West Seattle Crime Watch: Police search for bike thief in Delridge
10:21 PM: Thanks for the tips about the police search in Delridge – we’ve just gone to the area where police with K9 are searching, the 26th/Brandon vicinity, to find out more. They tell us they are looking for a suspected thief, after recovering a stolen bicycle. The Guardian One helicopter is joining them. The man they’re looking for is described as in his 50s, white, 6′ tall, with a white beard. More as we get it.
11:13 PM: Helicopter has moved on after exhausting the possibilities in the area. No report of an arrest so far.
ADDED 11:03 AM: As promised, we contacted SPD’s media office this morning for more details. From Det. Mark Jamieson:
A victim called 911 to report seeing his recently (unreported) stolen bicycle being pushed past his location in the 7100 block of Delridge Way SW. He called out to the suspect, who fled the scene riding the bicycle northbound. Officers conducted an area check and located the suspect in the 5400 block Delridge Way SW. The suspect observed officers in the area and, again, fled the scene. He was observed in the 5400 block of 26 Ave SW before losing sight of him. Containment was set up and a K9 track was established. K9 observed the suspect in the nearby wooded area, but due to the terrain and natural obstacles, the suspect managed to elude the officers. K9 located the stolen bicycle, which was returned to the owner. The suspect was not located after an extensive area check with assistance of Guardian One.
UPDATE: Suspect arrested after air, ground search follows crash on Sylvan Way; 3 to hospital
(WSB photos)
6:08 PM: Sylvan Way is blocked both ways by a crash in the 6900 block [map] that briefly drew a sizable SFD “extrication” response. Everybody’s out, per radio communication. More info to come.
6:17 PM: Police are searching for someone in connection with this and the Guardian One helicopter has joined the search. Our crew says apparently one of the drivers fled – two vehicles were involved. Two children are hurt and will be taken to a hospital.
6:29 PM: We’re told the children’s mom also will be taken to a hospital. But none of the injuries are believed to be life-threatening.
6:52 PM: Police have detained a man near 25th/Myrtle.
7:03 PM: We’ve confirmed with police that the man is being questioned in connection with the crash; G-1 has tweeted that, too.
7:26 PM: Our crew tells us Sylvan has reopened.
11:56 PM: SPD says the man was arrested for suspected DUI as well as hit-run.
1:18 AM: Husband/dad of pregnant woman and kids hit by the suspected drunk driver says in a comment that they’ll be OK.
UPDATE: If you were wondering about that helicopter …
…. seen from east West Seattle, it was a TV chopper and while there’s nothing breaking in our area right now, there’s an incident right across the Duwamish River:
11:48 AM UPDATE: Per scanner, the package was opened, “just a bunch of brochures, no hazard,” and the situation should be winding down.
UPDATE: Why the Guardian One helicopter was over eastern West Seattle
8:24 PM: In case you’re wondering about the Guardian One law-enforcement helicopter over eastern West Seattle – they’re helping police with a call about a person who is allegedly violating a court order near 24th/Thistle, according to the dispatch.
8:28 PM: Police say the situation is under control; G-1 is leaving.
West Seattle Crime Watch: Police search after Delridge robbery
8:24 PM: If you’re hearing Guardian One, the helicopter crew has tweeted that they are helping Seattle Police search for “a robbery suspect that fled in a vehicle on Delridge Way SW from the Home Depot.” More when we get it.
9:04 PM: We checked the area and couldn’t find anyone still searching, so we stopped at the precinct to see what we could find out. The robbery was a case of shoplifting turned violent. No one in custody.
West Seattle Crime Watch: Police search after Harbor Avenue 7-11 robbery
12:54 AM: Police are being sent right now to the Harbor Avenue 7-11 after a reported armed robbery. According to police dispatch, three people robbed the store at gunpoint. The clerk is reported to be injured, so SFD is being sent too. So far, only a partial description of the robbers – three men, one black, two white, in their late 20s, one in a white jacket, two in black jackets. We’ll add anything more we find out.
1:00 AM: Two of the robbers were reported to have been wearing masks; all three were last seen walking away, possibly carrying cases of beer. The Guardian One law-enforcement helicopter is now in the area helping with the search.
1:29 AM: No luck so far.
