(Photo by Christopher Boffoli, added 12:02 am)
ORIGINAL 11:46 PM REPORT: California SW is being closed right now in 2300 block (north of Admiral) because of an “assault with weapons” investigation. Still gathering information. Avoid the area. It’s apparently happening on SW College just west of California – that’s where fire is responding.

11:54 PM UPDATE: It’s a shooting – apparently preceded by an “altercation” out front of Admiral Pub – suspect that’s being sought is described, per scanner: White man, early 20s, 6 foot, stocky, white Seahawks shirt, dark shorts, small caliber handgun.

12:01 AM UPDATE: Police have arrested the suspected shooter. 23-year-old, being taken to the Southwest Precinct. They also have recovered the gun. Don’t know yet about the victim, though. WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli is at the scene and reported moments ago that it’s “chaos.”

12:08 AM UPDATE: From Christopher: “Witnesses tell me they heard at least one gunshot and screaming. I saw at least one victim, a white male, with a head injury being transported to Harborview.” (added 12:47 am – Christopher’s photo from the scene, before medic unit left)

12:17 AM UPDATE: Per scanner – police are about to reopen California to traffic in that area.

12:21 AM UPDATE: New information from a Seattle Police sergeant at the scene: The victim who was taken to the hospital suffered his injuries in a fistfight that preceded the shooting – shots were then fired but did not hit anyone.

12:37 AM UPDATE: Adding more photos from Christopher, who’s been covering this at the scene. Also checked online court records for the name that police used on the scanner to identify the suspect; some past history, full records not available online at this hour. In this photo, the suspect is in the car furthest from the camera – this was at California/Walker, block-plus north of scene:

SATURDAY MORNING UPDATE: Seattle Police have published a short summary of the incident to their SPDBlotter site (not official police reports, but summaries written by their Media Unit). Read it here.

We haven’t succeeded so far today in getting official police information on this business burglary, but we do now have a report from a neighbor, which along with what we learned earlier – plus the photo at left, courtesy of Celeste – is enough for a Crime Watch report: Around 4 o’clock this morning (we posted it at the time via Twitter, where we often note scanner activity in the wee hours) police checked into a report of door damage at the Original Bakery (9253 45th SW, in Fauntleroy’s Endolyne business mini-district). No one was reported to be inside the shop when the damage was spotted. Lisa says this is what she learned later in the day: “The front door was smashed completely, and the cash register was stolen. … Bernie was busy filling out reports and dealing with the mess this morning. Bernie is my neighbor and such a kind person. Makes me so sad he was a target!” Up to police to connect the dots if warranted, but the door smash is reminiscent of the photo and report earlier this week from Budget Blinds (WSB sponsor) after a break-in attempt there.

Topping this afternoon’s West Seattle Crime Watch roundup – police confirm that a house at 17th/Barton [map] was shot at, describing it as “random vandalism,” not a case of someone being targeted. We got a text about shots heard in that area early yesterday but had no confirmation until we checked with police following a note from Adrienne, who says her neighbor’s townhome was shot at. Police say no one was hurt. Ahead, several more reports, starting with the case of the huge, now-missing tire:Read More

Luckily, nobody is hurt. But it was a close call for the driver of that car — she got sideswiped earlier this evening at California/Charlestown (map). WSB’er Diane called to let us know as others summoned police. The driver says she was heading north on California when a silver 4-door BMW, maybe a year or two old, sideswiped her while turning left onto eastbound Charlestown, from southbound California, before she was out of the intersection. Witnesses say the driver stopped briefly a half-block or so away, looked at his car – which would have front-end damage – then got back in and kept driving. The Seattle Municipal Code is very clear (as you can see here) about a driver’s duty to stop after a crash. 11:11 PM: Check the comments – where Larry says a similar-sounding car hit his in the same time frame.

Two more reports to share – first, the break-in; a quick report from Shelley in Gatewood, just a few blocks from the one in the “broad daylight” report from earlier – she says a neighbor on Thistle near 37th SW (map) was broken into today – no other details yet. Meantime, David reports this from further southeast:

3:15 am last Friday two fellahs tried to steal a neighbor’s car. They got about fifty feet before being confronted by some interested neighbors. One perp fled and the other, who advanced menacingly on the neighbors but was talked out of anything rash, was arrested by SPD who arrived en masse a few minutes later. Owner and somewhat mangled car were reunited a short time later – all things considered, a happy ending. Since one of the neighbors fears retribution, as she was also a victim of the “multiple burglaries solved” robber, the exact address should not be referred to but it happened west of Westwood Village. Since happy endings are rare in crimes, I thought to report this.

