West Seattle Crime Watch: There’s good news too
The latest from the files at the Southwest Precinct – and we’ve got a lot to tell you about, since our last visit was last Thursday. 
We start with a “good news” story that unfolded while we were at the precinct late today: It started this morning, when a West Seattle man found a wallet in the Central District. He reported it to police later by flagging down an officer at Delridge and Hudson. Police called the wallet’s owner and asked if she could come pick it up at the Southwest Precinct. She arrived around 4 this afternoon, received the wallet from officer Buzzy Katzer at the front desk, and exclaimed, “Wow, my 11 dollars are even still in here!” She wanted to thank the man who found her wallet and turned it in; at last report, police were trying to reach him to convey her message. Ahead – an amazing array of other incidents, including the “adult model” dispute and the runaway litterer:Read More
West Seattle Crime Watch: 2 notes
35TH/ROXBURY: Reminder that you will see a significant police presence there much of the day because of teenage shooting victim DeChe Morrison‘s memorial service @ Freedom Church later this morning (as reported here last week).
READER REPORTS CAR BREAK-IN: From Melissa in the 9700 block of 41st (map):
I thought our little neighborhood was immune, but no. Our dog went a little bonkers at about 10 pm Monday night. That must have been whenever was taking my cellphone and binoculars and rifling through our cars was doing so. My husband went out at 5:45 this morning to find my door still open. I wonder if our dog’s barking scared the thief off?
West Seattle Crime Watch: Reader reports van break-in
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From Colleen in the 48th/Dakota vicinity:
Friday night my son’s bike was taken out of my van. They also took a clay cat that my daughter had made, only valuable to me. I’m curious if they hit any other vehicles around here.
Besides whatever we hear here, we’ll also check next time we’re reviewing reports @ the Southwest Precinct. Meantime, the important reminders: Call 911 if you know or suspect something’s happening right now or just happened; 206/625-5011 is the non-emergency number; lots of crime-prevention resource info at the bottom of the WSB Crime Watch page.
West Seattle Crime Watch: Exposure arrest; car vandalism
The latest from the files at the Southwest Precinct: We start with an indecent-exposure arrest in the 9400 block of 30th SW. An 11-year-old boy was walking in a nearby alley Wednesday afternoon when, he said, a man motioned him over, then dropped his pants and exposed himself. He ran to a nearby school to report what happened. Other information led officers to believe they knew who they were looking for, and before they had finished talking with the young victim, the suspect showed up in the area, and they arrested him. Police say they have dealt with the suspect before, mostly for “mental-health situations.” More police-report summaries ahead, including a “home invasion” that happened this morning:Read More
A morning @ 34th/Morgan: Crossing-guard crunch, and more
We saw that close call while spending time at 34th/Morgan this past Tuesday morning, meeting with neighborhood and pedestrian-safety activists who say it’s one of this area’s most dangerous places for schoolkids to have to cross. Here’s a taste of the regular traffic:
Kids coming from the booming north side of High Point cross here to get to West Seattle (formerly High Point) Elementary, which is further south on 34th.Read More
“December was catch-a-burglar month”
That quote from Southwest Precinct Sgt. Jeff Durden at Tuesday night’s West Seattle Community Safety Partnership meeting — from which we have a few holdover notes to share with you before too much more time elapses, in addition to the news we reported last night about the high-security funeral that’ll be at Freedom Church next Tuesday. To elaborate on that quote, in the past month, SW Precinct leadership estimates its team has arrested more than 15 burglary suspects. Lt. Steve Paulsen noted that detectives and patrol officers are working more closely together, literally – four detectives are now based at the precinct, rather than elsewhere, which means more chances for them to talk face-to-face with the officers working the streets. “Our clearance [case-solving] rate has just been remarkable,” Lt. Paulsen noted. Not only are they arresting suspects, but he says they’re recovering lots of stolen property too. And they also praised community members whose eagle eyes and quick phone calls are helping them detect crimes and catch suspects more quickly. Other notes from the WSCSP meeting, including community “trouble spots” they’re watching:Read More
West Seattle Crime Watch: The crane caper, and more
