West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
Picnic at the Precinct isn’t just a chance to meet your local police – community reps are here too, like (from left) Cindi Barker, Karen Berge, and Deb Greer – they work together on West Seattle Be Prepared, and Deb and Karen founded the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network (you don’t have to be a blockwatch captain to be part of it). The West Seattle Crime Prevention Council is here too:
From left, president Richard Miller and board members Dot Beard and Betty Wiberg. (added) A while after our first photo, their table got a visit from two City Councilmembers, Tim Burgess and Sally Bagshaw:
(With all the precincts having these events today, the councilmembers divided up who went where.) Of course you can check out Seattle Police vehicles and equipment too – like Parking Enforcement:
And SWAT:
Even the basics – the Aggressive Driver Response Team car and motorcycle, and a standard-issue squad car:
And the police too. At left, operations Lt. Pierre Davis, and at right, precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen, with Pete Spalding, who’s here on behalf of the West Seattle Food Bank, but is also on the Precinct Advisory Council:
Plus, a bouncy house, a barbecue, and entertainment – including live music with Maia Santell and House Blend:
This is happening in and around the Southwest Precinct, at Delridge and Webster (the latter street is blocked off for the occasion), till 4 pm.
So far, a relatively quiet week in West Seattle Crime Watch reports … four reports to share, and a reminder about your chance to meet local police at the Southwest Precinct tomorrow. Read on:Read More
During this year’s West Seattle Summer Fest coverage, we brought you the tale of “Guns ‘n’ Hoses,” a Wing Dome-presented hot-wing-consumption contest pitting police against firefighters. As reported during Summer Fest Day 2, the SPD team won, which meant a $250 check, handed over this afternoon to (and at) the West Seattle Food Bank. Along with WS Food Bank executive director Fran Yeatts and WS Wing Dome GM Andy Pattalochi, our photo shows, in uniform and from the winning team, Officers Stewart, Belgarde, and Morris.
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
As always, the WSBeat summaries are from reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers, incidents of note that (usually) have not already appeared here in breaking-news coverage or West Seattle Crime Watch reports, but that might at least answer the question “what WERE all those police doing on my block (whenever)?”:
*A 40-year-old south Seattle man was drunk, disorderly, and yelling at dogs behind a fence in the 3700 block of SW Grayson on around noon on July 20th. It turns out he was wanted on a felony warrant from the California Department of Corrections. He was booked into King County Jail.
More warrants, a concern-sparking customer, and more, ahead:Read More
3:08 PM: We’re at Alki, just east of the Bathhouse, with Mayor McGinn, Capt. Steve Paulsen, Lt. Pierre Davis, and Lt. Ron Smith, as the mayor and captain lead the last of five briefings around the city on summertime policing “hot spots.” … The mayor says, “The big story here is that this precinct is the lowest crime rate of any precinct in the city .. the majority of crimes are property crimes … burglary is down 21 percent over 2011 …” and auto theft/prowling is down too, as are other types of major crimes, he says. Capt. Paulsen starts his remarks by saying that West Seattle is successful because of “relationships with the community. … It’s all about relationships and partnerships.” He notes that the summer months are big on Alki and that’s why police are there. We asked if anyone was ever arrested in connection with the Whale Tail Park gunfire incident; the captain says the Gang Unit continues to investigate, but no arrests so far. He reiterates that West Seattle/South Park have had a double-digit decrease in property crimes, “and we’ve been enjoying significant declines over other parts of the city …” He attributes that to the partnership, with eagle-eyed neighbors reporting what they see … also, “we are putting the right people in the right places at the right time.”
3:16 PM UPDATE: The briefing is over after just seven minutes. No revelations. One person from regional media is asking the mayor about the Department of Justice situation, off to the side. He had mentioned at the beginning that he had toured the precinct earlier with Capt. Paulsen, as well as touring High Point. We have the brief briefing all on video and will add it here when back at HQ.
