Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports this afternoon:

BURGLARY SUSPECTS CHARGED: The two 20-year-olds arrested after a burglary west of The Junction last Friday are now officially charged, accused of ransacking the house while a resident hid in a closet; they were found hiding in a shed outside a house less than a block away. As we reported here on Monday, James Michael French (left) and Donchevell Delraye Williams (right) both have records, including assault convictions, and both got out of prison (in separate cases) the same day, less than 3 weeks before this break-in, according to what we found out via an inquiry with the state Department of Corrections.

Each is charged with one count of residential burglary. Charging documents say they were found with a bag of property stolen from the burglarized house, and that Williams had a folding knife clipped in his pants. He listed a Federal Way address; French had a West Seattle address listed in probable-cause documents but the charging papers say he told court personnel he had been “living in a drug house in Kent.” Both remain in jail; prosecutors asked that their bail remain at the amount set at their first hearing last weekend, $100,000 for French, $60,000 for Williams. They are due in court on February 11th.

CAR PROWLS: Car prowlers hit at least three vehicles along the Upper Fauntleroy/Gatewood line overnight, one of them ours. First, Mark has more to tell about what happened to his family’s vehicle – and what he found nearby:

My wife’s Honda CRV was broken into sometime last night. Nothing of value was in the car and nothing seems to be taken, although the contents were strewn all over. There was no sign of forced entry, so either the car was unlocked (not likely), or a jimmy tool was used. My wife is in the process of filling out an online police report.

In addition, we found a Suzuki factory-type car rack with 2 bike mounts on it lying on the parking strip across the street. This was dumped there last night as well, and I’m guessing by the same people involved in the car prowl. I imagine the rack was from a stolen car, or was stolen separately and ditched there. I’ve attached a photo of the rack. If someone claims it via a comment in the blog, I will make arrangements for them to pick it up.

This occurred near the California Ave SW and SW Thistle intersection.

We also reported our prowl online (here’s where to do that). No damage; only evidence was open glove box and center console, plus an ice scraper moved from door slot to floor, one small electronics cord taken, will cost about $3 to replace. We don’t have details of the third incident, only that a vehicle was prowled in the same general neighborhood. Car-prowl prevention was a topic, by the way, of last night’s West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network meeting; we’ll have that full report sometime tonight.

Three reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch this morning:

GARAGE BREAK-IN: From Kathy:

My garage was broken into over the weekend and a Lincoln Electric welder and cart were stolen.

Seems like a brazen thing to steal as it’s very heavy and the garage is on an alley that is pretty visible (between California and 42nd near Brandon). I reported it to police and just want this incident out there in case anyone has information.

MOTORCYCLE DAMAGED IN HIT-RUN: From Aaron:

My brand-new Ducati Monster 696 (with only 120 miles on it!) was hit (Monday morning) on California Ave SW, and the driver fled the scene. Three witnesses watched the driver hit my bike, but none were able to get the license plate.

The driver was a white woman in her mid-to-late 30s with shoulder-length or shorter blonde hair. Her vehicle is a silver Honda Pilot. She backed into my parked motorcycle, knocking it over its kickstand and onto its left side. The impact snapped off a mirror, bent the handlebars, and caused engine damage. And then she just drove away. This happened at approximately 9:15 a.m. on January 26, near 5440 California Ave SW, on the east side of the street just north of the Rapid Ride stop.

If you have any info for police, the incident number is 15-28651.

CARS VANDALIZED: John reports this happened Monday morning:

I woke up to an unpleasant sight … somebody had grabbed some large rocks from my neighbor’s front yard and completely shattered my driver-side windows of my ’04 Subaru wagon. They got both of the neighbors’ cars as well – both older Subarus. 6700 block of 39th Ave SW.

REMINDER FOR TONIGHT: As previewed earlier, Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Wilske is expected to be at tonight’s West Seattle Block Watch Captains’ Network meeting – all welcome for crime/safety updates and networking to make neighborhoods safer, 6:30 pm at the precinct (Webster/Delridge).