From the files at the Southwest Precinct (and no, it’s not that there’s been a lot of crime lately, this is just our first run through the reports since last Thursday): We start with someone who went to great lengths AND great heights to commit a crime. Sometime between Thursday night and Monday morning, at the megaproject construction site on 42nd north of Alaska, someone stole two mobile radio/phones worth $750 from a crane cab — meaning, according to the police report, that they had to climb a chain link fence, go down a 30-foot wooden ladder into the big construction hole, then up a 20-foot mud hill to reach the crane, and after that, up 150 feet to the cab (and of course back down again). Next, followups on a few incidents that readers reported here in the past few days, including a drive-by shooting and the alleged Starbucks groper:Read More
Reader reports: Gunshots last night near 44th/Hanford
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Two people just e-mailed WSB about this. The following account is from Luckie (thank you!):
Last night at about 7:50, three shots were fired on SW Hanford near 44th Ave, and then a car was heard speeding away toward California Ave. I immediately called 911, as did several other neighbors. This morning, I searched the area where I heard it happen, and found three bullet casings and a slug in the street. A neighbor’s car, parked on the street, now sports two bullet holes. We called the police non-emergency number, and an officer arrived about five minutes later. She gathered the evidence and took statements. I don’t wish to give any more details, but this car was a specific target—this wasn’t a random shooting.
We will be checking with the Southwest Precinct to see if there is anything more. MONDAY MORNING UPDATE: Lt. Steve Paulsen @ the precinct says, “We are working hard on this … [indeed] it was not a random event.”
Reader report: Westwood warning
This just out of the inbox, from Teresa (thank you!):
Was at the Westwood Starbucks this morning and there apparently is a man that is approaching women and actually trying to touch them inappropriately. One of the employees of Starbucks was calling the police as I was leaving. He apparently approached a grounds worker while I was getting my coffee. PERV!
No word so far if anyone was caught.
West Seattle Crime Watch: 11-year-old robbed; tree hit-run
From the files at the Southwest Precinct: We start with a robbery yesterday afternoon that targeted a very young victim — an 11-year-old boy. He told police he was at the 16th SW/SW Holden bus stop after 3 pm yesterday when three men walked up to him and began “throwing him around,” demanding his iPod Shuffle, then finally knocking him to the ground, pulling it out of his pocket, and taking off. He tried to chase them but stopped when he found a crossing guard at 16th/Myrtle; she called 911 after he told her what happened. The robbers are still on the loose at last report, described as 3 “very dark-skinned” men 18-20 years old, all about 6’tall, all wearing blue jeans. (11 PM UPDATE: A reader tells WSB a note went home today to parents at the victim’s school, telling them what happened and suggesting they remind kids to keep a low profile with valuable items and to walk to and from school in pairs or groups.) Several more notable incidents ahead:Read More
West Seattle crime watch: Break-ins, sheepish vandal, more
Among the latest police reports filed at the Southwest Precinct, here are some of the most notable: In the 4500 block of 56th SW, at least four vehicles were broken into Sunday night-Monday morning. An SUV owner told police that a window was smashed and a GPS was taken; another owner said someone got into three of his vehicles, breaking the window of a truck and stealing a camera and gas card, then looking through the 2 other vehicles without damaging or stealing anything. More ahead:Read More
WS crime watch: Citizen calls help police solve more burglaries
One of the police reports we reviewed at the Seattle Police Southwest Precinct late today got even better with some added information forwarded by Lt. Steve Paulsen – turns out that one arrest following a gas-station break-in early yesterday helped detectives solve 9 burglaries in all. It all started just before 5 am Thursday, with calls to police reporting someone smashing in the front door of the Chevron station at 35th and Holden. The callers gave police excellent information — describing the suspect and his car, and which way he headed after he took off. An officer spotted the car, a white T-Bird with a sunroof, at 35th and Morgan, and pulled it over in the 7100 block of Delridge. The car’s registered owner gave police permission to search its trunk, where officers found items including 33 unopened packages of cigarettes. One of the detectives who questioned the suspect, Detective Donald Henderson, picks up the story from there, in an e-mail forwarded to WSB by Lt. Paulsen:
A consent to search was obtained from the registered owner. Stolen Property and Burglary Tools were recovered, and placed into evidence. Detectives were able to solve eight commercial burglary cases in West Seattle, and one from North Seattle. Well done to West Seattle Citizens for getting involved, and reporting suspicious activity to 9-1-1.