5:49 PM: And there’s the video in its entirety, unedited.
(WSB photo by Patrick Sand)
4:55 PM: Thanks to everyone who’s been texting us about police activity in Highland Park, 18th and Myrtle vicinity. Lt. Pierre Davis explains that “SPD units assisted Renton PD with a stolen vehicle that ended up in our jurisdiction. A high-risk stop was conducted. 3 are in custody.” High-risk stop is when you see police with guns drawn.
5:35 PM: Just added photos. This is barely a block east of Sanislo Elementary, in case you’re trying to place the location:
Busy night on the scanner so far. Big calls have included a briefly major response to a reported possible shooting in Admiral, which turned out to be a complete false alarm (the caller apparently was actually just asking about a shooting investigation from last year). 
But the biggest so far has netted one arrest during an intensive search in the Riverview area: Police arrested a suspect after a hit-run crash near 12th and Orchard (map) involving a reported stolen car. According to scanner traffic and reader reports, it unfolded this way: First police noticed the car driving erratically along various streets in eastern West Seattle. That came to a stop when the car hit a parked truck. The driver and two passengers were reported to have fled the scene. Police, including a K-9 team, started searching. A man in his early 20s, believed to be the driver, was arrested; Southwest Precinct Lt. Alan Williams tells WSB he will be “booked for investigation of auto theft and outstanding warrants.” The passengers, at least one of whom was female, are still at large as of this writing.
(Photos by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
When Seattle Police Officer John Bernasconi pulled his motorcycle up to the curb near the start of the West Seattle Grand Parade route this morning, to join the Drill Team as its leader for one last ride, a colleague joked, “Hey, this is seniors’ parking.”
The officer laughed. Within an hour, there would be time for more somber emotions – though the hugs and handshakes began long before he and his colleagues reached the California/Charlestown intersection where a ceremony was planned to mark his last ride.
This year, he is retiring, not just from the Drill Team after 36 years (12 as Drillmaster), but from the force after 43 years. We told his story here on Thursday,
Though he has worked from the downtown-based Traffic Division, those who speak fondly of him include Southwest Precinct leadership past and present – Traffic Division vets – current commander Capt. Steve Paulsen, past commander Capt. Joe Kessler (who now leads the West Precinct and was at today’s ceremony), current operations Lt. Pierre Davis. “He is just the nicest guy” is something we heard often.
And fittingly for a nice guy, though the morning was a tribute to him, he brought the gifts – bouquets of flowers for his wife Cindy, daughter Alexandra (visiting from Australia), and his mom (visiting from California). Our nine-minute uncut video shows how the farewell unfolded:
(That video is by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand; for a shorter clip, see Christopher Boffoli‘s video here.)
What made this particularly unusual was the fact it was held during the West Seattle Grand Parade – Officer Bernasconi’s choice, because he is a native West Seattleite, and it’s where he and Cindy, married 28 years, raised 23-year-old Alexandra:
Then after applause and more hugs ..
…off he rode:
…while his teammates, and their counterparts from Vancouver, B.C. – who as shown in our long clip also stopped to pay tribute – continued the parade.
3:28 PM: If you’ve noticed the police search in the Gatewood/Fauntleroy area – they are looking for someone who might have fired gunshots, no injuries but possible damage found to a fence. The suspect was last seen on SW Willow headed toward Fauntleroy (map) and southbound on Fauntleroy, so they are checking Lincoln Park, too. The suspect was described on the scanner as white, male, around 18, 5’6″, wearing a baseball cap, black shirt, jeans (but keep in mind, that was just a preliminary description).
3:35 PM UPDATE: People in the area tell us that police are searching with rifles out, which would be standard given the nature of the call. Scanner says they’ve heard from workers in the area who think it might have been firecrackers and not gunshots. Search continues.
4:07 PM UPDATE: No luck finding anyone.
(Photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
FIRST REPORT, 8:56 AM: Thanks for all the tips! We are working on info right now- it apparently started in Alki and ended by the bridge. No injuries reported but witnesses say it was quite a sight.
(Police with suspect’s vehicle at north end of Delridge)
9:14 AM UPDATE: The chase ended on the north end of Delridge by the west end of the low bridge, where there’s still a sizable police presence, as there is on 56th in Alki. Police by the low bridge say it started with an attempted stop for aggressive driving. Via e-mail, Jennifer tells us what she saw where it ended:
At approximately 8:20ish this morning, my husband and I witnessed an attempted police barricade at the intersection of Harbor and Spokane. At least 6 police cars attempted to block the intersection with their cars and portable “tire shredders” (I don’t know what they’re really called.) Shotguns drawn, the officers watched as a bluish-gray SUV came tearing up to the intersection and upon seeing the barricade tore through the dirt parking lot on the NW corner. After fishtailing several times in the dirt, he turned and fled down the left-hand lane of WSB on-ramp at what appeared to be a sedate 35-40 mph with a long line of officers in tow (strongly reminiscent of the OJ chase). We lost our visual at this time.
9:31 AM UPDATE: The Traffic Collision Investigation Squad – which investigates major crashes – is going to handle both cases, which means traffic implications at both scenes; 56th SW is blocked off south of Alki, which is where we are right now. Officers at the Alki scene say they believe at least 5 cars were hit by the suspect.
10:24 AM UPDATE: At the other scene, we have gone back to confirm, the main traffic impact is that you can’t turn onto southbound Delridge from eastbound Spokane St. under the bridge. Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen was there and gave us the newest information: It all started at Don Armeni – where the driver, he says, was behaving aggressively toward patrol cars in the area and driving erratically. At first they followed him west along Harbor/Alki to try to stop him – he rammed officers’ cars in the 56th/Alki vicinity mentioned earlier, and then the pursuit headed back east on Alki, to Harbor, under the bridge, and finally ended when they boxed him in at the north end of Delridge (photo above). Capt. Paulsen confirms no one was hurt and says the suspect is being held for investigation of vehicular assault.
2:34 PM UPDATE: Lots of new details in a lengthy update just published on SPD Blotter. Police say the suspect is a 37-year-old West Seattle resident who was “arrested and booked for hit and run” recently; their account doesn’t offer additional details but we’re doing research now to seek more information on that. The SPD report also says 4 police cars were hit – the one we photographed (top of story) was a lieutenant’s car, they say, and the other three were hit just before police stopped him on Delridge south of Spokane.
7:11 PM UPDATE: The suspect was booked into jail this afternoon. Jail records show he was arrested the morning of July 5th – last Thursday – for hit and run and reckless driving, and was released on Friday afternoon. Those charges are in Seattle Municipal Court, where he also has a history of charges including, in the past three years, domestic-violence assault, violation of a domestic-violence court order, speeding in a school-crosswalk zone.
Two notes tonight: First, in case you were among those who noticed a big police response heading south to Highland Park just after 5 pm (thanks to everyone who texted, called, and e-mailed!) – police at the scene told us it was reported as a possible holdup, but turned out to be a false alarm.
Second, from a local resident who wants to be anonymous:
Just wanted to pass along an incident that took place this morning shortly after 9am in the 6700 block of Beach Drive. I noticed a black car pull up to a bank of locked mail boxes. A male got out while a female passenger waited inside the car and the man walked to the boxes and looked as though he was trying to aggressively open one of the boxes. I had never seen this man in the neighborhood before so I continued to watch, a bit more closely and then I saw him use some sort of tool to try and open the box. I immediately called 911 and described the man, and what was going on and was able to provide the license plate of the vehicle. Other joggers/walkers had passed and he stopped what he was doing for a moment and then returned to the box, this time with more force.
