West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
We’re on our way out of downtown, after a very brief King County Jail courtroom hearing in the case of 40-year-old John C. Siegel, arrested (as reported here last night) for investigation of arson in connection with the fire yesterday at the Gatewood home for which county records list him as co-owner. Siegel did not appear; lawyers told the judge he was “too sick” to come to court today, so the bail hearing is delayed until tomorrow, but they did need to ask the judge if she found “probable cause” to hold him till then. She reviewed documents containing the police report in the case, and said she did. According to those documents, he was found at the burning home, and told investigators he was asleep and woke up to find the house on fire. (His “last known address” is listed on the police report as Mercer Island.) The report says investigators determined the fire was “intentionally set with a hand-held flame to available combustibles,” started in the northwest corner of the house (shown above in our post-fire photo from last night). More details from the report after the jump:Read More
Karen‘s report of a burglary last weekend will explain that photo (and two more ahead):
My sister and her family had their home broken into on Saturday, 6/25. They live in the 9200-block of Fauntleroy, south of the ferry terminal. The break-in occurred midday, around 12:30. The burglar(s) seemed brazen in that several neighbors were home at the time and noticed one of them. The burglar even asked a nonsensical question of one of the neighbors after she spotted him on their deck. Consequently, the police have a good description: white male, clean cut with brown hair, height approx 5’10” with slender build, 20-30 years old. Also, the “getaway car” was parked in such a way that a different neighbor had to maneuver around it to get out of her driveway.
Among the items that were stolen are some sentimental items, including some gifts from our relatives in Norway.
Three children between 8 and 15 reported being ‘flashed’ Sunday afternoon outside the home of relatives in the south Admiral area. Here’s what one of those relatives e-mailed us to report:
Yesterday, June 26th, at approximately 3:30 PM, a man exposed himself to three young children on the corner of 44th and Hanford [map]. Police were alerted and on the scene immediately. He is about 6 ft, very pale with a distinct mustache resembling two triangles and a goatee. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with white graphics and light blue jeans.
The relative says the children were very upset, and police stayed in the area quite a while. She provided the police-report number; reports are not available for days online, so we checked with Det. Mark Jamieson in the SPD media-response unit, who provided a few additional details from the report: The victims said the man walked by, exposed himself, then walked away eastbound on Hanford, at which time the victims ran into the house and called police. Officers rushed over, including one who was just a few blocks away, but could not find the man – there was a notation that he might have gotten on a Metro bus nearby. In addition to the description above, his age was estimated as between 30 and 49.
This is about a mile south of the luring attempt reported two weeks ago, in which an 11-year-old said a man tried to entice him into a car. The description in that incident has a few things in common with this one, albeit fairly common traits, but we are asking Southwest Precinct police if they have any reason to suspect a link.
Yes, thieves will take ANYTHING. Last Wednesday, Megan writes, her car was gone through in the Belvidere area, and: “The only things missing seem to be about 20 CDs in a green zippered case. So….if you’re suddenly gifted with some Johnny Mathis, Mel Torme, CSN, and other oddities, they’re likely mine.” Then today, from a different part of West Seattle, the tale of a trash bag taken from an open car, with three things inside; James hopes you will look for one of them, a beloved old toy that the thieves may well have tossed aside:Read More
Two reports of egging overnight – this one’s from Michelle:
I’m not sure if anyone else was an egging victim last night, but just wanted to put it out there in case it happened to anyone else. Last night I was in my vehicle and eggs were thrown at me from a passing vehicle in front of 5900 California Ave SW. They were driving a dark blue VW. I think it was a Jetta. I didn’t see the people in the car, but as they threw the eggs they yelled something, and it sounded like a male. I managed to get the egg off before it caused any damage, but it was a little saddening to me because I just moved to West Seattle from Philadelphia. I thought it was supposed to be a nicer and safer place here in Seattle.
And on the northwest edge of The Junction, from K:
Woke up to find that someone threw some eggs overnight; one landed on my walkway, and one was a direct smeary hit on my north-facing big living room window.
As has been discussed before in comments on previous such stories – though it’s been a while – this can cause property damage, and in the first case, throwing anything at a passing car can be a major safety risk. So it’s worth reporting to police; you can even do that online, by going here.
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*On Atlas Place, a customer received a delivery of groceries in the early hours of the morning on Thursday. But a security camera shows that an hour later a man stopped by the front porch and walked off with the groceries. Images of the thief have been turned over to police.
