In West Seattle Crime Watch tonight:
REPEAT MAIL THIEF BACK IN JAIL: We’ve reported before on 40-year-old Jason A. Turner, mostly in connection with Delridge-area mail theft, most recently in 2021. Tonight he is in jail again after a series of incidents in Westwood, at the end of which police say he was found in possession of “a large (amount) of mail.” He is not yet charged but we are identifying him because he is still in Department of Corrections “community custody” as the result of a sentence in previous mail-theft convictions.
The Westwood incidents started with a woman calling to report that a man had broken into her fenced yard and knocked on her window while he stood outside her house, exposing and touching his genitals. Before police caught up with him, he was reported to have engaged in the same behavior a few blocks away, in two Westwood Village stores, Spirit Halloween and Marshall’s. Officers found Turner in the center parking lot. In addition to the mail found on him, they also found “a photocopy of a passport and a Social Security card.” That was basis to book him for investigation of identity theft, as well as – for the first incident – investigation of burglary with sexual motivation. King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Casey McNerthney says they asked for $100,000 bail and the judge set the amount at $50,000. Meantime, a DOC spokesperson tells us that Turner has been serving “a 12-month term in Community Custody on five counts of Possession of Stolen Mail. His supervisory period is scheduled to end on 2/28/2025.” (Since he’s in the state system, that’s why we have access to a mugshot.) Court records indicated that followed a three-month jail sentence. We’ll find out tomorrow if he’s charged in this new case and what happens next. Conditions of his community custody – Washington’s version of probation – include “not to possess others’ mail or financial information.”
Also in Crime Watch tonight – two robberies disclosed in summaries from the holiday weekend, released by SPD today:
MONDAY MARIJUANA ROBBERY: Police say this happened at a marijuana business in the 6900 block of West Marginal Way SW at 5:30 pm. Three people held up an employee at gunpoint and threatened to kill him if he didn’t let them inside, the summary says, adding that the employee’s wife – “who works inside, allowed the suspects in to save her husband’s life.” They left with “bins of marijuana, approximate value of $15,000,” in a vehicle, no description of it or them in the summary.
FRIDAY HOME-INVASION ATTEMPT: This summary says that just after 4 am in the 5400 block of 17th SW, would-be home invaders tried to pry open and kick down a door; they were gone before police arrived. Officers say “it was discovered that an unreported home invasion occurred here the week prior. … During that incident, victim found suspects inside home with younger sibling, holding them at gunpoint. They demanded jewelry known to be owned by the victim. They left with the victim’s purse and containing a large amount of cash.” No description info in this summary either.
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