t, the switch on the back end of the slide does. Their wording is confusing. 

      • a concerned customer February 4, 2023 (10:50 pm)

        The blotter got it right.   WSB didn’t understand what they were reading and got it wrong.

        • WSB February 4, 2023 (11:07 pm)

          Thanks; I have corrected the quoted line before the photo. – TR

    • Rhonda February 4, 2023 (8:41 pm)

      The illegal switch device installed on the back of the slide makes the semi-auto striker mechanism fully-automatic. The extended magazine isn’t “modified”, but rather a factory Glock product that’s been on the market for decades.

  • StupidInSeattle February 4, 2023 (3:28 pm)

    Coming on the heels of a locker-thefts-turned-into-knife-armed-robbery at WS YMCA and two back-to-back bank gun armed robberies in the Junction we have seen quite the change in our little community over the past two weeks.  Note the past warrant for arrest and illegally obtained guns.  Prosecuting criminals and keeping them off the streets when they steal firearms and commit crimes with them is how we fix all of this, I suggest.

    • B February 5, 2023 (10:03 pm)

      100% true. Sad our city sees some kind of problem w this logic. 

  • Mike February 4, 2023 (4:06 pm)

    Nice federal offense for just being in possession of the type of firearm:

    – unlawful possession of a machine gun

    – possession of an unregistered machinegun

    That’s at least 10 years in prison just on those charges, not to mention the other charges they’ll be  getting.

    • Scubafrog February 4, 2023 (7:04 pm)

      Yeah, he’ll definitely face fed time for that switch.  Even owning a switch by itself is considered a machine gun apparently – maximum 15 years and $250k fine 

    • Mr Henry February 5, 2023 (8:40 am)

      I agree Mike.  However, my bet is these guys will be back on the street in a short period of time.  Sad times for sure 

  • Joan February 4, 2023 (4:36 pm)

    Throw away the key.

  • justthinking February 4, 2023 (4:50 pm)

    I think the thing that concerns me most is that crime like this will only get worse. There will be more guns, more robberies, assaults, homelessness, and addiction because there is no planned path to a fix. I’m not seeing anyone talking about anything that will make this better. This is not a ‘blip’, this is a pattern and its trajectory is not moving a good direction.I would not want to be part of a business with a public storefront right now. Because over the next few years, these businesses will have very high chance of being the victim of crime. I’m also not taking public transit anymore.

    • Unfortunate February 6, 2023 (4:58 pm)

      Yup, it’s really sad that so many people just keep repeating the same pattern: yelling that we should do the same thing we’ve always done which we know doesn’t work (solving the issue by using the police) while being vehemently opposed to actually attempting to solve the causes of the issue.

      Until we have a single major news outlet here that isn’t conservative about these issues, I don’t see much changing. Too many people are content to turn their brains off and repeat the same “TOUGH ON CRIME, NO $$ FOR GOVERNMENT!!!!” that they’ve been fed since they were born.

      The wildest part is that so many business people are finally having to deal with the consequences of the situation they’ve helped create here… but instead of actually trying to fix the problem they double down and want to make the situation even worse.

      • uncle loco February 6, 2023 (8:51 pm)

        So are you saying that it’s the local “conservative” media’s fault that we have teenagers running around with modified fully auto firearms threatening people? One thing for sure is there are a lot of broken brains around here.

      • Byron James February 6, 2023 (9:35 pm)

        A person would have to be hopelessly naive and/or ignorant of history and human nature to think we can “solve” crime in the manner you think is possible. 

  • Julian February 4, 2023 (6:52 pm)

    I can’t even begin to enter the mind of someone willing to commit multiple felonies and throw their future away because… They don’t want to leave LA Fitness? This update confirms the suspicions I had in the last post; these guys are complete morons.

    • K February 4, 2023 (7:58 pm)

      Guessing they were there to steal from the locker rooms, but were also on drugs and lost their minds when confronted. 

    • HS February 5, 2023 (7:56 am)

      My guess is gang activity. There were there to intimidate/ harm someone under 21.

      • Mel February 5, 2023 (1:54 pm)

        There is so much gang violence happening yet no one is calling it out. Really confuses me. Why are we trying to hide the fact that these are often young gang members committing these crimes?

  • JunctionResident February 4, 2023 (7:00 pm)

    Good job by SPD. I hope they get prosecuted.

  • Bob February 4, 2023 (7:50 pm)

    As much as I wish this dumb and dangerous kid was going away for a long time….Something makes me think he won’t.This behavior and the dangerous driving in the stolen Kia’s needs to stop.

    • Canton February 4, 2023 (9:42 pm)

      Totally right. Until our judicial system gets people running against the current judges that are usually unapposed, the soft stance on crime will perpetuate.

      • Mike February 5, 2023 (10:49 am)

        100%

  • DB40 February 4, 2023 (9:08 pm)

    It is unclear what their motive was in brandishing a machine pistol. Was it to threaten a specific person in the gym? Was their sole intention to act out being tough guys? A very scary incident!

    • Elton February 6, 2023 (10:42 am)

      I don’t think you should give these folks credit as being particularly intelligent – my completely uninformed guess is that they were trying to steal items from the locker rooms or perhaps any cash on hand from the gym itself. They could’ve also been under the influence of some drugs for all we know.

  • Sarah February 5, 2023 (7:39 am)

    Seattle,Here is an opportunity to throw the book at violent criminals who use a gun in a crime. Doing that would send a huge message…use a gun in a crime and you will pay HUGE consequences…Rather than creating new laws taking guns out of law abiding citizens hands…law which of course we know criminals do not follow…

  • Cogburn February 5, 2023 (12:43 pm)

    Pretty stupid kids. Good the gun is off the streets. Assorted ammo, they didn’t get from the gun shop. They will be out on bail and expected to show for court date.

  • Brian February 5, 2023 (9:03 pm)

    Crimes with guns should not be forgiven. These punks made a life-changing decision when they pulled out that gun. They can go away for many decades. 

  • BruceNorris February 7, 2023 (12:04 pm)

    I hope prosecutors at both the state (felony assault) and federal (automatic weapon) use existing laws to charge these criminals. Using a firearm during the commission of a felony increases the severity and penalties. They both should be imprisoned for a very long time to keep society safer. The gym should have cameras and there are witnesses and victims so this should be a fairly simple case.

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