10:19 AM: We just checked with SPD media relations. The robbers are still at large. Description and circumstances info in the report is all the same as what we reported at the time, with two added details: This was reported by a customer who came into the store about five minutes after the holdup and found the clerk injured. One of the robbers had hit him on the back of the head with an object believed to have been a gun. SFD treated him at the scene.
Police searching for missing person in West Seattle
8:34 PM: From SPD via Twitter:
The Guardian One helicopter is currently over Lincoln Park and we believe it’s related (added – or a different missing-person case for which no alert has been issued so far).
8:37 PM: The helicopter’s moved on to another incident by the bridge.
West Seattle Crime Watch: What the Guardian One helicopter was doing over Westwood; stolen blue Taurus to watch for (update: found)
Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes:
GUARDIAN ONE: Thanks to those who messaged us a few minutes ago that the law-enforcement helicopter was in the Westwood area; it wasn’t showing on flight tracker so we didn’t know until then. We checked in with them on Twitter and the reply: “Assisted Seattle PD with taking a felony suspect into custody near Westwood Village.”
STOLEN CAR: Alex e-mailed this report a short time ago: “My car was stolen outside of Southwest Youth and Family Services, at 25th SW and SW Alaska St. Blue Ford Taurus, 2005, WA license plate AVD0257. There is a Rover.com magnet on the back that may have been peeled off.” Call 911 if you see it. (SATURDAY UPDATE: Alex says his car has been recovered.)
WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Westwood search after gunfire
11:23 PM: A report of gunfire in Westwood has police searching for up to five suspects. Per scanner, they were most recently reported to have fled behind the 35th/Barton 7-11 southbound and then westbound. A K-9 team is joining the search. The person reported to have fired one shot is described as a young “light-skinned black male” wearing a “sparkly red jacket.” No injuries reported.
11:29 PM: The gunshot reportedly happened near the Southwest Library (35th/Henderson). Also, the Guardian One helicopter is joining the search.
11:35 PM: Per radio communication, this involved someone “chasing (the suspects) with a two-by-four” when one “turned around and shot at” that person.
11:49 PM: The search is scaling down; they’ve exhausted the possibilities and there are other pending calls.
ADDED THURSDAY AFTERNOON: We have obtained the report narrative from SPD. The person who said he was fired at told police that he was chasing the suspects because they had assaulted his girlfriend. He said the two of them are squatting in an empty house in the 9000 block of 35th SW. She was walking in the alley and around the 34th/Barton P-Patch, looking for cigarette butts, when she encountered the suspects. One asked her for cigarettes; she said she had none and was looking for them herself. Then, the boyfriend told police, the suspects called her names, punched her in the face, knocked her down, and kicked her. She screamed for help; her boyfriend went to the house where they were squatting, got a 2 x 4, and chased the suspects after calling 911. That’s when one turned and shot at him, he said, as they were running southbound behind the 35th/Barton 7-11. He said he lost track of them at that point. While he insisted that’s where the shot was fired, police did not find a shell casing nor any other evidence of gunfire. Nearby residents also said they heard the shot. As we reported last night, helicopter and K9 assisted in the subsequent search, but no one was found.
UPDATE: Since you asked about the helicopter …
10:48 PM WEDNESDAY: We don’t know what exactly Guardian One was doing flying a long track back and forth – north to south and back again – over the peninsula for a while this past hour, with a couple smaller circles in different spots, but the scanner’s been absolutely quiet in the area, so, given that and the fact the focus wasn’t on any one spot, we’re fairly certain it wasn’t related to anything happening out there currently. (We even headed out on the ground to check, but didn’t find any spots of activity.) Flight-tracking software shows it has since headed north, then east, and is now over the Eastside. Though Guardian One works with law-enforcement departments all over the area, it belongs to the King County Sheriff’s Office, so we’ll check tomorrow to see if there’s anything they can tell us about the mystery flight.
ADDED THURSDAY AFTERNOON: Thanks to KCSO’s Sgt. Ryan Abbott for checking into this for us. He forwarded the reply from Air Support: “We were flying patrol, no call or anything significant.”
WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Helicopter search for auto-theft suspects
11:31 PM: If you hear the Guardian One helicopter in southeast West Seattle, near Westcrest Park – it’s being called in to help with what scanner traffic indicates is a search for two people described as auto-theft suspects. There’s a ground search with K-9, too. The suspects are described so far as male, white, one in a camouflage jacket, ponytail and goatee, the other in a black shirt or jacket and “slightly unshaven.” If you have any information, call 911.
12:54 AM: Sounds as if police detained one person. We’ll be following up later this morning to see what else we can find out about how this started and shook out.
WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Helicopter help with auto-theft arrest (video added); Admiral break-in; bicycle found
In West Seattle Crime Watch:
(WSB photo)
HELICOPTER HELP WITH AUTO-THEFT ARREST: Thanks for the tips about Guardian One over Arbor Heights a short time ago. We headed that way to investigate – hadn’t heard anything on the scanner – and subsequently learned that they were helping track down a stolen car. The helicopter crew tweeted that it was found with a suspect “passed out inside.” This happened near 34th and 100th (photo above). ADDED 2:54 PM: Helicopter video, just made public:
ADMIRAL BREAK-IN: From John:
Our garage was broken into (Wednesday) afternoon around 3:20 pm. The padlock was cut off. We were home watching TV when they entered our back yard via the alley. They were preparing items to be picked up later as they stole the garage door opener. Hope they return soon so I don’t get tired of waiting for them. We are located on 41st Ave SW North of Admiral Way. Seattle Police were out and took fingerprints.
That’s not far from where a car was broken into a day later.
BICYCLE FOUND: Abandoned bicycles usually tend to have been stolen and dumped. Here’s one Karen just found on a dead-end West Seattle street:
Yours? Let us know.
UPDATE: Helicopter, ground search after woman stabbed in White Center
8:11 PM: Thanks for the tips about Guardian One over White Center/South Delridge. We have a crew on the ground talking with deputies. So far, we’re told they are investigating an assault in WC. Will add other details when we get them.
8:28 PM: Just talked with KCSO spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West. She says a woman who works for a veterinary clinic in the 9800 block of 15th SW was stabbed and they were looking for her attacker. She apparently was attacked when she went out behind the clinic after thinking she heard someone crying. The attacker is described only as white, female, “skinny,” and possibly a transient. No one in custody so far.
9:25 PM: Sgt. West told us the victim was injured in the abdomen and arm but was in stable condition when taken to the hospital and is expected to fully recover.
About the early-morning helicopter search over Puget Sound: 1 person dead, 1 in critical condition
Around 5 am, we got texts from a few people in southwesternmost West Seattle and beyond – The Arroyos and Shorewood – wondering about what appeared to be a helicopter search/rescue operation involving the U.S. Coast Guard. We couldn’t find out anything at the time, and later tried reaching the USCG by phone with no success, but now this USCG news release is just in, distributed by the King County Sheriff’s Office:
Coast Guard air and boat crews rescued one woman and recovered one man after their 15-foot paddleboat was reportedly beset by weather near Three Tree Point in Burien, Wash., Sunday morning.
An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station Port Angeles and a Station Seattle rescue boat crew aboard a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium responded to the incident and transferred both mariners to local Emergency Medical Service personnel.
Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound watchstanders received initial notification from King County Dispatch at 2:53 a.m., reporting two individuals aboard a paddleboat potentially beset by weather. Sector personnel established communication with the mariners via cell phone and reported hearing a loud scream before losing connection.
Once on scene, the Coast Guard aircrew discovered the capsized vessel near Seahurst Park.
At 4:51 a.m., the aircrew located an unresponsive female in the water and vectored in the boat crew to rescue her. The crew transported her to the Fauntleroy Ferry dock where a local EMS crew was waiting.
At 5:02 a.m., a male was recovered by the helicopter crew and transported to Boeing airfield where he was pronounced dead by a local EMS crew at 5:38 a.m.
The female is reportedly in critical condition and is being treated at Harborview Medical Center hospital.
KCSO is investigating. Sgt. Cindi West says the man who died was from Burien, the woman from Vashon Island.
UPDATE: Deadly shooting in White Center; helicopter search
(WSB photos)
10:53 PM: For everyone asking about the helicopter – a shooting is reported near 15th and Roxbury in White Center. King County Sheriff’s deputies have asked SPD to assist with the investigation. We are on the way to find out more.
