West Seattle Crime Watch: Open door, stolen purse
Out of the WSB inbox, from John, who says this happened between noon and 1 pm today:
Just a warning to other West Seattleites. My wife and I were both home (Oregon & 39th) [map] with the front door open letting the sun in. Someone walked into our house and stole my wife’s purse from a chair close to the front door. Didn’t see anyone suspicious around. Everyone be on the lookout for weirdos.
John, of course, called the police, and says they “mentioned an incident yesterday in the same area.”
West Seattle Crime Watch: Car stolen, clues found
Out of the WSB inbox, from Jon:
Our car stolen from our garage, 5400 block of 40th Ave. SW [map], sometime b/t ~5:00 pm 8/14/08 & 10:00 am 8/15/09. 1997 Honda Civic LX 4-door sedan, green, 624-XKD (WA). A guy near I-405 in Kirkland called me @ 10:15 this morning saying he found glovebox papers in the middle of his street, included owners’ manual, registration. I’ve filed report w/ SPD.
No Crime Prevention Council meeting this month – go to the picnic!
That’s the message tonight from West Seattle Crime Prevention Council president Dot Beard – she asked if we would remind you that the group is NOT meeting this month (they meet on third Tuesdays, so that would have been coming up next week), but they urge everyone to attend tomorrow’s Picnic at the Precinct at the Southwest Precinct (map), 1-4 pm. Next WSCPC meeting will be September 15th, and King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg is scheduled to speak.
West Seattle Crime Watch: 1 followup, 1 new report
FIRST, THE FOLLOWUP: Early this morning we brought you Sue‘s report of a van stolen in Fauntleroy. She just e-mailed to say she has found her van, “in the Allstar (Fitness) area” of North Delridge, and that it doesn’t have much damage.
NOW, A NEW REPORT: Christie e-mailed word of a burglary at 48th/Hinds (map):
Sometime during the day yesterday – we were gone from 1030am until 7pm – someone broke into our home and stole some goods. My husband came home to find the stereo moved around, our iPod touch gone and our new Apple computer gone from the living room. Upon further investigation, we discovered our iPod Nano was missing from its dock in one of the bedrooms downstairs and our jar of change was missing from the bookshelf. No visible sign of entry, but the back door was unlocked when my husband arrived home.
The iPod Nano is the first generation Red (donates to the Aids Fund) 4 GB and is engraved with “always enjoy yourself” – The iPod Touch is first generation Silver with a black case and is engraved with “all the dark can’t extinguish the light.” The apple computer was purchased last year and has the fancy touch sensors in the mouse pad. It has a purple case with the bottom back tabs (that hold it on) broken.
The police have a full report and serial numbers, but if anyone finds anything on craigs list/ebay/etc., please contact Christie Voos at christie.voos@gmail.com
Update: South Park murder suspect pleads not guilty
From seattletimes.com: The arraignment in King County Superior Court is over, and 23-year-old Isaiah Kalebu has pleaded not guilty to charges including aggravated murder (for which the penalty could be death) and rape. He is accused of breaking into the South Park home of 39-year-old Teresa Butz and her partner in the early-morning hours of July 19 and attacking them; Butz did not survive. He was arrested less than a week later, after he was identified through DNA. He remains jailed in lieu of $10 million bail, and remains under investigation in a Pierce County fire that killed two people last month, including the aunt who had kicked him out days earlier.
Happening today/tonight: Court, campuses, Porterhouse, politics
COURT CASE: South Park murder suspect Isaiah Kalebu is expected in King County Superior Court at 8:30 this morning to answer charges including aggravated murder (which could bring the death penalty) in the July xx attack on two women who were asleep in their home when he allegedly broke in.
CLOSED SCHOOLS’ FUTURE: Also happening downtown this morning (9 am), the city Hearing Examiner is scheduled to hear an appeal of the June city decision determining that closed school campuses around the city – including Fairmount Park, Genesee Hill and EC Hughes in West Seattle – could be repurposed for various new uses without convening a School Use Advisory Committee.
