West Seattle, Washington
24 Saturday
Got questions for/about local police/crime/safety? Two events are ahead in West Seattle.
Wednesday Update: Canceled. HOPS WITH THE COPS: This was just announced today – a drop-in event Wednesday, September 4, at Elliott Bay Brewing in The Junction, though SPD‘s flyer clarifies that the officers will not be imbibing:
As noted, the Seattle Police Foundation – a non-governmental nonprofit that supports the department – is picking up the tab for the bites. Elliott Bay is an all-ages venue.
SOUTHWEST PRECINCT CRIME PREVENTION MEETING: As previously announced, the SW Precinct Crime Prevention Council – which has no fixed membership, just whoever shows up – meets on Wednesday, September 11, 6:30 pm at the precinct (2300 SW Webster). In addition to crime updates from the precinct command staff, District 1 City Councilmember Rob Saka is scheduled to speak. These meetings are a prime time to bring questions about anything from specific incidents to trends.
Three more Crime Watch reports:
SKYLARK BURGLARY: The music venue/restaurant/bar at the north end of Delridge was broken into again on Sunday, proprietor Matt Larson tells WSB:
We were hit…again. Suspect pulled into the parking lot at 6:37 AM Sunday morning. He checked out the front then went to the back, where he used a crowbar to open the back door.
He entered and removed both cash tills and their enclosures, then exited and left within a few minutes. There was $700 worth of equipment and cash stolen as well as damage to the cables and the door, which might have to be replaced (we just had to replace the front door a few months back when they broke in and got into our ATM – good times).
The truck is rather unique and has been seen around West Seattle so hopefully somebody is familiar with it, or at least can be aware of it. If anybody sees some dumped tills – let us know!
The temporary police-report # is T00008584.
Meantime, SPD posted two 2-week-old case summaries on SPD Blotter late today – neither was previously on our radar so here they are, for the record:
MAIL-THEFT ARREST: SPD says this began with 911 calls just before 1 am on August 7 reporting a ski-masked man breaking into mailboxes in the 7900 block of 35th SW – eventually, they say, with seven victims. They found a 28-year-old man nearby, saying he “was in possession of multiple pieces of evidence, including stolen mail, suspected stolen bank cards, a metal pry bar, and he was concealing a loaded firearm. The man had an expired Concealed Pistol License and was prohibited from carrying the firearm in that manner. The Beretta APX 9mm semi-automatic handgun was seized as evidence.” He was booked into jail. We won’t be able to check on his status until tomorrow, as we don’t know his name and this was released too late in the day for us to check with prosecutors.
BURGLARY-ATTEMPT ARREST: This too happened early the morning of August 7, according to the SPD Blotter post. Around 2 am, police were checked out reports of possible gunfire in the 9400 block of Delridge Way SW. They found the shooting scene was a block south, in unincorporated King County. They found a shell casing and a blood trail. Then they got a report of an attempted burglary at a house in the 8800 block of 16th SW and arrested a 32-year-old man nearby. He was carrying a 9mm handgun that police say was linked to the shooting scene in unincorporated King County (and also linked to a homicide victim in Federal Way). He too was booked into jail, and we hope to find out his status, and that of the case against him, tomorrow.
Police checking out reports of possible gunfire have found confirmation of it. They have found “bullet damage to a street sign” and a “bullet fragment” at 29th and Kenyon. 911 got at least three calls – and we got a text – hearing what was described as “rapid gunshots … followed by a single shot,” just before 11:30 pm. No report of injuries.
1:53 PM: Just issued a few minutes ago:
(poster removed after confirmation that missing man was found)
10:20 PM: Per emergency radio, the missing man has been found in a ditch behind his house and SFD has been sent to help get him out. We don’t know his condition but will check with SFD later.
ADDED TUESDAY: SFD tells us the 77-year-old man was in stable condition when their medics checked him out and did not need to be taken to a hospital.