10:58 PM UPDATE: KCSO says one man has been shot and is undergoing CPR.
11:11 PM UPDATE: Just arrived at the scene. 15th SW is taped off about a block south of Roxbury. SPD is here as well as KCSO, and Guardian One is still overhead.
11:15 PM UPDATE: A sergeant at the scene tells us the victim has died. No arrest reported so far.
8:44 AM: New information in from King County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Cindi West: The victim was a 27-year-old man from Burien: “Witnesses told police that a group of men were talking with the victim prior to the shooting. The suspect who was with the group of men fought with the victim. When the fight was over, the suspect pulled out a gun and shot the victim. The men fled the scene on foot. King County Guardian One and K-9 responded but were unable to locate the suspect or the men he was with. The only description obtained was that the suspect was wearing a red hoodie.” They’re hoping for tips, 206-296-3311.
WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Police search by Fauntleroy Park
(WSB photos)
4:20 PM: Thanks for the texts – we’re on our way to check out a police response near Fauntleroy Park. Checking with Seattle Police media relations in the meantime, this apparently started as a report of a possible burglary at a home on the north side of the park, along Barton. More to come.
4:27 PM: Police are outside a house on the south side of Barton at Director.
They think a burglar might be inside, so they are using a bullhorn to tell anyone inside to come out before they send a K-9 in to search.
4:41 PM: The K-9 has gone in and come out.
4:47 PM: The house is empty but police found a hole in the fence. Now the Guardian One helicopter is flying around the area looking for any signs of a possible burglar at large.
5:40 PM: The helicopter has long since departed after doing what it could; no word of an arrest yet but last we heard, police in the Fauntleroy area were still on the lookout.
8:18 PM: We checked with SW Precinct Operations Lt. Ron Smith at tonight’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting; no arrest. The K-9 tried tracking from the hole in the fence that might have been used for entry/exit but couldn’t pick up a trail.
UPDATE: Police search along Harbor SW, with helicopter
9:01 PM: If you are seeing/hearing a helicopter – per scanner, Guardian One is helping look for someone who fled after a car crash near Harbor/Florida. The car is believed to have been stolen in a carjacking elsewhere in the city earlier today.
9:31 PM: The search continues, with SPD K-9 on the ground. A commenter reports Harbor is closed in the area.
9:43 PM: Search isn’t over but Guardian One has moved on.
10:26 PM: Northbound Harbor will remain closed a while because City Light has to deal with a damaged pole and the crashed car has to be towed for impounding. We haven’t found yet where the carjacking was but will be requesting the incident report for this in the morning.
UPDATE: Why the Guardian One helicopter was over Beach Drive
9:13 PM: If you hear/see the Guardian One helicopter, here’s what it’s about, per radio discussion monitored via scanner: Someone called 911 to report hearing what sounded like someone possibly in trouble in the water/on a boat off Beach Drive near SW Atlas [map], and Guardian One just happens to be up on patrol, so it volunteered to go take a look in the area. Police have checked from the shore and say they’re not seeing any sign of trouble, but the helicopter crew is going to take a look anyway.
9:29 PM: Guardian One has moved on, and confirmed its previous assignment via Twitter.
Here’s why the Guardian One helicopter was over Westwood
The Guardian One helicopter was over Westwood for a while within the past hour, but left to head to a South King County investigation just as we arrived in the area. Now they’ve tweeted what brought them here:
We don’t know whether that person has been found yet.
UPDATE: Truck fire in White Center; West Seattle crews assist
5:35 AM: Thanks for the tips. The helicopter you might have heard over White Center/South Delridge was TV, checking out a fire call on 16th in downtown WC, just south of Roxbury. West Seattle fire units were dispatched for mutual aid for a while. We have a crew checking it out.
5:52 AM: What caught fire was a refrigerated truck trailer parked by a building at 15th/SW 98th that firefighters also say sustained damage. No injuries. Power’s out because lines were involved. (The TV helicopter has long since moved on to something else elsewhere in the region.)
6:13 AM: Added photos. Metro says buses that use 15th SW in the area might be affected; fire trucks were still blocking that street when we left a few minutes ago – we’ll be going back after sunrise for a closer look.
9:58 AM: The investigation continues:
In the photo above, you can see the blackened area where the fire spread to the building by which the trailer was parked.
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