Two weeks ago today, a West Seattle woman was robbed at gunpoint at the BECU ATM next to the Mobil gas station in Morgan Junction. Tonight, we are sharing her open letter of gratitude to those who helped her afterward:

I write to express my thanks to all of you who helped out a couple weeks ago.

As you may have read about in the WSB post, I was robbed at gunpoint at the ATM on a bright and sunny Sunday morning (September 10). The incident took place so quickly that I could hardly believe it happened, though I’m pretty sure I immediately went into shock. Afterward, I remember running into the gas station area asking for help, that I’d just been robbed. Apparently, I was also repeating the license plate number of the getaway car over and over, though I didn’t realize I was doing that out loud!

I am so very grateful for all of you that helped out in that moment, with your time and energy, kindness and compassion. I’d sometimes wondered how people could be helped out in an incident and afterward not know the names of the people who had helped them. And now, well, I understand! I have no idea what any of your names are. I don’t know where you live, or what you do.

What I DO know is this. I remember a man in a reddish button-up shirt who walked over to me, asked if I wanted a hug (I did), asked if my car was still there (it was), asked if I wanted to sit down, and walked me over to sit down in my car while encouraging me to breathe. I remember him saying that he didn’t have his phone that day, or he’d loan it to me to call home (I did not yet realize that I still HAD my phone in the car). I also remember three different people who all had their phones out talking to 911 so quickly after I asked for help. I’m not sure if they were the same ones, but there were also multiple people who came and checked in on me and expressed concern before they headed out. There was a woman across the street who noticed “an odd number of people really close to the ATM,” and took a picture of the getaway car as it peeled out and drove away. She stuck by me the whole rest of the time, passed her phone to me to talk to 911 dispatch, and just made sure I was okay through the whole conversation with police and until my family came. Her consistent presence and empathy made all of it much easier.

The police also showed up quickly, and the officer who talked with me was calm and supportive the whole time. I noticed in the background all the other police officers buzzing around and talking with all of you who were in the gas station or parking lot when it happened.

I hope I thought to say thank you in the moment, but I’m honestly not sure if I did. So here it is again. Thank you so very much to all of you who supported me right after the robbery. It was such a scary experience, but then followed immediately with kindness. Though all of you were strangers, I felt well taken care of until my family arrived. I’m holding on to that gratefulness as I process all of the other feelings that come up.

I appreciate you!

If you have any tips in the case, the police incident # is 23-262270.

Two reader reports today:

MAILBOX PROWLER: Sent by Kevin:

This happened at 4:40 AM this morning, I live (in the 3800 block of) 34th Ave. SW. It looks like she sees the camera, and puts the hoodie over her head before she reaches in to see if there’s any mail. It also looks like she has other packages from pick-ups earlier. Looks like there’s someone in the background across the street, like a partner. I’m waiting on my Amazon order for my new locked mailbox.

DUMPED STOLEN PACKAGE, MAIL: Via text:

Stolen mail and package found in compost bin near Westwood, from 11th Ave. SW, initials of package are S.G.

If that might be you, let us know and we’ll connect you.

Reported by Isam:

My silver 2019 Kia Optima has been stolen from the Jefferson Square parking lot, around 7 pm in the Safeway parking lot. It has black trim, black wheels, and left side of the bumper is slightly out. License plate is BWR8910.

Here’s what happened after court appearances this afternoon for two people arrested in West Seattle Thursday afternoon/evening.

HELICOPTER SEARCH: The most notable arrest was that of a 33-year-old man who became the subject of an air and ground search for two hours after being spotted naked, possibly with a “knife or box cutter,” near the Fauntleroy ferry terminal. He was found in a brushy area between the 10200 blocks of 47th SW and Marine View Drive. (A commenter says the machete police reported finding near him was taken from their nearby yard.) He was released after today’s initial appearance. We haven’t yet seen the documents we requested from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, so we don’t know why, and whether he might still face charges. The jail docket shows he spent four days in jail last month after being arrested elsewhere in King County on suspicion of trespassing and resisting arrest.

ADDED 7:39 PM: Moments after publishing this, Casey McNerthney from the KCPAO explained what happened, saying he wasn’t even sent before a judge because the case was weak:

There was little information in the initial document we received that showed his intent to commit a crime or clearly steal something, which we need to clearly show in a probable cause argument before a judge. The house was not lived in. That and a detail that a worker at the construction site offered him a cookie and then he left works against our argument for probable cause for burglary on a felony matter (rather than criminal trespass).