We’ve received some questions about an emergency response at a residential building in the 6300 block of California SW, coded “scenes of violence.” This was for a person with what are believed to be self-inflicted wounds. He’s being taken to a hospital.
For those contemplating self-harm, the 988 crisis hotline is available 24 hours a day.
The photo above is from a texter who says they walked past that vehicle at Fauntleroy and Myrtle this morning around 7 am and that it was still running. We then heard from Aaron, who sent this report and other photos:
I’m writing on behalf of a couple neighbors at Myrtle and Fauntleroy across the street from Gatewood Elementary.
According to the neighbors, a stolen car hit the electrical pole in front of their house and then drove through their fence before being abandoned earlier this morning.
SPD has been through but I don’t have the police report number. Seattle City Light will come later today to replace the pole.
Aaron says the neighbors reported this happened in the 6 am hour. We haven’t found the police-report number or dispatch audio yet but will add any other available info when we do.
Thanks for the tips about SWAT units in Morgan Junction. Police have SW Morgan blocked right now between 40th and 42nd. All they’ll tell us is that it’s a warrant situation.
8:30 AM: The street has reopened.
Four days until this year’s Night Out, celebrating community collaboration and safety coast-to-coast. If you’ve registered your Night Out party, Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Satterwhite has swag for you, available for pickup (updated) 9:30-11:30 am and 2:30 to 4:30 pm Monday (August 5) at the precinct (2300 SW Webster). She’s at right in the photo, with Seattle U interns Rafail Markodimitrakis and Kierra Lee, as they got ready this morning.
(Added: Photo sent by Jennifer Satterwhite)
They’re offering crime-prevention info handouts and goodie bags for kids. If you didn’t get signed up by last Sunday’s deadline, but you’re still having a Night Out party, they might have some extra materials available Monday too.
Several readers asked about a big law-enforcement response at Roxbury Safeway early this evening. On Seattle Police radio, we heard SPD officers sent to back up King County Sheriff’s Office deputies who were “fighting with a suspect,” but the response was called off fairly quickly, as the suspect was reported to have been taken into custody. We just got information from KCSO on what led to this – spokesperson Det. Michael Ramirez says it was dispatched just after 5 pm as a “possible robbery in progress.” Arriving deputies wound up in “a brief struggle” with the suspect, he says, before they were able to make an arrest. Det. Ramirez adds that no injuries were reported and the suspect was taken to King County Jail to be booked for investigation of robbery.
ADDED WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Bail was set today at $10,000 for the suspect, who is 33. He does not appear to have a felony record, though the docket lists many misdemeanor cases in various jurisdictions.
Early Friday, we reported on a single-vehicle crash in the 3800 block of West Marginal Way SW. Firefighters cut open the car – reported to have been “wrapped around a tree” – to get two people out. According to the King County Medical Examiner‘s latest list of death investigations, the driver did not survive. He is identified as 20-year-old Brian U. Nambo Perez. We don’t know the current condition of the other person rescued from the wreckage, a woman reported to be in her 20s, but she was initially described as less gravely injured.
ORIGINAL SUNDAY REPORT: Lots of questions about a sizable police response in Admiral around 8 am. Officers were gone by the time we were able to get to the area but incident audio indicates the initial report was a possible robbery inside an apartment building in the 2100 block of California SW. The victim – reported to be a delivery driver – arranged to meet police near Admiral/42nd, so that’s why people saw officers there too. There was one report that the alleged robber may have brandished an “AR-pattern rifle,” so that’s why some texters saw police with long guns out at one point, and there was also a report he might have been associated with a unit inside the building. Police were still trying to sort out what actually happened, so we will follow up, but a final incident summary won’t be accessible before tomorrow.