He grabbed what he could and then crossed the street to another mailbox, which was not locked, and then headed back to his car. He drove a few houses down, parked behind a vehicle and then got into that vehicle’s trunk (not sure if it was by force or if it was unlocked) and appeared to be carrying items from that vehicle, back to his car when the first police car arrived, and then moments later, 2 more police cars surrounded the scene. All of this took place within a few minutes time and the thief and his female passenger were taken away. It turns out the car he was driving was stolen as well. Neighbors got their mail back and hopefully the car owner and anyone else who might have stolen goods will also get them returned. Thank you to the 911 dispatcher and the officers who immediately responded to the scene as it was unfolding. It feels great to be part of a community that cares!
We tried to get more details from SPD; no response yet, but didn’t want to wait any longer to share this reader report. If we are able to get any more info tomorrow, we’ll add it.
ADDED 2:08 PM FRIDAY: Southwest Precinct operations Lt. Pierre Davis says, “This was an excellent pinch by one of our 1st watch officers, based on an alert citizen’s 911 call of suspicious activity (possible mail theft). Block watch at its finest yet again puts bad guys in jail. Bad guys were caught with a large quantity of property, including a stolen vehicle.”
Two additions to the 4th of July aftermath:
That slide at Sanislo Elementary is cordoned off today, unusable by the kids who are attending day camp on the campus at 18th and Myrtle. It was seriously damaged overnight, apparently by fireworks (or something explosive/incendiary):
According to a day-camp staffer, the district was expected to come out and take a look.
Second, an incident we had asked Seattle Police about earlier is now on SPD Blotter. We’d also asked if there were any arrests on Alki last night. Both are addressed in this SPD report:
Two armed men were arrested in separate incidents during yesterday’s 4th of July festivities on Alki Beach.
Around 8pm, police received a flurry of phone calls about a man brandishing a handgun on an apartment balcony near 55th Avenue SW and Alki Avenue SW.
SWAT, patrol officers, and gang detectives arrived and talked to witnesses, who reported that a man had used a skateboard to smash the windows of an Oldsmobile Cutlass parked behind the building. After smashing the cars’ windows, the suspect ran up to his third floor apartment where he’d flashed a gun.
When owner of the Cutlass ran up to the suspect’s third floor apartment to confront him, the suspect pulled a gun on the man. The suspect then went back inside his apartment.Officers tried to call the suspect, but he refused to answer his phone. He eventually came out of his apartment and spoke with officers, who then took him into custody. Officers found a knife on the suspect and recovered a loaded .40 caliber handgun, pepper spray, and a skateboard from the suspect’s apartment.
The suspect, who was intoxicated, was apparently angry that the owner of the Cutlass had parked his car in the suspect’s parking space behind the apartment building. The owner of the Cutlass refused to give officers a statement about what had happened.
In another incident on Alki, gang detectives arrested a a 21-year-old felon near Alki Avenue SW and Beach Drive SW, after they received a tip that the man was carrying a gun.
Detectives contacted the man—who, as a convicted felon, is not allowed to have access to guns—and found a 9mm handgun on him. Detectives then booked the man into the King County Jail.
Reported by a resident southwest of The Junction, who also shared the photo:
We had a drunk driver wreak havoc on our street last night-on 49th between Alaska and Dawson at about 2 AM. The person hit 5 cars – our neighbor’s car got the worst of it but we lost a bumper and have some major scrapes and damage on the side of our car. The man was arrested. Thankfully only cars were damaged. … We had an officer stop and talk to us this morning, which was greatly appreciated.
SFD’s 911 log verifies a crash call in that area at 2:47 am. SPD had some computer trouble overnight so its call map isn’t caught up yet.