Lt. Paulsen adds, “This all began with a citizen call and one of our newer police officers on the morning watch (Officer Melissa Wengard). Great example of the public calling in things that don’t look right!” You may recall another WSB report three weeks ago about another stack of burglary cases solved by the Southwest Precinct team. Meantime, here are half a dozen more new and noteworthy West Seattle police reports:Read More
Testing 2 new WSB features; need your feedback!
As of right now, we’re testing two new features – both in hopes of better fulfilling the WSB mission of serving you with West Seattle news, information, and discussion, 24/7/365.
MORE DISCUSSION: We have finally launched “forums” — another HUGE thanks to the fabulous STUART MAXWELL for making this happen (same guy who got WSB onto a better server earlier this morth) — but before we build them out with a slew of categories and other enhancements, we would like you to try them and then let us know how you would want to use them. You will find them by clicking the FORUM tab at the right side of the row of navigation tabs under the sunset header (or click here). We’ve started with two general areas — we’d like to see if forums are the best, well, forum for Reader Recommendation Requests — start a new topic when you have one, and see what happens — this means RRRs won’t have to wait for us to get to them amid all the other West Seattle news of the day. Also, there’s an OPEN DISCUSSION area where you can post a topic you’d like to talk about. Sometimes the main page is the right place for that — like the “walk all ways” opinion sent to us that resulted in this well-discussed post — but again, maybe there’s something you just want to say NOW – go to the forums and say it. One note, you will have to register to post in the forums (but anyone can read them). And right now, since we’re considering this a “beta” test before possibly tying it into more of the site, that registration does NOT link to the comment feature on WSB posts, so you will still have to enter your name and e-mail address separately if you want to comment on those. Try out the forums, let us know what you think, with comments on this post OR by e-mailing WSB. Thanks!
MORE NEWS/INFORMATION: With the help of the fine folks at the Southwest Precinct, we are now able to bring you lots more information about West Seattle crime reports, safety concerns, and crime-prevention advice. Starting right now – with police-report highlights from the past several days:Read More
In honor of the last day before “winter break”
While we were at the Seattle Police Southwest Precinct this week meeting with Lt. Steve Paulsen, he showed us this photo and we asked for a copy to share with you. It’s from Arbor Heights, during one of the many school-zone safety patrols that SW Precinct officers routinely handle; the trunk-mounted display is another variant on those unmanned mobile signs you see from time to time (like the longrunning one on Fauntleroy by Lincoln Park). After “early dismissal” today, school is out for the next two weeks, so you won’t see a scene like this, but many school zones are in residential areas where you’re going to want to keep the pedal a little lighter on the metal anyway.
Preventive policing
Two things to mention, unrelated so far as we know except that they involve Seattle Police and are both of course in West Seattle:
-First, reminder that – per what we reported Friday afternoon – you may notice an increased police presence around West Seattle High School again today.
-Second, this photo (and the reader report beneath it) came in last night from “Bob Loblaw”:
SPD said it was a “routine traffic stop,” but they had three cruisers present nonetheless. A big thank you goes out to them for being highly visible on 38th Ave. SW when a suspicious-looking vehicle with a flat tire and smashed headlights showed up on our normally quiet street near Fairmount Park. Thank you, SPD.
— Bob Loblaw
Reminder: Neighborhood policing meeting tomorrow
Thanks to LyndaB for forwarding this reminder of an important Seattle Police Department meeting Tuesday night that’s not happening in West Seattle but involves a plan that definitely will affect us. Here’s the full text of the city announcement:
The Chief’s quarterly City Wide Advisory Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, December 11th from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. at the Seattle Vocational Institute (SVI) in room #509 (5th floor). SVI is located at 2120 S. Jackson and we have permission to park, at no cost, in the lot directly behind the building.