ADDED 2:30 PM MONDAY: Here’s what police provided in response to our inquiry:
On July 28, Seattle police responded to the 2100 block of California Avenue Southwest for the report of an armed robbery at an apartment building. The incident happened just before 8 a.m. Officers found the victim, a 38-year-old man, in the 4100 block of Southwest Admiral Way. He told Seattle police he was making a grocery order delivery when a man appeared near the building’s stairs with a rifle and told him to drop the delivery. The victim reported the suspect threatened him and told him to leave while pointing the gun at him. The victim pleaded with the suspect not to fire the rifle, dropped the groceries, and ran to the corner of 44th Avenue Southwest and Southwest College Street to call for help. The suspect was described as a white man in his mid-30s, approximately 5’10” tall, with short black hair and a black beard, wearing plaid pajama pants and a sweater. No arrest has been made at this time.
3:01 PM: Thanks for the tips. Police are investigating the discovery of a dead person on the beach in Fauntleroy, in a residential area south of the ferry dock. Our photo was taken looking south from the dock; the person’s body was on the beach just to the right of the driftwood at the photo’s right edge. This is the same area where a search was under way early Wednesday morning after a report of someone splashing and calling for help. Despite searches by sea and, later in the day, by air, no one was found at that time. We’re following up with police and will add anything more we find out.
3:49 PM: SPD spokesperson Officer Brian Pritchard says the call originally came in as an unclothed man dead on the beach, and that’s what police confirmed upon arrival. He says there’s no sign of foul play, though it’ll be up to the Medical Examiner to determine the cause of death.
They do believe this is the same person who was the subject of the Wednesday morning search, because of the clothing found on a small swimming dock (as mentioned in our previous story).
We’ve obtained more information from Seattle Police as they continue investigating the Sunday shooting in Lincoln Park.
As we first reported Sunday morning, the shooting sent a 27-year-old man to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the hip. Police initially told us he was shot by someone trying to break up a domestic-violence assault, and today they’ve provided more details:
They say the assault, involving a man and pregnant woman who are in a relationship, began in a car in the Lincoln Park north lot. The woman escaped from the car and ran into the park asking for help. The 30-year-old man who helped her “shielded and protected the woman as the suspect advanced on them,” according to SPD spokesperson Officer Eric Muñoz, who continued, “The man shot the suspect once in the hip while protecting himself and the DV victim.” Police recovered the gun and one fired shell casing. They say the assault suspect was not armed. He remains in the hospital for medical treatment but is under arrest for second-degree assault and unlawful imprisonment. The man who shot him “was initially placed under arrest while officers investigated,” Officer Muñoz said, adding: “After being transported to SPD Headquarters and interviewed by detectives, he was released from police custody.” As we noted in our Sunday report, that man is an SPD lieutenant’s son; SPD says the lieutenant was not involved in the incident. The woman who was assaulted was taken to a hospital in stable condition but police have no current information on her condition. SPD says this case has been assigned to detectives with the Domestic Violence Unit.
11:18 AM: For those noticing the large police response across from the north side of Westwood Village, here’s what’s happening: Officers are in a standoff with a man suspected in a reported domestic-violence incident. No injuries and no road closures so far; the suspect is reported to be inside an apartment at the Westwood Court complex, refusing to come out and talk with police.
12:29 PM: The suspect is in custody, per police radio. SFD is being called in to check him out.
12:35 PM: Our photographer happened to be heading back to the scene when that happened; he’s just arrived and confirmed with police that the suspect is under arrest and they’re searching the apartment now that he’s out of it.
3:24 PM: We asked police for their initial summary of the incident – here’s what they sent:
On July 9th at 10:07 a.m., a juvenile called 911 to report that his grandfather threatened to kill his grandmother with a machete. Officers responded to residence near Southwest Trenton Street & 25th Avenue Southwest. As Officers arrived, the suspect allowed the victim and juvenile to exit the residence, but he quickly barricaded himself inside and refused to come out. Police safety containment was established, and the Hostage Negotiation Team, Special Weapons & Tactics (SWAT) team, and Community Service Officers arrived on scene to assist Patrol.