Five more summaries ahead:Read More
Checking the court records, we have new information in 2 cases from the past week:
(June 17th photo by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
CHARGES IN JUNCTION STORE GUN THREAT: 20-year-old Chriss Arce, a Westwood resident, is now charged with assault for the incident last Friday that started inside West Seattle Computers. Court documents say the store’s owner asked him to leave after seeing him first checking his Facebook account on store computers and then seeing him open various merchandise boxes. The owner then followed him out of the store, concerned he would cause trouble elsewhere; that’s when, the court documents say, Arce turned around, demanded to know why he was being followed, and pulled out a gun. That’s when the owner called 911. Police eventually found Arce hiding in a yard-waste container in an alley a few blocks away, with a loaded 9 millimeter semi-automatic handgun. There were two arrest warrants out for him. He remains in King County Jail, in lieu of $10,000 bail.
BAIL UPPED FOR JUNCTION ASSAULT SUSPECT: One of two men arrested after two incidents in The Junction night before last – an assault on a Matador employee, and window-breaking at two businesses – is now jailed in lieu of $5,000 bail. 23-year-old Kyle Thornton of Burien pleaded not guilty today to misdemeanor charges of assault and obstructing a public officer. His next hearing is set for July 5th. His record includes a felony charge related to an attempt to rob the 16th/Roxbury Walgreens of oxycodone three years ago.
The Seattle Police @getyourcarback Twitter feed doesn’t mention stolen-car locations, or else we’d just run that daily (you CAN find it on the Crime Watch page). But if you send us a message about your stolen car too (here’s how), we’ll publish its description so folks in this area can keep an eye out. Here’s a new one, from Shane:
Our car was stolen from the front of our house in Arbor Heights last night. Last seen locked and parked in front of our house at 11:30 PM on Wednesday, June 22nd. Please be on the lookout for a 1997 Silver Honda Civic LX, 4-door, license plate #436 VMY. There is a blue Hawaiian turtle sticker on the rear window & two car seats in the back seat.
A police report has been filed, but if you see it, please contact Greta at (206) 518-1201 or Shane (206) 518-1203.
(Here’s the SPD tweet about it.)
Two more hit-run crashes in the past several days – one in Admiral, one in Highland Park – read on:Read More
(SCROLL DOWN FOR STORY UPDATES including SPD reports, Bang Bar cleanup)
2:16 AM: We’re still trying to piece this one together but here’s what we know so far, thanks to scanner traffic as well as tips from Will (who sent photos) and Jacob: At least two businesses were hit by vandalism – broken windows – in The Junction early today – the new Bang Bar on California north of Edmunds (Will’s photo above shows fire crews dealing with the broken glass), and Elegant Nails a short distance south:
Police were talking to possible suspects at last report. Other scanner traffic suggests there’s even more to the story but we’ll wait till we can confirm with police sometime in the next several hours.
8:41 AM: We just spoke with media-response unit Det. Mark Jamieson, who has published more details on SPD Blotter. As it had sounded last night via scanner, it’s complicated – there were two Junction incidents that might be related, an assault outside Matador (detailed on SPD Blotter here – two passersby hit an employee, who wasn’t seriously hurt) and the broken-windows incident (detailed on SPD Blotter here – it appears the two businesses in our report are the only ones hit). Two 23-year-old men are in custody, and facing charges in the attack, for starters. They were caught just northwest of The Junction, one along Glenn, one along Oregon; the second arrest involved a K-9 officer who had joined the search.
9:43 AM: We can’t make a definitive match yet without seeing a more-detailed police report (not available online), but there were two 23-year-old men booked into King County Jail at 3:30 am on suspicion of misdemeanor assault; according to Seattle Municipal Court status updates, one is already out of jail, on “personal recognizance”; the other, who has a felony criminal record including robbery cases, has a court hearing at 10 am.
10:44 AM: We just went to The Junction to check on the aftermath. The nail salon is already open and doing business for the day. At Bang Bar, here’s what we found:
The owners are there, cleaning up and fixing the window (we took the photo inside, looking toward the street). They told us they will be open tonight as usual starting at 4 pm. Note that, as is posted on their door, they are only open for dinner (etc.) TFN, no relation to this, it’s just a decision they’ve made while they continue to fine-tune operations.
4:42 PM: Will shares another photo – the Bang Bar window, fixed:
We checked on the one believed-to-be suspect who was still in jail this morning; he’s still in this afternoon, in lieu of $950 bail, with a hearing now set for tomorrow morning.
For the second weekend in a row, someone has reported being assaulted and robbed on Alki. As noted in our most recent edition of the WSBeat police-report roundup, two men told police they were attacked in the 2500 block of Alki SW early Sunday, June 12, and one man’s wallet was taken. Then around 2 am today, we heard a “strong-arm robbery” call on the scanner, at 59th/Alki – two blocks from the previous incident – and followed up with Seattle Police media-response unit Det. Mark Jamieson: He says witnesses called 911 to report seeing a “male victim … assaulted, robbed of (his) wallet and iPhone.” There are not many other details because the victim was “not really cooperative at the scene,” Det. Jamieson says, but after Seattle Fire checked him out, he was taken to Harborview Medical Center. We have a question out to the Southwest Precinct to ask if there’s any suspicion the two incidents are related, and we’ll update with any additional information we get.