Great point – as we were discussing with Southwest Precinct leadership last week while working on the “multiple burglaries” story to which David alludes, it IS important to get out the word about arrests as well as about the crimes themselves.

Those are portions of three photos sent by Mark – we’re not showing or publishing the entire three-letter tag on the fence, or the spray-paint vandalism on the van (a face on the hood and a splotch over the gas cap), but he’s wondering if anyone else had anything similar happen to them:

I live at the corner of 39th/Stevens [map], in the Admiral district. (Saturday) night someone tagged my fence and my neighbors’ van. Seattle police were called and the officer mentioned another incident with the “T(-)X” tag being used. Needless to say I am quite pissed and if anyone else has seen the same tag please notify Seattle PD.

Mark says it’s all been “removed” now, and while his neighborhood has not had a tagging problem before, a recent break-in has neighbors “on edge” and now they’re stepping up their vigilance even further.

19-year-old Skyelar Hailey, arrested after a foot chase in Admiral this past Tuesday (first story here, followup here), is now charged with two counts of residential burglary – the first one involving the West Seattle High School purse theft in the original report, second one involving a home nearby. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed the charges today and is requesting that bail for Hailey remain set at $25,000 because: “The defendant has a prior conviction for Criminal Trespass in the First Degree (2008) as an adult and juvenile adjudications for Theft in the First Degree (2008); Theft in the Second Degree (2008); and Harassment (2007, 2007). The defendant is only nineteen years old and has five misdemeanor or felony resolutions in the past two years. The defendant is likely to fail to appear in response to a summons.” We also have the documents detailing the case against him; we are not uploading the documents themselves because they include victims/witnesses’ names, as well as that of a juvenile who so far is not charged in the case, but we have cut-and-pasted the “probable cause” text (with omissions noted either parenthetically or with ellipses). Read for yourself, just ahead (photo credit, Christopher Boffoli, April 2009):Read More

The Southwest Precinct says two recent arrests appear to have solved a lot of burglaries — at least eight, and potentially more. We’ve spoken with both Detective Nick Bauer and Sgt. Jeff Durden to get the details you’re about to read: It started with a burglary on August 7th, 3400 block of 47th SW (map) – the resident(s) left the house for just 15 minutes, with a window unlocked or cracked open, and that’s all it took for burglars to get in. With some description information from neighbors, and a GPS-equipped BlackBerry stolen in the break-in, police tracked two suspects – one adult, one juvenile. That led to a search warrant for a house in the 1800 block of SW Brandon (map), where police found stolen property – “tons of it,” as Det. Bauer put it. Read on for the rest of the story:Read More

Just out of the WSB inbox, from Blake:

We had our jogging stroller stolen out front of our yard in broad daylight this afternoon at 34th and Othello [map]. We were standing 30 feet away when it happened but didn’t notice. We purchased it this Monday to exercise with our 13 month old child. If anybody sees a green jogging stroller for sale in the West Seattle area, please contact me at bjs210bjs@gmail.com.

Blake says they don’t have a photo. Which leads us to a point police made when we were talking with them this afternoon (working on a story about a burglary bust, which you’ll see here tomorrow) – be sure to keep identifying information so that if your stolen property is found, it can be returned to you more easily – that means serial numbers, photos, or etch an identifier into the item.

Update on the arrest of repeat offender Skyelar Hailey after a foot chase in Admiral yesterday: Our first information from police (reported here) indicated that he is accused of stealing a purse from a West Seattle High School teacher. Then when he was booked into jail last night, the register showed he is facing three burglary charges (the decision on actual charges is up to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which has three days to decide). We asked police about that this morning; Southwest Precinct Lt. Steve Paulsen says the other two potential charges have to do with “two residential burglaries.” Hailey, who turned 19 last week, remains in jail as of last check; checking online court records, we found he also has a case pending from late July in Seattle Municipal Court, with charges including reckless endangerment, refusal to stop, no valid driver’s license, obstructing a public officer, and 1st degree property destruction – we are checking to see if that incident actually happened in late July or whether the charges stem from something earlier. 5:32 PM UPDATE: No answer on that yet but we can tell you that his bail’s now been set at $25,000, according to the King County Jail Register (he’s still there right now). THURSDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office expects to file charges against Hailey tomorrow. FRIDAY MORNING: He is formally charged now with two counts of burglary. We are working on the story, which includes the full tale of what preceded his arrest this week.

One home break-in and one car break-in, and both victims e-mailed WSB to make sure you were aware of what happened – read on:Read More