A comment discussion following our story on Sunday night’s Highland Park crash included a discussion of why there’s not always someone on duty at the Southwest Precinct front desk. Today, precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen explains that and other temporary changes are part of a citywide summer emphasis on maximizing patrols:
To our West Seattle Community Members,
The summer months are historically very busy for us due to numerous special events as well an increase in emergency calls for service. We have noticed that City-wide, our response times for priority 1 calls have edged into our 7 minute expectations. This increase is due to several factors which includes staffing, summer 911 call loads as well as an increase in crimes of violence which the Department has responded with Safety Emphasis patrols in many parts of the City. The emphasis patrols are gleaned from each precinct and centralized for City-Wide deployments.
Given these recent demands, we have put “all hands on deck” and reassigned our Community Police Team officers and other precinct staff into patrol cars for 911 response.
This decision was difficult and has caused us a great amount of dissonance because we firmly believe that keeping our precinct open and available to our community is very important in maintaining that partnership we value.
We will make every attempt to staff a precinct desk officer so folks can personally stop by for questions as well as get needed assistance. I would like to apologize in advance that our hours of availability will be limited and sporadic at best. Most likely if the precinct is actually open, it will be weekdays between 8am and 2pm. Outside of those hours, there is a telephone next to the main entrance where folks will be directed to our Communications Dispatch Center who can assess individual calls and send an officer for assistance.
I am anticipating that we will be back to normal operations this September…Your men and women police officers of the Southwest Precinct wish everyone in West Seattle a fun and safe summer. Again, thank you for understanding as well as helping us make West Seattle one of the safest communities in the City.
Sincerely,
Captain Steven Paulsen
Commander, Southwest Precinct
The motorcycle rider killed on West Marginal Way SW in West Seattle on Sunday is now identified: 67-year-old Dave Fenton, who, The Seattle Times (WSB partner) reports, served eight years on the Tukwila City Council. (The photo at right is from his 2005 campaign, when he lost his bid for a third term.) The King County Medical Examiner’s Office lists the cause of death as multiple traumatic injuries; Seattle Police said on Sunday that the rider was killed instantly after hitting a pole and being thrown from his Harley (WSB photo above left) and that witnesses say the motorcycle and a black car were “racing” right before the crash, which closed the road for 5 hours. Tukwila records archives show Mr. Fenton’s focuses as a councilmember included crime prevention and telecommunications, as well as multi-family housing (he is listed as an owner of a large complex there).
ADDED 8:15 AM: Overnight, Mr. Fenton’s daughter Monica posted this comment following our original story:
This is tragic and my heart is broken. Dave Fenton is my father and he was the victim of this terrible fatal accident. My heart aches and I still can’t believe he is gone. He loved riding his Harley on beautiful sunny days and Sunday was one of those rare delights. He was 67, a trained rider, both participant and advocate of offered safety courses for ALL bikers. He LOVED to ride Alki and on a beautiful sunny day he was doing what he loved. There is more to this story and investigation. We will have a celebration of life ceremony on Sunday, July 1.
The WSB Crime Watch page has long had the “sex offender lookup” link in its resource section – but unless you check it frequently, you won’t necessarily know if a registered sex offender has moved into your neighborhood. Today, for the first time, we received e-mail from Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Mark Solomon listing Level 3 sex offenders that have recently moved into the area. We’re sharing it, along with SPD’s words of caution that this is not meant to be an alarm-sounding, but an FYI:Read More
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
As always, the WSBeat summaries are from reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers, incidents of note that (usually) have not already appeared here in breaking-news coverage or West Seattle Crime Watch reports, but that might at least answer the question “what WERE all those police doing on my block (whenever)?”:
*Beware of scammers and the “Pigeon Drop” scheme. If someone approaches you, claims to have inherited money in a foreign country, but needs your help in donating it to a good cause, just say no. On the 7th, a woman was approached at a Westwood Village coffee shop and before the day was done she had driven (with the suspects) to her bank and handed them $20,000 worth of cash and jewelry. Both suspects were described as black females, one with her hair in a “greasy” curly perm who carried a green satchel with three zippers. The other wore purple-framed glasses, a gray leather coat, lots of silver-colored rings and carried a black purse with a circle design.