Police developed probable cause to arrest the suspect for Investigation of Domestic Violence (DV) Harassment. While the primary Officer worked on the search warrant, the suspect managed to rappel from his third-story balcony to the space below. The suspect attempted to flee on foot, but he was apprehended by Police. Officers served the warrant to retrieve the weapons/evidence. The juvenile and victim suffered no injuries and were transported to the Southwest Precinct where the CSOs provided them with food and resources.
We’re now exactly month away from this year’s Night Out block parties around Seattle (and the rest of the country). August 6 is the date this year, and you can sign up to close your (non-arterial) street to vehicle traffic that night – SPD has a registration link here. Hundreds are already signed up around the city; you can choose whether or not to have yours on the map. Deadline to register for street-closure permission is July 28.
1:07 PM: Thanks for the tips. A man was found dead this morning on a bench at Junction Plaza Park. SFD was dispatched just after 11:30 am and verified that the man had died; police responded to the scene too. We don’t yet know anything about the circumstances of his death or the discovery of his body, but we’re not seeing any indication of a crime investigation. Official determination of the cause of death will be up to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office (whose crew has arrived to take away the man’s body – that’s their van in our photo above).
4:24 PM: SFD says the man was in his early 50s.
ADDED TUESDAY AFTERNOON: According to the KCMEO, he was 52, and died of an unintentional overdose: “Acute drug intoxication including methamphetamine.”
(Added: Traffic camera screengrab, 10:30 am)
10:21 AM: Thanks for the tips. Avoid the Delridge/Brandon vicinity – major police response reported per readers, including SWAT. Both directions of Delridge are blocked. Metro says RapidRide H Line is routed off Delridge between Genesee and Orchard. We’re headed that way to find out more.
10:39 AM: Our crew has just arrived in the area and reports that Delridge is blocked from Findlay to Brandon. … This is all focused on someone in a unit at Cottage Grove Commons.
10:46 AM: We don’t know yet what started all this but the person they’re after is described as wanted for felony harassment. Our crew at the scene reports the SWAT officers have used a flashbang and are making loudspeaker announcements asking the suspect to come out. A K9 team is standing by as well. (They have to warn the suspect about that as well.)
11:15 AM: A nearby resident tells us the suspect broke out one of his windows earlier today and started throwing stuff out onto the street.
11:21 AM: Now, our crew reports, the PA announcements are telling the suspect he’s under arrest (once in custody) for property damage and resisting arrest. Again, street blocked and buses diverted in the area.
11:37 AM: After deploying “O.C. gas,” they have reported that the suspect is in custody, and they’re bringing in SFD to check him out.
11:45 AM: Next step, they’re searching the unit. He was reported to have been hitting things (including his door) with a “metal pipe.”
12:06 PM: Delridge Way has reopened.
2:28 PM: We asked police for details; they say this started at 6:23 am, when a 911 caller said the suspect had threatened someone with a “large metal pole.” He subsequently “barricaded himself inside his apartment,” and that’s what eventually led to the large response. The pole was recovered when officers – who obtained a search warrant – searched his apartment after the arrest, SPD says. He’ll be booked into King County Jail.
7:11 PM: That process often takes a few hours, but the 39-year-old suspect is there now.
12:35 AM: Some asked about a big police response a little while ago in the West Marginal Way vicinity near the 1st Avenue South Bridge. That was because of a street-racer takeover after the racers met up at 2nd/Michigan.
(Added: Reader video from the resulting traffic blockage)
Police headed that way too and the gathering scattered, reportedly mostly heading south via 509. Now that they’ve dispersed, officers are returning to what they were doing previously – including, according to one directive, an Alki patrol.
12:41 AM: Now there’s a takeover with cars and spectators reported on the northbound 1st Ave. S. Bridge – again dispersing as soon as police came into view, this time reported to be headed southbound on East Marginal.
TUESDAY: Police have released this summary:
At 0007 Hrs SW Patrol responded to a report of a street racing take-over event at 2 Ave SW and SW Michigan St that had manifested in multiple locations in the city throughout the night. During these events several people had been wounded by gunfire and there was a significant potential for additional incidents as the meet ups escalated. Approximately 100 vehicles were at the location and Officers utilized vehicle tactics to convince the crowd to disperse. The vehicles fled in numerous directions and appropriate jurisdictions were notified of their direction of travel. Officers remained at the location to deter any returning participants.