(Reader photo from Friday afternoon; Williams is the standing arrestee, French is on the ground)
Bail was set over the weekend for both suspects arrested after last Friday’s West Seattle break-in at a 47th SW home where a resident hid in a closet until police arrived (WSB coverage here). The suspects, both 20 years old, have warrants in other cases so we’re naming them though the charging decision in this case won’t likely be made before tomorrow: $100,000 is the bail set for James Michael French, who has a North Delridge address; $60,000 is the bail set for Donchavell Delrae Williams, who lives in Federal Way. His warrant dates back to May 2013, in an assault case for which the paperwork is not available online since it’s out of Juvenile Court; court documents say Williams had prior felony convictions for assault and taking a motor vehicle without permission.

French’s warrant is from earlier this month, involving what the state terms as “escape” from community custody, the technical term for probation, related to a conviction for a 2013 robbery in Des Moines in which he hit a gas-station clerk in the face while robbing him at gunpoint and knifepoint. French’s history, according to charging documents in that case, had by then also included an attack that inflicted rib fractures on a 58-year-old man who had just had surgery, plus other convictions including robbery, assault, harassment, and drug violations, dating as far back as 2008, when he was 14. He pleaded guilty in the 2013 case and was sentenced in May 2014 to 22 months, which would have included time he had already spent in jail by then. Both French and Williams remain in jail, according to the register, and are scheduled for another hearing tomorrow afternoon.

ADDED 1:08 PM: We’re adding state Corrections Department mugshots for both suspects (French at left, Williams at right). According to a DOC spokesperson, both were released from prison on January 5th, serving time in apparently unrelated cases.

Thanks to the person who called to say they had heard about this from an employee at the Junction 7-11 (California/Erskine). We have since obtained some information from police: They confirm the store was held up about 1:30 am Saturday. The robber was described “as a white male about 25 years of age, wearing a dark blue or black puffy coat, and had a red scarf wrapped around his face.” He showed the clerk a handgun. Police called in a K-9 to help search but they didn’t find the robber. Checking Tweets by Beat, that’s the only robbery call in the Southwest Precinct coverage area, West Seattle and South Park, so far this weekend. (Side note: If you routinely check the tweets and haven’t noticed this, each confirmed incident generates two tweets – the second one, when a report is filed, so the time will be different. The first tweet describes what was reported – so the second one might classify the incident differently, depending on what’s confirmed. The telltale sign that two or more tweets are about the same case is the incident # in the tweet.)

ADDED: We finally got the written SPD report on this, so we can add a few more details. It says the clerk “initially noticed the suspect standing in front of the business near the Redbox machine. The suspect spoke briefly with a male who just exited a vehicle before entering the store. (He) noticed the male was wearing a red scarf around his face so he watched as he picked up several items from around the store. The suspect brought the three items to the register and asked for scratch tickets. Two other customers were inside the store at this time so the suspect told the (clerk) to assist them first before getting his scratch tickets. (He) assisted the customers, who then left the store. The suspect then looked outside before pulling out a large black semiautomatic handgun. The suspect stated, ‘Give me the f—-ing money,’ (so the clerk) pulled out the whole till and handed it to the suspect over the counter … (the suspect) then walked out of the store and turned westbound where he lost sight of him.”

(WSB photo by Katie Meyer, police response north of burglary scene)
4:12 PM: Busy afternoon for police, again. And also for the tipsters who are quick to let us know when they see police cars going by with lights on – thank you. Here’s the latest: Police have taken two people into custody after an in-progress burglary was reported near 47th and Alaska, west of The Junction.

That’s all the details we have after talking to a sergeant at the scene; if we find out anything more, we’ll add it.

ADDED 4:54 PM: A reader texted the photo of the suspects being arrested outside the a nearby house. (Added: WSB photo of one suspect being walked to police vehicle:)

Scanner traffic indicated some stolen property was recovered.