*In the evening on Saturday the 9th, an alcohol and marijuana-impaired Montana resident was booked into King County Jail for investigation of assault after he yelled profanities at children in a High Point park. When an older child told him to leave them alone, he began yelling at her, screaming nonsense, claiming she was his girlfriend. As the children left the area, the suspect followed them until he was confronted by a parent. He punched the parent in the shoulder. In return, the parent punched him in the face, knocked him down, and called 911.
Six more summaries ahead:Read More
If you follow the WSB Facebook page and/or the Seattle Police Department Facebook page, you’ve probably seen the photo of those 2 Bichon Frises already today, but in case you don’t, we’re sharing it here too. SPD put it on FB in honor of Take Your Dog To Work Day; we shared it on the WSB FB page, without having any clue at the time that the dogs – as we were informed a while later – are West Seattleites! We’ve also heard the photo was shown on NBC’s Today show this morning and is expected to reappear in an NBC News Take Your Dog To Work Day photo feature.
We haven’t heard much about them in a while, but the Seattle Police Aggressive Driver Response Team is still out there, patroling for speeders and other violators. Their latest weekly roundup includes a multitude of West Seattle results, from school zones to Admiral Way to the “high bridge” and beyond, including a 70-mph ticket along the way – read on!Read More
11:43 AM: If you’re seeing a big police response, they’re heading for the 6700 block of 37th SW – conflicting reports of what might have happened, but possibly a shot or shots fired – we’ll have more as we get it.
11:47 AM: Still no confirmation of shots – scanner traffic has even indicated they’re checking out whether “a transformer blew because of a bird.”
11:50 AM: Lt. at the scene confirms the bird scenario. No shots. All’s well.
Thanks to those who have called and e-mailed about what they describe was a SWAT team presence in Sunrise Heights. We have confirmed with the Southwest Precinct that officers were attempting to serve a warrant for a “high-risk subject”; we just checked the area and it appears the officers are gone, so now we’re trying to find out if they made an arrest.
3:45 AM: Continuing the overnight watch – police are checking out a report of a possible gunshot heard somewhere in the High Point/Gatewood area. So far, no report of anyone actually being shot, but after the dispatcher put out the word of calls that had come in, one officer said he had heard it while “near the cemetery” (east of High Point) and thought it sounded like a shot and glass breaking. We’ll update if anything conclusive is found.
4:06 AM: Nothing so far – and with apparently no one reporting damage or injury thus far, police have hit something of a dead end.
11:40 PM: Just got a note from Mike about a police search in northeast Admiral – and via the scanner, we’re hearing police asking for the Guardian One helicopter to come help them look. Not sure yet what this is about – nothing involving injury has happened, per the 911 log – but will update, and wanted to forewarn you about the chopper.
11:47 PM UPDATE: Per both scanner and text, the search is currently in the Fairmount Ravine area. There’s a K-9 team, too.
11:58 PM UPDATE: Chopper’s clearing out, per scanner.
12:10 AM UPDATE: We still don’t have official word back from SPD about how this all started but some scanner traffic regarding a stolen car (whose owner is being called for retrieal) may be matching up with what a commenter is seeing in the 39th/Olga area.
FRIDAY 2:16 PM: Finally, the answer: YES, it was the stolen-car search, according to Det. Mark Jamieson with SPD’s media-relations unit. He says this all started when an officer saw someone running out of the white Subaru on SW Olga – she thought that looked suspicious, so she ran the car’s plate and discovered it had been stolen (from the North End a few days ago). She called for “containment” – officers basically swarming the area to try to catch the suspect – and they also called for the Guardian One helicopter, which isn’t always up, but was last night. No luck finding the suspect, but an officer stayed with the vehicle till its owner showed up to claim it – Det. Jamieson points out that when you report a stolen car, you can tell police either that you want to be called to come get it if/when it’s found, or that you are OK with them having it impounded.
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