PORTERHOUSE OPENING: The new restaurant/pub in the Admiral District (2329 California SW, just north of Admiral Theater) opens mid-afternoon. Lots of new food and beverage details in the West Seattle-headquartered Washington Beer Blog‘s review from the “soft opening” party Monday.
REP. MCDERMOTT TALKS HEALTH-CARE REFORM: Tonight, the long-hot topic gets its highest-profile West Seattle discussion yet, as the 34th District Democrats bring in Seattle’s Congressmember Jim McDermott in addition to other expert panelists. The agenda’s here, but also note the disclaimer on the group’s home page – this is NOT a “town hall meeting” and while everyone’s welcome to attend and listen, “only members may speak and participate,” per the group’s bylaws. The meeting starts at 7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy.
West Seattle Crime Watch: Counterfeit-money alert
Just in, this alert from Paul at Coffee at the Heights (WSB sponsor):
Thought that we would put it out to all the West Seattle businesses, we took a counterfeit 20 today, about 12:30. Description of the guy is 6’1″ dark complexion, slender build, 3 Inch afro that was kinda messy, appx 30-35 years old, with a slight accent. Wearing yellow, green and blue striped oversized polo with faded light blue baggy jeans. We don’t know if he was on foot or in a car, but he headed out of our shop north on 35th Ave SW. Just a word to the other business owners out there.
To elaborate on the location, Coffee at the Heights is in the building on the northwest corner of 35th/Webster (map).
West Seattle Crime Watch: Solve a gorilla-napping
That “artist’s rendition” of a unique piece of stolen property just arrived in the WSB inbox from Gina, along with this explanation — and plea:
*6 Foot Tall Animatronic Gorilla Stolen from Youngstown Garage Sale 8/8/09: help us bring him home!*
During our garage sale (4408 Delridge Way SW) on Saturday, two men in a red Chevy King Cab pick-up truck license plate B67(—-) stole a 6 foot tall shaggy brown gorilla from our parking lot. Two lovely but unidentified ladies followed the crooks who took off southbound on W Marginal Way. We’ve contacted the police but they’re not able to help much because we don’t have the ladies’ contact information. If you know anything about or saw a red pick-up truck with a 6’ tall gorilla in it or know two ladies who stopped by the garage sale in a green Subaru hatchback, give me a call. Help bring the Gorilla home and slap 2 crooks for stealing in our neighborhood!
Gina’s # is 355-1170, though we would suggest first calling police. (The garage sale referred to, if you didn’t see the story yesterday, was at Youngstown Arts Center, with some of the proceeds going to the nonprofit Service Board.) ADDED SUNDAY EVENING: Gina says the gorilla “suit” was used as a costume in the Fremont Solstice Parade, and dug up this photo:
West Seattle bank robber may have struck again in North Seattle
We’ve been reporting all this on Twitter because the citywide media hasn’t jumped in yet, but now the potential West Seattle connection is stronger so we’re mentioning it here too: Two armed robberies in the past hour-plus in the North End, and per scanner traffic, witnesses say the second one appears to be the same guy who held up KeyBank in The Junction last Wednesday:
It’s also been noted via the scanner that in the West Seattle case the robber and a possible accomplice were believed to be in an early ’90s police-style white Chevrolet Caprice with a chrome/silver spotlight. We haven’t yet gotten the location of the second robbery today, but the first one was at a Bank of America in Wedgwood, and the second one is also being handled by North End units – in that one, the description was closest: Black man, 40s, round glasses, heavy set. These are both still active investigations in North Seattle; we’ll add more here later when additional information’s available. (There’s also talk of a possible link to an incident elsewhere in the city yesterday – checking into that.) 3:11 PM UPDATE: While the possible WS link is not mentioned, the two robberies are now discussed briefly on the SPDBlotter site. The 2 locations from today were just about 2 miles apart (map).