In previous unrelated cases, courts have only found probable cause for criminal trespass when someone is in a space unlawfully but without a clear intent to commit a crime – and in Seattle that gross misdemeanor crime of criminal trespass has to go to the City Attorney’s Office.

But if more information emerges, McNerthney says, charges could still eventually be filed.

BURGLARY SUSPECT: As mentioned briefly in our coverage of that story – and by two commenters – another man was arrested on suspicion of burglarizing a house north of Fauntleroy Park. He is 30 years old and probable cause was found this afternoon to hold him for investigation of burglary. The court document says police who were “in the area on another call” saw him enter a residential garage and start “rummaging around.” The house’s resident was home at the time and said the suspect was a stranger who didn’t have permission to be there, so he was arrested on suspicion of residential burglary. The KCPAO’s office says bail wasn’t addressed today – that’ll be at another hearing. Records show the suspect has one prior felony conviction in King County, for assault, seven years ago.

(Courtroom image via Zoom. Claudia Mason at lower right, Mohamed Yusuf with lawyer at center table)

After an hour-long hearing in King County Superior Court, Judge Andrea Darvas gave the man who hit and killed Robb Mason a slightly longer sentence than prosecutors recommended in his plea bargain: 4 years. The recommendation had been just under 3 1/2 years, but the judge said that while she usually follows agreed-to recommendations, “it’s not enough in this case.” She sentenced 21-year-old Mohamed A. Yusuf – who pleaded guilty last week to vehicular homicide and hit-and-run – after hearing from Mr. Mason’s widow and her brother, and from Yusuf and a cousin. In opening the hearing (which we covered via Zoom), prosecutor Amy Freedheim lauded the painstaking investigation through which SPD Traffic Collision Investigation Squad detectives found Yusuf, enabling him to be charged, almost half a year after he hit and killed Mr. Mason just east of the low bridge, as the victim rode his bike home to Magnolia from his job as a West Seattle massage therapist. That is a career to which he changed in his 40s – 20 years before his death – his brother-in-law told the judge, a change he made because he “chose to care” about people and wanted to help them heal. “In the blink of an eye, this remarkable man was taken away from us.”

Claudia Mason told the judge that she has counted the days since her husband was killed – 434 so far – because “each day is another day of the life sentence” with which Yusuf’s actions left her. She said her husband was so healthy, he could have lived another 30 to 40 years and that’s time they could have spent together. “I believe Robb went directly to heaven, but I went straight to hell.” She called Yusuf, sitting in the courtroom feet away from her, “reckless, vicious, callous, cruel … a coward” and “a thief,” declaring that he “stole my life from me … nothing is the same.” She spoke not only of the ongoing pain but also of what happened that night – she didn’t know what had happened to him for hours – and days after, unable to see his “annihilated” body until the funeral. She told the judge that leniency would only do “more harm.”

But leniency is what Yusuf’s defense lawyer asked for, proposing a “first-time offender waiver.” Judge Darvas said that request was a surprise, as she hadn’t received the standard pre-sentencing report from the lawyer, who went on to say that her client had lost his jobs (security and food-delivery driving) while at home under electronic “house arrest” since the charges were filed in January. A cousin spoke briefly to vouch for Yusuf’s character, and then Yusuf spoke: “Please forgive me if you can – I was stupid and ignorant” and, he contended, so afraid afterward that “I didn’t know what to do.”

Facing a courtroom with more than 20 people in the gallery (another two dozen online) and photos of Mr. Mason on easels and benches, Judge Darvas then spoke, saying that Yusuf owed two things: To live a life that would make up for cutting Mr. Mason’s life short, and “a penalty.” She told Yusuf that what he did was “breathtakingly selfish and self-absorbed” and chided him for not taking responsibility “until the police found you.” The judge also acknowledged receiving many community letters and reading them.

It was noted early in the hearing that the 256 days which Yusuf has spent on electronic home monitoring will be applied to the 4-year sentence as “credit for time served.” He will also face a year of community custody (probation) after he is released. Once the proceedings ended, with various paperwork, he was handcuffed and taken out of the courtroom by deputies.