10:52 AM: Police are closing westbound SW Roxbury in the 28th SW vicinity and eastbound at 30th. They’ve been trying to stop a man who reportedly has been in multiple areas of West Seattle this morning swinging a shovel at people and signs. Officers have also told dispatch he appears to be armed with at least one knife. No injuries reported but avoid the area for a while.
11:09 AM: Our crew reports this is all centered around the service station on the south side of 30th/Roxbury right now (that’s the county side, but this all started in the city, so it’s SPD’s case). Officers are in a standoff with the man, who is by the propane area (right side of the photo above).
11:27 AM: The former Roxhill Elementary building, now home to several Seattle Public Schools programs, is in shelter-in-place, per police radio. (This is the last day of the school year, with one-hour early dismissal scheduled districtwide.)
11:33 AM: Officers just told dispatch that they’ve taken the man into custody. An ambulance that was standing by (for possible [corrected] “involuntary treatment”) is being sent in. An SFD engine too.
11:40 AM: Dispatch has been told that the school building can be told it’s OK to lift shelter-in-place, and that the other area containment will be broken down, which means SW Roxbury should reopen soon.
11:51 AM: Our crew reports the man has been loaded into the ambulance for transport. Meantime, Metro says its buses have resumed travel on Roxbury.
(Tonight’s sunset, photographed by Carol Ann Joyce)
Summer officially arrives tomorrow afternoon. By Friday night, everybody’s out of school. But if you haven’t totally scheduled the entire summer yet, these four free/low-cost possibilities might be of interest:
FREE ONE-DAY ENVIRONMENTAL CAMP FOR ALL AGES: Puget Soundkeeper sends word of an intergenerational day camp as part of its Salmon and Legacy Debris Project (individual youth or adults, parents with kids, or grandparents with grandkids are all welcome!). This is happening in West Seattle, at Heron’s Nest Outdoor Education Center (4818 Puget Way SW):
Join Puget Soundkeeper for a free, one-day-only intergenerational summer camp on Saturday, July 13th from 10 AM to 4 PM! Come explore the connections between salmon, stormwater, and tires with Puget Soundkeeper and Heron’s Nest!
Some things to look forward to include exploring examples of green stormwater infrastructure; experimenting with DIY stormwater filters; learning about the natural and industrial history of the Duwamish River; and learning to navigate by scent, just like a migrating salmon! Rumor has it we may be making edible Grattix boxes as an afternoon snack! If you are interested, signup will be on a first come, first serve basis. Here is the registration link
WEST SEATTLE HS YOUTH FOOTBALL CAMP: This is also on July 13, 10 am-noon at Hiawatha Playfield (2700 California SW), free to the first 100 kids to register, open to students who will be in K-8 as of this fall.
“Non-contact skills and drills” are promised, with West Seattle HS coaches and players. Here’s the registration form.
SOCCER CAMP: Also at Hiawatha, 10 am-noon this Saturday and Sunday (June 22-23), Dream Wings Youth Soccer Foundation is offering a two-day soccer camp for $10, ages 7-10. Here’s the registration form.
CRIME SOLVERS CAMP: SPD is offering a one-week camp for middle schoolers, July 22-26, noon-5 pm each day, in SODO:
The Relational Policing Innovation Team at the Seattle Police Department, in partnership with the City of Seattle Attorney’s Office and Target, are thrilled to announce our Crime Solvers Youth Camp this summer! Our aim is to educate and inform the campers about the criminal justice system from start to finish through a multitude of different topics and diverse presenters. Throughout the week of programming, we will be walking our campers through an entire case, starting with CSI evidence gathering, teaching about witness/suspect interviewing, trial prep and a mock trial jury, alongside presentations on other safety topics and specialty units.
