(WSB reader photo from Tuesday crash, courtesy Raquel)
The man who flipped his car on the eastbound West Seattle Bridge Tuesday afternoon is a repeat drunk driver who is in jail right now, bail set at $100,000. He and his 1-year-old daughter, who was in the back seat, escaped injury, as did the people in the three other cars involved, according to Seattle Fire. But police soon discovered that he was wanted on a warrant, which is why we’re identifying him as 32-year-old Christopher T. Martin of Renton.

According to the documents from his bail hearing this afternoon, Martin first told police the crash happened because he was passing a snack to his daughter, then later said he wasn’t sure why he crashed. Police also say he first told them he had been driving a gray Honda, when in reality he had been driving a red Ford. Police said he smelled of alcohol, and that he told them he had consumed one alcoholic drink 5 or 6 hours earlier, and also smoked “a bowl” of marijuana. They discovered Martin had a warrant for failing to appear in connection with a drunk-driving case that happened downtown three years ago; we looked up that case and found he had taken a breath test that showed him at three times the legal drunkenness level, and that his record at that time showed two DUI arrests in 2010 and two in 2003. Prosecutors wrote at that time that Martin “either cannot or will not refrain from driving impaired and is a grave danger to the community.” The case remains unresolved because of his failure to appear, for which an arrest warrant was issued in September 2012. (He had been allowed out on work release weeks after his May 2012 arrest.)

The new court documents also say he was driving despite a suspended driver license. According to Seattle Fire, neither Martin nor his toddler were hurt in the crash. King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Dan Donohoe says a judge found probable cause to hold Martin for investigation of reckless driving, reckless endangerment, and negligent driving while prosecutors review the case for potential charges; he’s due back in court on Friday.

In West Seattle Crime Watch tonight:

ALKI ROBBERY REPORTS: No details on these yet – weekend information is almost impossible to get from SPD and we haven’t heard directly from anyone involved – but two street robberies have been reported in Alki in the past two nights, according to SPD auto-tweets: Just before 9 tonight in the 2700 block of Alki (which might explain the sirens we’ve been asked about by several people – until now, we’d only heard of a medic response in the area too, don’t know if it was related), and one around 10 last night in the 5800 block of SW Lander (near Whale Tail Park). We’ll be pursuing the reports tomorrow.

ALSO IN ALKI – STOLEN BICYCLE: A silver Specialized #24 bicycle was stolen from Alki Elementary earlier this evening, according to a text from its owner’s parent, who described the thief as “teenager, skinny, buzz cut, white male.” If you see one abandoned, please let police know, and comment here.

THEFT AT WESTWOOD TARGET: Just in from Mary, via e-mail:

I know this is a long shot, but this morning I was shopping at Target at Westwood and while my back was turned, someone took my rectangular lime green purse/wallet out of my cart. My keys were attached to it, on a purple carabiner clip, with a Lego R2D2 keychain and a Lego Darth Vader keychain. I was left with no way to pay for my groceries and no way to get into my car to get home!

All the cards in it have been cancelled (as far as I know) and there is nothing of much value there, but if someone should flip through it and then throw it on the ground somewhere at Westwood or in the area, it would bring me a great deal of peace of mind to have whatever’s left of it back – especially my keys, since the keys were attached to my purse and ID, I’m going to have to change the locks at my house, and I don’t even know what to do about my cars, which will remain parked at the address that is easily accessible from my purse. I think it will be days before I can sleep at night.

Please let police know *and* comment here if you’ve seen what Mary’s missing.

Three West Seattle Crime Watch reports:

ADMIRAL GUNFIRE: What sounded like gunshots just before midnight last night in the 2600 block of 45th SW (map) did turn out to be gunshots – but neighbors didn’t know for about 18 hours.

A neighbor who heard them texted us after calling police. Via scanner, we heard officers dispatched to check them out, but heard nothing more, until seeing an SPD auto-tweet this afternoon mentioning “property damage” in that same block. We texted our original tipster to ask if they’d ever found evidence of gunshots. She went out to check – and discovered shell casings had turned up in the street. We were in the area so we stopped by the neighborhood to photograph the shell casings in the street and planting strip as neighbors waited for police to return. Turned out, they told us, the “property damage” was a shot-out car window down the block (no photo, as we couldn’t find it), close to the far southwestern corner of the back playground at Lafayette Elementary. Silver lining to the non-silver bullets: Neighbors who hadn’t met before were out in the street getting acquainted.

UPDATE: We have since heard from the owner of the car window hit by a bullet, who sent this photo:

While the windshield wasn’t technically “shot out,” they pointed out, it still has to be replaced.

(back to original report) 18TH/BARTON ROBBERY: Also early this morning, an e-mail question came in about a SPD tweet logged as “armed street robbery” on Thursday evening in the same area that was the topic of a discussion by neighbors and police at a community-council meeting this week. We hadn’t heard anything about it at the time but have since procured the report from SPD. The robbery was reported to have happened around 4:15 pm; officers finally found the victim a few blocks from the scene around 5:30 pm and reported that he seemed intoxicated and did not want to file a report. Nonetheless, they wrote one from what few details he had given – that two people described only as “Hispanic males” had held him up at knifepoint and taken a gold ring and glasses from him. They asked the victim repeatedly if he felt safe staying in the area, and said he would not answer.