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*Around 12:30 last Sunday morning, two men walking in the 2500 block of Alki SW were confronted by a group of men in their twenties who demanded money. When the men refused, they were knocked to the ground and repeatedly kicked. One victim suffered no losses, but the other man’s clothes were ripped and his wallet stolen. The attackers ran to the south and left in two cars: one a dark blue Chevy diesel “dually” truck (one with four rear tires — two on each side) and the other a dark SUV.
Fairly quiet week, so only three more summaries after the jump:Read More
12:44 PM: Just getting word of an arrest following a reported robbery attempt at a business in The Junction. The photo above shows Seattle Police alongside the north side of “The Hole” on 40th SW, near where the arrest reportedly was made. More to come – we’re still working to confirm details – thanks to everyone who has called/texted about the police sightings during the search.
(This photo and next one by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
12:55 PM: Just talked to Det. Mark Jamieson in the SPD media unit, and here are the details, according to what police were told: A man who was “acting suspiciously” inside West Seattle Computers was asked to leave – and then pulled a gun out of his backpack. He then left the store. Someone from the store followed him until he turned east on Alaska, and called police. After searching areas including Jefferson Square and the businesses on the northeast side of The Junction, officers found someone in the alley between 40th and 41st SW matching the description, and after a positive ID, made an arrest at 12:38 pm.
1:27 PM: Added photos by WSB contributor Christopher Boffoli, who is based near where police made the arrest. The suspect’s face is blurred in the photo added above the 12:55 paragraph; in the photo above this paragraph, you see items that were reported to have been in the suspect’s possession – including what appears to be a gun.
(5:08 PM UPDATE: The car’s owner just heard from SPD – their car’s been found)
This afternoon’s West Seattle Crime Watch roundup has two theft reports – a car (whose owner hopes you can help find it) and a package. Details after the jump:Read More
From a Fauntleroy resident who doesn’t want to be identified:
I wanted to report that someone shot at our front picture window in the 9400 block of 45th Avenue SW (Wednesday) evening around 8 pm. Southwest Precinct responded and is investigating. We aren’t clear what was shot, since it’s at least 30-40′ from the street to our window. But our own research shows that BBs can’t shoot more than 15′. We have a double pane picture window, and only the outer pane was pierced, with a tiny dent on the inside of the inner pane.
Needless to say, we are distressed and frustrated. And our kids are spooked. Thanks, just wanted to let our neighbors know.
From tonight’s Fauntleroy Community Association board meeting at the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse:
‘OUTDOOR SENIOR WELLNESS FACILITY’: Did you know that, among the city’s neighborhoods, West Seattle has the second-highest percentage of over-60 residents? (25 percent, topped only by downtown/First Hill.) 
So said Irene Stewart, briefing the FCA board on a concept she is circulating for an “outdoor senior-wellness facility,” or, put another way, a playground for older adults. She brought a four-page document outlining the proposal – FCA is the first group with which she has discussed it, but many more are on her list. Stewart said the idea is already in action in parts of Canada, Asia, and Europe, with areas set aside for elders to exercise outdoors – a benefit for health, longevity, and fitness. Because of its older population and large number of retirement centers, Stewart said, West Seattle might be just the place to try this. Potential sites are plentiful, both public and private (FCA board members suggested the north end of Lincoln Park, and Stewart said that has potential, also considering The Kenney is nearby). But she can’t serve as the project coordinator, since she works on senior issues for the city – she’s just trying to launch the idea. We’ll be following up on this, to find out more about how you can get involved, if you’re interested.
BREAK-IN UPTICK: The FCA board heard from Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Mark Solomon, who says there’s been more burglaries than usual in the Fauntleroy area lately. Most had something in common, Solomon noted – the burglar(s) got in by using a tool to pry open a back door or sliding-glass door. Then, during our rare bouts of warm weather, there were the crimes of opportunism – getting in through an open window, door, or garage. How to fight back? Besides preventing those opportunities, Solomon said, make sure you know your neighbors, and that you are watching out for each other. He also reminded the FCA board that Night Out is coming up August 2nd (you can register your block party here).
The Fauntleroy Community Association board meets the second Tuesday of the month, 7 pm, at the schoolhouse, 9131 California SW.
ORIGINAL 8:56 PM REPORT: Out of the WSB inbox, from Jennifer:
Just a quick note to report a stolen package from my home on 31st and Holden [map]. Supposedly delivered and left at the front door on 6/13; it hasn’t yet turned up. Filed a claim and fingers crossed but just wanted to give a heads up, also curious if this has happened to anyone else lately.