ADDED 5:17 PM: And here are even more details, just published on SPD Blotter:

A woman called 911 around 3:30 P.M. when she heard the sounds of someone breaking into her home in the 4500 block of 47th Ave Southwest. The woman hid in an upstairs closet as officers arrived on scene.

Officers began searching the neighborhood and found both suspects hiding inside a shed about a block away. Police arrested both suspects and found they were carrying a backpack full of stolen property. Officers will book both 20-year-old suspects into King County Jail on investigation of burglary.

Update this morning from Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Wilske, in a message sent to multiple community groups:

I wanted to update you all that we made an arrest in one of the 5 robberies that occurred here in the last week. We are continuing to work the others.

We’re following up to find out more and will add here. If you’re looking for background – here’s our most recent followup, with links to our coverage of all five of the recent street robberies.

ADDED 10:41 AM: A bit more information: We’ve just confirmed which robbery the arrest was made in relation to – it’s the attempted robbery that happened Tuesday afternoon but wasn’t reported to police until Wednesday, a 13-year-old boy who was asked about his phone at Admiral Safeway and then followed across California SW, where two would-be robbers tried to take it from him. Details were in the followup mentioned above, same link.

ADDED 4:37 PM: Even more information, according to SPD: The suspect’s probation officer happened to spot him in the area and knew there was a warrant out for him, related to a theft case, and contacted police. They arrested the suspect on that and for probable cause in the Tuesday robbery attempt, and he was booked into the King County Youth Services Center, since he’s a juvenile. We will check with prosecutors next week regarding charge(s).

(Wednesday night WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)
As we work to follow up on the five street-robbery incidents in West Seattle we’ve covered in the past week, there’s new information from the Southwest Precinct. This update from precinct commander Capt. Steve Wilske has just been sent to community groups:

I wanted to update everyone on a series of incidents we have had occur here in the last week, as I have had a lot of folks express concerns, as well as the desire to keep everyone up on significant events.

We have had a total of 5 theft/strong arm robberies since January 15th, most targeting younger victims that range in age from @14 to 18. The items taken are personal electronics, either laptops, pads or cell phones. The two most recent happened along California Ave SW, with the others in the areas of 6500 42nd SW, 36th SW and Myrtle, and 26th SW and Thistle.

Based on what we currently know about the incidents, there may be a connection between two of the cases. Several of the others appear to be stand-alone incidents that have not been repeated in the area.

We have distributed what info we have to the patrol officers so they can be aware of the incidents and suspect descriptions, and they are spending the time they can in the areas most commonly used by students as they travel to and from school. The precinct detectives are working the cases, and they will have access to any and all resources of the precinct, and we will draw in more department resources if they need them.

I will update you as things progress, but wanted you to know that we are aware of this and working on it as a priority. I have cc’ed Mark Solomon on this email, and he will also be sending out some safety information.

Mark Solomon is the SW and South Precincts’ Crime Prevention Coordinator, and his forward of this note included that safety information. We’ll attach it shortly, along with other information we’ve been working on today. First – here are our links to WSB coverage of the incidents mentioned in Capt. Wilske’s note, newest-to-oldest:

*Wednesday evening robbery in North Admiral, with coverage including info about Tuesday incident
*West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting coverage, including discussion of incidents
*Followup report on Saturday morning Morgan Junction robbery
*Same-day coverage of Saturday morning Morgan Junction robbery/carjack attempt
*Coverage of Friday robbery in Westwood
*Coverage of Thursday robbery in Gatewood

ADDED 12:49 PM: Here’s the safety information mentioned above:

(If you can’t see the embed – we hear it’s glitching for some – here’s the PDF.)

ADDED 1:57 PM: The West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network has just announced that Capt. Wilske will be at the WSBWCN meeting next Tuesday (January 27) to talk about this, 6:30 pm at the precinct, all welcome.