Local law-enforcement initiative takes on “open-air drug markets”
At community meetings and in WSB comment sections – as recently as this week – we have seen and heard complaints about open drug dealing in some neighborhoods. SPD just issued a news release about a just-complete operation which targeted a so-called “open-air drug market” in the Central Area, with others in the city potentially to follow, and while this isn’t West Seattle-specific (yet) we thought you might be interested in reading about it —Read More
West Seattle man charged with child-pornography possession
A Westwood man is charged with possessing and dealing in child pornography, according to King County Superior Court documents. The charges filed within the past week against 23-year-old Chas Voelckel result from a search of his home last October, in an investigation that began in June 2008, when police received a complaint about child-pornography images uploaded to a photo-sharing site. Investigators found 1,600 photos and more than 50 videos on computer equipment linked to Voelckel, according to court documents, which say he did not deny possessing child pornography. Some of the children in the photos are described in the court documents as “known victims” as young as 8 years old, though there is no indication that Voelckel took any of the photos himself. In addition to possession, he also is charged with dealing in child pornography, because of records showing that he transferred files to other people. Prosecutors asked that his bail be set at $25,000, saying investigators found online chat records in which Voelckel expressed a desire to sexually abuse a 10-year-old, and noted that:
“While the defendant may wish to be released to the custody of his mother, it’s important to note that his mother was fully aware that he was downloading and viewing child pornography and saw no problem with it because she believed that the children who were being sexually abused were from other countries.”
The mother’s address is listed as the same as the suspect’s. Meantime, in addition to the charges, court documents also indicate authorities were seeking a warrant for his arrest as of a week ago; there is no indication that he has been booked into King County Jail, so we will be checking tomorrow on his status. (Note: This story was first reported earlier this afternoon at seattlepi.com; we subsequently obtained the court documents, from which we gathered all the information reported in our story.) ADDED FRIDAY MORNING: King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Dan Donohoe tells WSB that Voelckel is scheduled for arraignment next Thursday, though he has not yet been booked.
Followup: Guilty verdict in Stewart Manor stabbing
You might remember the mugshot at left from last October, when police asked everyone to be on the lookout for Daniel P. Ward, wanted for stabbing his girlfriend multiple times with a box cutter at the Stewart Manor building at 34th/Morgan. He was arrested in November, and a tipster told us this afternoon that his trial just ended. King County Prosecuting Attorney‘s Office spokesperson Dan Donohoe confirms that Ward was found guilty on all charges: Attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault and felony harassment. Donohoe says the sentencing range is 20-30 years in prison, and Judge Michael Hayden is scheduled to sentence Ward on September 4th.
Junction KeyBank robbery update: Photos just in from the FBI
Under the heading “ARMED AND DANGEROUS, WEAPON DISPLAYED” the FBI has just sent a bulletin with this photo of this afternoon’s Junction KeyBank robber (here’s our original report):
Also on the bulletin:
The above-pictured suspect robbed the KeyBank, 4701 California Way SW, Seattle, about 1308 hrs today. He presented a demand note and told the teller he was armed. The suspect displayed a handgun tucked into his waistband. The suspect fled in the described vehicle.
Suspect: B/M
30-40 yrs
6 (feet tall), heavy-set
Eyeglasses
And here’s a photo of the getaway-car type; the FBI says the car may be in Seatac or Burien:
Any info? Call 911, or, also per the FBI:
Anyone with information regarding the suspect is asked to call the FBI Task Force Detective Len Carver III at (206)262-2526 (office) or (206)786-4746 (cell).
ADDED: Here’s the flyer as distributed by the FBI.
