WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: North Admiral car-theft-attempt followup; car prowled

| Crime | West Seattle news

Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes so far today:

CAR-THEFT ATTEMPT FOLLOWUP: Late Friday night, we reported on a North Admiral incident in which a man fired his gun three times “in defense” after a reported car-theft attempt. No injuries or damage reported. One person was detained – a juvenile who was initially suspected of being one of the theft-attempt suspects. He was booked into the county juvenile detention center early Saturday. Juvenile cases move quickly, even over holiday weekends, so today we asked the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office what had happened in this one so far. KCPAO spokesperson Casey McNerthney tells WSB, “The case has not been sent to us by police, and the respondent was released from detention because there was not probable cause for the arrest of this specific respondent. The investigation with police may still be ongoing, and prosecutors will review a case immediately if police send one to us.”

Also in Crime Watch, one reader report:

CAR PROWLED: From Kelly in Gatewood:

We got our car rifled through (Sunday) night in Gatewood near 39th and Southern. My fault – I think I left the car unlocked. I hardly ever do that. They opened everything and left it all out on the seats and went through the trunk. I’m not sure that they took anything. I don’t have anything valuable in there but I also can’t really remember.

Morgan Graham September 3, 2024 (9:34 pm)

Kelly, don’t go so far as to say it was your fault. Worst case, you just offered a somewhat easier target for the low life(s). Been there.

HolgateResident September 3, 2024 (10:23 pm)

WSB, is there any information on who fired the gun three times and whether that person did so lawfully (and whether any charges are being filed for that)? As a parent of a child on the same street I find it incredibly concerning that someone chose to discharge a firearm in a neighborhood with so many kids. Firing a “warning” shot in the air can still kill someone when the bullet comes back down and I find it incredible that anyone would have the right to fire a gun for a car break-in. Vigilante justice has no place in our society.

WSB September 4, 2024 (10:13 am)

I asked the KCPAO about the case in general (via the incident numbers) and if anything was on file for the person who fired shots, that would have come up. But it’s on my (very long) watch list to check periodically.
- HolgateResident September 4, 2024 (11:28 am)
  
  WSB, amazing, thank you! Would you be able to share the incident numbers? I called the SW Precinct and they were only able to give me one.
  - WSB September 4, 2024 (11:37 am)
    
    There were multiple event numbers that night because of people calling in the shots. The two I asked about (in a juvenile case, SPD will not provide the arrestee’s name, so all I can do is ask KCPAO to cross-reference police #’s, which they can do, though it can’t be done on any public lookups aside from Muni Court) were 24-245953 and 24-245950, although it appears they settled on 24-245953 for the main report.
Bbron September 4, 2024 (12:07 pm)

do you have a source the warning shot was directed in the air? I assumed they wouldn’t have been that reckless, and that the warning shot was aimed at the ground or some target nearby; if it’s the case it was a movie-esque shot to the sky, then this person needs their guns taken away, as you’re right that it is deadly and also breaks a fundamental rule of gun safety.
- bill September 4, 2024 (8:26 pm)
  
  Society needs the shooter’s gun taken away regardless of the “target.” Bullets ricochet off pavement. Bullets go through house walls. Bullets go through bystanders. There were supposedly seven or eight people in the getaway car. There’s a fair chance not all of them were involved in the carjacking, and may not even have known what their friends were up to. Would we be happy if the good guy with a gun had killed one of them? And as for being a good guy with a gun, in what world is it a good idea to be holding a gun when the cops show up?
  - WSB September 4, 2024 (9:49 pm)
    
    I know this is not your main point of contention but re: “holding a gun when the cops show up,” spend some time listening to the scanner. The calltakers ask about weapons even if none are believed to be involved in the alleged crime that the caller is reporting. They want to know if you are armed as well as whether the alleged perp is. They’ll inform the responding officers, for example, “the caller says his girlfriend has a gun but it’s in her purse,” that type of thing. In this incident, for example, they advised the guy who had fired the gun to lay it on the ground and hold his hands up as officers approached. So if you have to call 911 about something, no matter what, don’t be startled if they ask you about weapons, either any you might have, or any you might have seen in possession of the person(s) you’re calling about. Just a datapoint – TR

Lilly September 3, 2024 (10:33 pm)

I am bothered by KCPAO’s Casey McNerney’s response. I highly doubt SPD made an arrest without probable cause. Here’s the definition of probable cause:Probable cause is a reasonable basis for believing that a crime has been committed or that evidence of a crime is present.Is Casey saying police are arresting people with no evidence? I sincerely doubt SPD is doing that. This seems to be Casey’s reoccurring verbage to throw out there recently.

WSB September 4, 2024 (10:18 am)

The standards for probable cause to arrest someone and probable cause to charge someone (charging decisions are made quickly in juvenile cases) are different. The latter, obviously, is a higher standard. If the crime here was attempted car theft, the question would be, what evidence did police have that this particular teenager was committing that crime – was he in the car? in possession of tools for trying to steal it? Etc. As KCPAO always notes, the investigation could later result in enough evidence to file charges. (For example, police were at least trying to contact fingerprint specialists that night. That’s one form of evidence that could tie someone to the alleged crime.) – TR
Bbron September 4, 2024 (12:11 pm)

police arrest people all the time without evidence. what world have you been in to think that any arrest always means the arrested is guilty? wild to be seeing this influx of “guilty until proven innocent” rhetoric and cop simping in the comments recently 🙄
- Lilly September 5, 2024 (8:34 pm)
  
  @Bbron, I live in a world where the perps have more rights than the victims. It’s getting worse too. I hope you’re never the victim of a serious crime standing there clutching your pearls naively wondering what happened.I, for one, have a standard of living I expect as a hardworking citizen.
wscommuter September 4, 2024 (1:18 pm)

@Lilly You are misinformed. Police make arrests on probable cause. Then they are required, by law, to submit a police report (which can be dozens or hundreds of pages in length, depending on the crime) to KCPO for evaluation of the correct statute to charge and whether the information will pass muster in front of a judge. They are two different standards. Sometimes, for very good reasons, it takes the police a few days (or weeks) to gather sufficient information for a charging decision to be made by KCPO.
- Lilly September 5, 2024 (7:14 pm)
  
  @wscommuter, I think I have a pretty decent grasp of the process. The basic elements of a crime should be met when a suspect is arrested and booked. Of course in the case of felony crimes the initial police report will be forwarded to follow up units/dectectives. They’ll continue to investigate the crime performing a deeper dive involving interviews, forensic evidence etc….To simply release felony suspects because of lack of charging evidence doesn’t sit well as the basic elements of the crime should be there in the intial police report. I beleieve the standards under the current KCPAO administration favor the criminals not the victims. I’m also betting there are many police officers who are frustrated and ask themselves why bother? The victims are the real losers in all of this fighting the criminals and the legal system.

Maria September 4, 2024 (8:17 am)

Literally not your fault. We’ve been so conditioned.

CarDriver September 4, 2024 (2:01 pm)

20 years ago someone tried to steal my car on Alki. Police came, got prints which came back to a known prolific car thief. Talked to the detective who said nothing would happen. Why? Because the prints they got were on the outside of the car and the prosecutor would not give an arrest warrant as there was no proof he was in the car. The prints gotten were on the outside of the car. The system has been tilted in favor of the crooks a long time.

Sorry, comment time is over.