Meantime, from the police report on the Tuesday incident, how it unfolded: The victim was at Admiral Safeway with friends at about 2:50 pm and about to leave to head home when the two would-be robbers came up to him. One asked if he could use the victim’s phone, and said he didn’t need to hold it, but just asked the victim to hold up the phone and dial a certain number. The number didn’t connect. The victim left the store and crossed the street; the two confronted him on the northwest corner of California/Lander (by Lafayette Elementary). The report says one stood behind the victim while the other “grabbed his belt loop and tried to reach into his pocket where (he) had put his phone.” That’s when other teens, described as West Seattle HS students, “pulled (the would-be robbers) off” the victim, who they told to go home, which he did. The victim’s father told us that kids should specifically be warned to NEVER let anyone they don’t know use their phone – he says these two were apparently approaching others in the Safeway area first, and then, when his son left the store alone, went after him.

(WSB photos by Christopher Boffoli. Above, police near the robbery scene)
5:18 PM: Police are combing North Admiral neighborhoods right now for two street-robbery suspects. More to come.

5:27 PM: They have found a possible suspect. We don’t have full details of the incident yet but police had been seeking two people, one reported to have a knife, another who reportedly told the victims he had a gun. They either stole or tried to steal a phone.

(44th/Atlantic, where police checked a home whose resident reported an intruder alarm)
5:45 PM UPDATE: No word of any arrests yet. An active search continues, with K-9; the actual robbery happened north of Admiral/California.

(Tonight’s search went all the way to the water – above, Don Armeni Boat Ramp park)
Just before this, we had learned of a robbery attempt near there yesterday afternoon; police say they don’t know yet if that’s related. In that one, two people tried to steal a 13-year-old’s phone, but older youth in the area chased them away. It apparently was not reported to police until today. (Added: That attempt happened near Lafayette Elementary around 3 pm Tuesday, according to the victim’s family.)

6:26 PM: Search continuing, and it’s very wide-ranging.

(Sunset/Seattle, atop the North Admiral bluff)
7:23 PM: Police have been searching as far north as Harbor Avenue. Counting the attempted robbery yesterday that we just learned about today, this is the fifth street robbery or attempt in West Seattle in the past seven days, starting last Thursday (January 15th) when two people knocked down and stole the backpack of a middle-schooler walking by Myrtle Reservoir in Gatewood; on Friday, a robber stole a phone from a high-school student walking in a Westwood neighborhood; on Saturday, a man parking near his workplace in Morgan Junction was accosted by robbers who tried to steal his car.

8:14 PM: We’re adding photos from the search. Meantime, we just checked with Lt. Alan Williams, who confirms, no arrests yet, and that the person detained at 45th/Walker was not identified by the victims, so he was released. The robbery itself, Lt. Williams says, happened in the 2300 block of 44th SW. He has no description information at this point aside from “two black males … estimated to be 15-17 years of age.”

First, if you happen to have been at Westwood Village and noticed police this past hour:

SHOPLIFTING/ROBBERY: What was described over the air as shoplifting-turned-robbery at the Westwood Village Radio Shack drew a big police response. Our crew was told the employee wasn’t hurt; they’re still trying to determine what was taken. Police were searching for two possible suspects, described early on as Hispanic women 18-22, both 5’3″ to 5’4″, one thin, one medium-to-heavy, one dressed all in black, one in a gray jacket. We’re hearing of one possible arrest in a residential area several blocks north and will be checking to verify.

(12:35 PM UPDATE: SPD confirms a 15-year-old girl is in custody. Apparently the other possible suspect was not involved in the crime.)

(back to original report) A few other Crime Watch notes from the past few days:

RECOGNIZE THIS CAR? Shay says it’s been parked in her neighborhood for a few weeks and neighbors thought it belonged to someone working nearby, but now realize it’s abandoned.