Meeting Topic:
The entire meeting will focus on the new Neighborhood Policing Staffing Plan that will begin to be implemented in January 2008. Deputy Chief Clark Kimerer will present the plan and answer any questions. This plan affects anyone who lives or works within the City of Seattle. If you know community members who are interested in this plan please bring them to the meeting.
“The Neighborhood Policing Staffing Plan is the most significant change to how we police our city in more than 30 years. It will not only expand our patrol force, it is a faster, stronger and smarter approach to protecting our neighborhoods: faster response time regardless of the time of day, day of the week, or season of the year; stronger police presence when responding; and smarter use of patrol resources to focus on persistent problems that can affect quality of life in the city. The plan puts officers where they’re needed when they’re needed.”
As night falls in the afternoon, a musing on safety
Out of the WSB inbox, from “The Velvet Bulldog,” as the heart of December brings the longest nights of the year:
In the past month during evening driving (read: dark) I’ve had three incidences of narrowly missing bicyclists who were riding without adequate visible materials. One guy was in all black, had no reflectors on his bike and wore no helmet. I kinda wonder if he’s even still alive to tell his tale. Thursday night it was a guy with a few strips of reflective material on his coat (covered by his backpack) but no rear light. I also recently had the unsettling experience of coming around the bend on the uphill side of Admiral near the infamous crosswalk at Alki Mail and Dispatch and a woman was running in the street facing oncoming traffic. She also didn’t have bright clothes on. (Also, I’m really curious – why are runners in the street rather than onthe sidewalk? It seems dangerous.) I just want to ask any of you who are bike riding or running (again–why??) in the street, or if you know someone who does, to ensure you’ve got the gear to be visible in the dark. I’m all about sharing the road with bicycles, but I have to be able to see you to safely share with you!! Thank you!
Thursday night notes
-As of this writing, the West Seattle Bridge ramp to northbound I-5 is STILL closed because of the situation which, piecing together various accounts (see comments on post below), appears to involve public-safety/emergency workers trying to talk someone off their perch on that ramp. This has been ongoing for almost 11 hours, according to the city 911 log, which shows the incident open since units were first sent to a “rope rescue” at Columbian/12th at 10:27 this morning.
-WSB reader Venkat found an advance link to an article in this Sunday’s New York Times about “what you get for $900,000” in several real-estate markets. One is right here in “West Seattle, Washington,” where the article features an Alki condo.
-We mentioned last week that the city Parks Department is holding meetings all around the city in the next few weeks to gather thoughts about what should be in its forthcoming Strategic Business Plan. We also promised to let you know when a link was up for an online survey to be offered to people who couldn’t attend those meetings. Now it’s up — go to this page and follow the “short online survey” link.
1 year ago today @ 47th & Admiral
In the predawn darkness outside Alki Mail/Dispatch this morning, the bright orange pedestrian flags waited, as did their counterparts across Admiral. One year ago today, at this intersection, 47th/Admiral, where so many busy drivers roar by, heading to/from Alki or Beach Drive, one driver hit a man crossing the street. It happens, just like it happened last month at 35th/Othello to Oswald Clement (whose memorial is today, by the way). This time, it drew citywide notice, because the man who was hit — who later died at the hospital — was 29-year-old Tatsuo Nakata, chief of staff to City Councilmember David Della. Some things have changed at the intersection since then — the city placed temporary and permanent safety measures. Then yesterday, Tatsuo Nakata’s old boss and other councilmembers came to West Seattle – though nowhere near 47th/Admiral — to publicize their “Pedestrian Safety Initiative.” But also during the year, the city has removed crosswalks in areas of West Seattle (on Avalon, along 35th, and along Fauntleroy) where it felt they didn’t meet safety standards, while adding new markings on a California crosswalk. So we ask you — has enough been done? Do you feel safe crossing the street, wherever you cross, or is it just a hazard of everyday life?
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