This unique experience, tailored specifically for Seattle Public Middle School students, aspires to bridge an educational gap between students and the court system to explore a better understanding of our judicial system together! Here is the link to the application.
Here’s the flyer. Registration is open through the end of this month.
3:52 PM: Lots of questions about this. Police have converged on a car in Arbor Heights, near 35th/Ocean View, to investigate whether it’s linked to an incident in Fauntleroy involving someone in a car with a gun. They’re questioning two people. So far as we’ve heard in monitoring, they’re still trying to sort it all out; the resident who sent the photo says officers told him it started as a domestic-violence incident. The car that was stopped was reported to have two children in it.
4:19 PM: One man has been arrested, police tell us at the arrest scene. The original incident, in which a gun was brandished, happened near 45th/Wildwood in Fauntleroy. We don’t know whether a gun was found but officers were bagging various items as apparent evidence. The aforementioned children’s mom was brought to the scene earlier so they are OK.
ADDED THURSDAY 11:18 AM: Here’s the brief initial SPD summary of the incident:
Multiple bystanders in the 9200 block of 46 AV SW attempted to intervene in an in-progress assault. The suspect assaulted the bystanders, then produced a handgun, pointed it at multiple people, and fled in a vehicle with the original victim. Officers located the vehicle and detained all occupants. The suspect was arrested and booked …
The suspect is 21 years old and remains in jail this morning, under investigation for assault and unlawful gun possession, the latter because of an assault conviction – we’re still looking into court records but the docket says he was charged in 2021 and resolved the case with a guilty plea in 2022. As for Wednesday’s arrest, there will likely be a probable-cause hearing this afternoon that would determine whether he remains in custody (an initial decision on charges would be later this week); we’ll be checking with prosecutors on what happens next.
ADDED 11:38 AM: The suspect has an extensive record going back to juvenile cases when he was 15 years old. The 2022 conviction involved a gunfire case in Kent, but he has other gun-related convictions, leading to this passage in the charging documents from that case, in a passage arguing for bail (which at one point in that case was set at $1 million):
The Superior Courts of King and Pierce County have repeatedly ordered the Defendant not to possess firearms and he has violated that order with impunity. There is no expectation that he would follow such an order if released. He not only possesses firearms, he endangers the public by his wanton use of them.
He was sentenced in January 2023 to almost five years in state prison for the Kent case, but that included credit for time already served in county jail. We’ll be checking with the Department of Corrections to see when he was released.
ADDED 12:56 PM: DOC says he was released from prison six weeks ago (and is on “community custody” aka parole currently).
ADDED THURSDAY NIGHT: We haven’t received documents from today’s hearing yet, but the jail docket shows his bail was set at $100,000.
10:54 PM: Second case today of confirmed gunfire: This time in North Delridge, on SW Brandon just east of 29th [vicinity map]. Officers just told dispatch they’ve found shell casings there, after multiple 911 callers in the area reported hearing shots a short time ago. No injuries or property damage reported so far; no witnesses, either, so there’s no word so far of shooter or (potential) vehicle description.
11:06 PM: Officers report they’ve “collected nine 9-millimeter casings.”
In recent weeks, Southwest Precinct police have mentioned at community-council meetings that the precinct would soon change commanders. Today we’ve finally been able to confirm that. Capt. Krista Bair will take over next Tuesday (June 19). Online research indicates she is a 20+-year veteran of police work, with SPD roles including positions in the Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Unit (updated: which she currently commands) and Office of Police Accountability. Capt. Martin Rivera, who has led the precinct since October 2021, will become “the new commander of the Violent Crimes Section,” according to SPD’s media team. Capt. Rivera tells WSB, “I am sad to go and will miss this beautiful community and the connections I have made.” He also confirms that Captain Bair will be the first female commander of the Southwest Precinct, which covers West Seattle and South Park. She was featured on the national website for the 30X30 Initiative aimed at advancing women in policing; read their Q&A with her here.
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