Updates: KeyBank robbery in The Junction
ORIGINAL 1:33 PM REPORT: Seattle Police spokesperson Detective Jeff Kappel confirms there’s been a bank robbery (he says it’s in the 4700 block of California SW – we’re on our way to verify which bank). We found out when we called to check with him about a sizable police presence at several Junction spots, after getting passed by several cars with lights and sirens. Heading back toward the bank now to see what else we can find out. Description of the robber, according to Det. Kappel: Black man, 30s-40s, about 6-1, blue jacket, green T-shirt, black handgun. More as we get it. 1:46 PM UPDATE: Per the scanner, there’s a vehicle associated with this robbery – early ’90s police-style Chevrolet Caprice, all white, with the chrome “spotlight” police-style light attached. Two black male suspects believed to be in the vehicle. Meantime, we have just verified at the scene, it’s the KeyBank at California/Alaska. 2:29 PM UPDATE: Changed the photo at the top of the story, now that our non-cameraphone photos are back in house. No other new info – police are still looking for the suspect. This is West Seattle’s third bank robbery in less than a month, after the Westwood Village Alaska USA robbery on July 10 and the Junction US Bank robbery on July 15.
Looks like a big “Night Out” ahead, all over West Seattle
More than 250 Night Out block parties are registered for tonight in the Southwest Precinct‘s coverage area (West Seattle and South Park), according to info we just received from SWP crime-prevention coordinator Benjamin Kinlow – that’s up from 200+ on the advance list last year. Thanks to the dozens of party-throwers who’ve given us clearance to drop by – we’re mapping strategy right now to get to as many as possible, but we also welcome YOUR photos, in progress or afterward – editor@westseattleblog.com. Watch here for “live” coverage (on Twitter, too) in a few hours – and have fun – more than a few people we’ve heard from are planning live bands and/or games, above and beyond the heart of the matter: Strengthening your neighborhood by getting to know your neighbors.
Didn’t sign up for “Night Out” yet? Reminder – deadline extended
We mentioned this on Thursday, but now that it’s the weekend and maybe you have a few more minutes to mull the idea, here’s a reminder – Seattle Police extended the deadline for signing up to close your street for a Night Out block party this Tuesday, so you have till Monday morning to register online (do it here; then go here to print out collateral including neighborhood flyers if you need/want it). And if you ARE having a party and wouldn’t mind being photographed for WSB, please send us a note – editor@westseattleblog.com – we’ll be covering the night again this year as it unfolds.
West Seattle Crime Watch: 5 notes, from shots to thefts
Two of these 5 incidents happened early this morning. First, in the Westcrest Park area, multiple police units answered a call of a disturbance, followed minutes later by a report that five gunshots were heard. No report of anyone having actually been shot, but police pulled over a car at 8th/Trenton (map) and reported finding a shotgun in possession of one of the passengers. Second incident just happened – police raced to an assault report in the 2800 block of Alki (map), with a suspect reportedly running away, but found an “uncooperative victim,” and the call was canceled (but in case you saw/heard all those officers, that’s what it was about). Now, to three reports received earlier, from purported solicitors using a ruse to get into a man’s apartment and steal from him, to a bike theft and stereo theft – read on:Read More
West Seattle Crime Watch: Burglars chased away, and more
Three items to share this afternoon, from three West Seattle neighborhoods – but first, another reminder that tomorrow is your deadline to sign up your block to close the street for a Night Out block party next Tuesday night; here’s how to do it online. (UPDATE: The deadline’s just been extended to Monday.) Now, the Crime Watch reports; in fact, the first item is a reminder of how much “neighbor power” can do to fight crime – read on:Read More
Police issue citywide alert for burglar targeting senior citizens
While working on the next West Seattle Crime Watch roundup, we just got this, and Seattle Police say it’s a citywide alert, so it goes out first:
Seattle Police burglary detectives are attempting to identify a suspect believed to be responsible for a series of burglaries targeting victims ranging from 75 years to 94-years-old. In each incident, the suspect used a ruse to gain entry inside the victims’ home. Once inside, the suspect would distract the victim and steal from the residence. These burglaries have been citywide.
The suspect is described as an Asian or Hispanic male
30-49 years old
5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall
140-160 pounds
Black hair
The suspect vehicle is described as a newer blue or black, medium sized car in good condition.
Anyone with information about these burglaries or possible suspect/vehicle information is asked to call Seattle Police Burglary Unit at 684-5735. Those wishing to remain anonymous are encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or text CRIMES (274637) and preface your text information with TIP486.
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