ADDED 10:56 PM: One more short Crime Watch report has just come in, so rather than hold it till later, we’re adding it to this one:
I am writing to report a theft and to alert my neighbors so they can protect their property. A lawnmower was stolen from my residence sometime between Sunday evening and Tuesday midday. I live in the vicinity of 17th and Trenton [map] and the lawn mower was in a fenced back yard and was taken from the back patio when we were home.
Someone tried to lure a child into a car last night, according to this report just in from Sandy, who wanted to “warn parents and schools in the neighborhood about this”:
I just wanted to let you know about something that happened yesterday in the Admiral District.
At approx. 6 pm, my eleven year old nephew and his 9 year old brother were skateboarding and biking around our block (the 1500 block of California ave SW) [map]. They were just going around it in a circle, as they are not allowed to cross the street. For just a brief few minutes, the older boy was out of our sight. He went to the top of the block and was coming down the sidewalk near our home when a man in a black car pulled up and opened his rear passenger door and said, “Get in, I’ve got some licorice for you.”
Thank God this kid was old enough and smart enough to run as fast as he could to get help. The man drove off quickly.
The police did come and take a report and were wonderful with this scared young boy. They assured him that he had done nothing wrong and had in fact done everything right.
We checked the time-lag police-report map, and there is indeed a “suspicious circumstances” call logged for that area for that time last night. We are checking with the Southwest Precinct to see if there have been any other similar reports lately, or if this seems to have been an isolated report.
2:34 PM UPDATE: From the police report, a more detailed description: White man, 30-50, black hair, mustache, medium build, gray shirt, blue jeans, heart-shaped earring, smaller black car.
Five West Seattle Crime Watch reports this morning – starting with the search for a hit-run driver. Amy sent the above photo and explains:
Our 1997 Toyota Tercel was struck by a hit and run driver Saturday morning (6/11) in the 3900 block of SW Orchard. The car is totalled with front body damage on the right side. The perps lost control coming around the corner at 39th and Orchard, tore up our neighbors parking strip and came to a hard stop against our parked vehicle pushing it backward about five feet. Damage to the car that hit would be the front passenger side. We did not hear the accident but our neighbor heard the crash sometime around 12:30 to 1:00 am. It was not a pretty car, but we had it for 13 years, it ran great, and it was much needed transportation for our family. We did call the police and received a case number-11-187004
After the jump – 4 more reports, starting with a stolen tandem bicycle (photo included):Read More
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*The victim of a car prowl took matters into his own hands around 1 a.m. last Saturday, when he came outside (in the 2300 block of Barton Pl.) and punched a man who he said was breaking into his car. When officers arrived, the 55-year-old suspect (who lives in the neighborhood) was on the ground, bleeding from a cut near his eye. He was taken to Harborview for treatment and then booked into King County Jail for investigation of theft.
*A man using the business phone at a Junction grocery became loud and belligerent. When the manager told the man to hang up, he was threatened and shoved. A nearby witness happened to be a police officer, who held the intoxicated suspect down until uniformed officers arrived. The suspect, a Beacon Hill resident, was booked into jail for investigation of assault.
Six more summaries, plus new details on an incident recently covered in WSB Crime Watch, ahead:Read More
Busy late night/early morning for residents and police in two West Seattle neighborhoods. The Crime Watch reports, ahead:Read More
Out of the WSB inbox, from Andy – a stolen car to watch for:
My wife’s car was stolen from in front of our house in the 4000 block of 50th Avenue SW [map] during the early morning of June 9th. It has been reported to the police, but I’m hoping that WSB readers can help. It is a 1991 red Honda Civic two door hatchback, license number 589 PDW. If it is seen, please call 911.
Here’s hoping it’s spotted (maybe even by a good neighbor like Margaret, whose Twitter-car-theft-solving tale appeared here Wednesday, and she got a TV spotlight that night).
It’s one of the most fun nights of the summer – hundreds of neighborhoods around West Seattle, and thousands elsewhere, celebrating community and crimefighting as part of the annual Night Out Against Crime. Despite cuts in the Seattle Police crime-prevention-coordinator staff, Night Out is on, according to word just in from Mark Solomon, who’s the coordinator for precincts including ours. He says Night Out this year is on Tuesday, August 2nd, and you can register your block party (which means you get to close the street, as long as it’s not an arterial) right now! Just go here. There’s a Night Out page on Facebook, too – find that here. And as we say every year, we would love to feature your party as part of WSB coverage – if you wouldn’t mind a photojournalist stopping by, please let us know the address (here’s how to reach us) before party night! (And if we don’t make it, please share a photo, as it’s great to show everyone in West Seattle as many of the neighbors and friends they just haven’t yet met!)
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