Police will be contacted if they haven’t been already, but Shay got a stolen car back via this kind of WSB report a few years ago and so wanted to get the word out this way too.

CAR PROWLS: Last Friday night, according to a reader report, three cars, all Hondas, were broken into near 49th/Juneau in Seaview; someone “with a flashlight was spotted at 6 am and fled upon being observed.” No signs of forced entry, so neighbors are wondering if the prowler(s) have “a keyless entry.”

NEXT CRIMEFIGHTING MEETINGS: The West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network meets at 6:30 pm next Tuesday (January 27th) at the Southwest Precinct – you don’t have to be a captain, or even in a block watch (yet!), to attend. And if you missed the announcement published here Tuesday morning, Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole is coming to West Seattle for her first “community conversation” here, 6:30 pm Tuesday, February 3rd, also at the precinct (which is at Webster/Delridge).

P.S. The chief’s latest quarterly report to the City Council will be presented this afternoon – read it here.

(Texted photo, during police search in Gatewood)
Thanks to everyone who asked about a police search in Gatewood about an hour ago. It broke up just as we arrived, but we have finally found a sergeant to ask, and we’ve learned it was related to a robbery first mentioned by a commenter. Still many details missing, but here’s what we know:

*A man was held up at gunpoint early this morning in the West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor) parking lot at California/Fauntleroy. (The commenter who mentioned it says the victim described the robbers as “teenagers.”)

*Officers searching for the robbers had reason to believe they might be in the Gatewood area, several blocks southeast of the store, so that’s why they had “containment” set up in the 8 am hour – west of 35th, along streets including Webster, Ida, and Othello. We’re told some “evidence” was found.

They’re still investigating actively, and that’s why details are few. By the way, if you happened to see the big police response in the Home Depot parking lot around 9 pm, just next to the precinct, that was not related – they were taking a domestic-violence suspect into custody – that just happened to be where we found a sergeant to ask about the Morgan/Gatewood case.

P.S. This is the third day in a row that someone’s been robbed, armed or strongarm, in West Seattle (our Thursday and Friday stories are linked on the Crime Watch page). So we’ll say this again: The West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meets Tuesday (January 20th), 7 pm at the precinct (Delridge/Webster), and precinct leadership is always there for a briefing on trends as well as attendee Q/A.

ADDED 10:35 AM SUNDAY: Thanks to MK, wife of the man who was held up, we have details of what happened. From her comment below:

Steve had parked his car on 42nd by the McDonald’s and was walking to work. He was approached by Robber #1 and asked the time. Steve looked at his cell phone and it was 7:13 am. Robber #1 pulled out a gun and pointed it in Steve’s face and demanded his car keys, at the same time 4 males surrounded him. One of them searched his pockets, stealing his wallet and cell phone. Robber #2 & #3 took his keys and got into his car but couldn’t figure out how to start it – the car has keyless ignition. Steve was calm and told Robber #1 how to start it and Robber #1 gave the gun to Robber #4 who then had the gun on Steve’s back. Robber #1 went to the car and was able to start it, they all jumped in the car but they didn’t release the parking brake and maybe got 3 feet before all 5 jumped out of the car and ran off. Steve got into the car and drove to work where he called the police. Police responded immediately – they did a search of the area and also dusted our car for fingerprints and were able to pull some good prints.

Hopefully they will be caught- he thought recognized a couple of these punks (shoplifters) and spent the morning searching his shoplifting records and sure enough he found 3 of their photos which he called police and provided a cd of their photos.

Here are the descriptions (all teens/young adults):
Robber #1 short black male
Robber #2 tall skinny black male (previous shoplifter)
Robber #3 average height samoan male (previous shoplifter)
Robber #4 brother of number #3 (previous shoplifter)
Robber #5 tall black male

There was no activity on either our credit cards or his cell before they were closed so we think they were just after the car.

So please note the holdup did not happen IN the store parking lot, as early information had indicated – police responded there because the victim drove there after the robbers fled.