CAR PROWL IN NEW GARAGE: First Crime Watch reader report since the Spruce/LA Fitness underground garage at 39th/Alaska opened recently: Jim e-mailed to say, “My Subaru Outback was broken into on Thursday evening between 8 and 8:30 pm June 4. I was on the p1 level under the new LA Fitness club in West Seattle. Two windows were broken out and a backpack stolen.”

After almost six years, the verdict is in for the killer of Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton, a West Seattle High School graduate. KIRO TV reports (as do other regional news organizations) that a King County Superior Court jury has found Christopher Monfort guilty of murdering Officer Brenton, 39, in Leschi on Halloween night 2009. Monfort was also found guilty of attempted murder and arson; the latter charge is from a firebombing at a city facility downtown that damaged/destroyed vehicles including a mobile command unit that had been used in this area (and is just now finally being replaced). (added) Our partners at The Seattle Times report that a jury will next decide whether Monfort’s sentence will be life in prison, or death.

Three West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports this morning:

ANYBODY MISSING THAT CAR? M says it was abandoned “in the alley between 32nd & 34th St SW and Henderson and Barton. Black 4-door Toyota… I’ve reported it etc, but in case anyone is missing their car and reading the blog…”

BREAK-IN REPORTED: Taylor says this happened sometime between 8:30 pm and 11 pm on Tuesday night near 45th and Dakota. When a resident came home, the front door was “wide open and our living room trashed … (a) bedroom door had been kicked in, clothes thrown everywhere, jewelry boxes on the floor empty change jars thrown around.” Police took two items for prints but found no sign of forced entry; later, Taylor found spots of “bent and messed up” grass in the yard, suggesting three suspects, and then “footprints in our garden windows,” and a 3-prong garden tool turned up on a bed. The burglars did not steal any electronics but did know the difference between costume and real jewelry and left the former behind, too. Taylor concludes, “I just felt like we should inform you that these people are in our neighborhood and that they are dangerous and to look out for any suspicious people and keep the kids and all others safe.”

SCAM CALL: The “IRS lawsuit” scam call continues making the rounds. David is the latest to report it: “Just a quick note to inform you that I got the ‘IRS Lawsuit’ phone scam call this morning at 6:15am. It was a robocall instructing me to phone an area code 360 number. Unfortunately, I did not get the entire number.” It was also reported in the WSB Forums earlier this week. Here’s the official IRS scam-info page, with alerts and advice.

2:05 PM: While we haven’t been able to get full details from Seattle Police yet, we wanted to tell you what we do know about this, given where it happened: SPD is investigating a strong-arm street robbery reported just before 10 this morning at California/Hanford [map]. The robber took the victim’s backpack. While the location is just south of West Seattle High School, we do NOT know if the victim was, or was not, a student; because the report isn’t in the system yet, SPD media relations didn’t have access to details such as the victim’s age. The only descriptive information in the system so far regarding the robber is: A Hispanic man in his 30s, 6 feet tall, wearing jeans. When we find out more, we’ll add it here.

4:09 PM: SPD has added one more detail so far – the victim is a 13-year-old girl.

Two notes in West Seattle Crime Watch:

CAR BREAK-IN: From Yvonne:

I just wanted to report a car prowl incident that happened today in the North Admiral district off of SW Waite Street.

Today when I entered my car parked in front of our house on a residential street, I noticed that the contents of my glove box was emptied out onto the floor and my old iPhone was stolen out of my center console.

They also stole a Quickbooks 101 book from my back seat. Nothing of real value was taken and no damage was done to my car but I wanted to alert the WS community in case anyone else experienced a car break in/theft/prowl last night or this morning.

She filed a police report – which SPD urges, even if “nothing of real value” (or nothing at all) was stolen. You can even file online by going here.

CRIME CONCERNS IN SOUTH WEST SEATTLE? Be at the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council meeting tomorrow night. From co-chair Amanda Kay Helmick:

Please join us as we welcome Seattle Police, Department of Planning and Development and the City Attorney’s Office to discuss crime in the Westwood/Roxhill/Delridge Triangle area. We have been working with SPD for over three years on theft, drug use/dealing, prostitution, squatting, assault, and gun violence. Our area needs an update on what is being done to address our challenges. No formal agenda – all are welcome.

WWRHAH’s meeting runs 6:15-7:45 pm Tuesday at Southwest Branch Library (35th/Henderson).

Thanks for the tips about a heavy police presence in Morgan Junction.

When we arrived, we discovered it was actually related to two incidents – both involving stolen vehicles. One, a car stolen from Federal Way, was found in the southeast end of the West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor) parking lot, off 42nd SW south of SW Morgan; police told us they were investigating the possibility it had been linked to mail-theft incidents.

Not even half a block south on 42nd, a stolen motor scooter was found, and one person was taken into custody. Both discoveries came from tips, we were told.