2:04 PM: For the second day in a row, a local student has been robbed while walking to school. Thursday, it happened in Gatewood; today, in Westwood. The victim’s mom contacted us in hopes someone might see this, tossed aside somewhere:

She told us her daughter’s phone “was nabbed right out of her jacket pocket as she walked from Westwood Village to Sealth High School on 25th ave. SW. We filed a police report but she’d really like the bottom half of her Beemo phone case back. It might have been discarded somewhere along 25th Avenue SW.”

We have requested but not yet received the police report in this case – if and when we do, we’ll add whatever else it includes, including descriptions, if any. Meantime, we asked the mom if her daughter’s OK. “She’s understandably shaken but physically OK. She’s just real sad about losing the phone case.” If you see it, contact police; the case number is 15-017129.

4:10 PM: We’ve obtained the report from SPD but it includes very little additional information. This was reported around 8:30 this morning; police were called once the victim arrived at CSIHS, so there’s no exact address of where she was when it happened. The robber is described only as black, male, maybe 15-17 years old, wearing black. The victim said he came up to her, said “Give me your phone”; she didn’t respond. He then reached into the front pocket of her sweatshirt, grabbed her phone, and ran southbound, toward Westwood Village.

Nine days ago, Beth‘s VW Passat was stolen from her driveway near Lincoln Park. The next day, a reader reported it turned up in front of their home in Beverly Park. Now – Beth says it’s been stolen again:

Turns out they ransacked and found an extra key in my husband’s car. I am
requesting help again since some lovely lady found it last time in the 115th
area. I was having it rekeyed on Saturday!!!

2004 royal blue VW Passat with Sun Valley and state of WA stickers on back,
license #AKD2678 (in a Hans Automotive frame). I am so frustrated!

If you see it, call 911.

P.S. The West Seattle Crime Prevention Council‘s first meeting of 2015, with local SPD leadership on hand, is at 7 pm next Tuesday (January 20th). If you have neighborhood crime/safety concerns, be there.

Just found out about this via a routine check of the police-report map: A middle-school student walking to catch a school bus this morning told police that two men knocked him down and robbed him.

Read More

3:54 PM: You might recall last week’s uproar over a county budget change that was scheduled to kick in February 1st, changing how suspects in certain kinds of crimes are handled – booking and releasing them, rather than booking them into jail while they await a bail hearing (often the next day). Here’s our coverage from last Friday. Today, a change: County Executive Dow Constantine has sent a letter (read it here) to county officials including criminal-justice-system leaders, saying that they’ve found “resources” to hold off on “book and release” until at least June 1st, and maybe longer if certain changes can be implemented in the courts. There’s a news-media conference call about this in a few minutes and we’ll be on it – more info to come.

4:23 PM UPDATE: The conference call was relatively short. Constantine spokesperson Chad Lewis said part of the reason why the postponement is possible is that: “The jail population tends to naturally decline in the winter,” so this is not urgent.

We couldn’t help but note that the season hasn’t changed since last Friday, when we were all on the phone talking about this being implemented next month, so, what’s changed? Lewis acknowledged that “stakeholder” reaction played a role.

Meantime, looking ahead as to whether this ever will have to be implemented, the possible changes in court processes outlined in Constantine’s letter, to reduce jail population over the longer term, include “shortening the time between plea or verdict and sentencing.” Lewis says they’re also hopeful the Legislature will address the budgeting problems that have left King and other counties with a shortfall. We asked if there’s a new reason for that hope; he said, “The public safety issue gets more attention” but that’s not the only part of the budget affected by chronic revenue trouble. In response to another question, Lewis insists, “The executive never wanted to put (the book-and-release policy) forward” but didn’t feel he had a choice.

They don’t know yet what kind of a review or assessment will be done between now and June 1st to determine if the book-and-release policy will kick in then, or ever, said Lewis.