West Seattle, Washington
12 Thursday
Just off the phone with the Southwest Precinct — updates on 3 cases: FIRST — The Freshy’s robbery yesterday (original report here) — police say they know who they’re looking for and at least one suspect should be in custody soon — plus there’s a strong likelihood, as posted in the comments on the Freshy’s report, that the main suspect also was involved in a similar robbery at Cupcake Royale Monday night — “exact same M-O,” police say — ask a question about a bus route, grab a laptop and bolt. At least one witness from Freshy’s knew the suspect’s name; separate from that, regarding the discussion about descriptive factors — light-skinned black male, 17 years old, 6’2″, 190, is what’s on the report. No good description of the other suspect(s). SECOND ITEM: The Admiral rock-throwing suspects, as reported here and here: A second suspect has now been arrested; just one more left to go. (No description but police in this case too say they know exactly who they are after.) THIRD ITEM: Police are putting out two photos of a van linked to a wallet-snatching at South Seattle Community College three weeks ago, hoping it might lead to some tips:
That’s a light blue or gray ’90s Dodge Caravan with tinted windows, used as the getaway vehicle after the robbery at 7 pm January 17. Police say a woman who works in the campus library had just parked her car and was walking to work when a suspect described only as a black man in his 20s asked her for 50 cents. She thought he was a student, so she pulled out her wallet and was going to loan him the money after a promise he would find her in the library and pay her back; he then grabbed her wallet and ran, with four other suspects (no description) suddenly appearing and fleeing with him. (No description of them.) If you have any information on the van, or anything else about this robbery, here’s who to call: Detective Jim Rodgers in the Seattle PD Robbery unit, 262-2515.
Wanted to get this info out before finishing the Sealth/Denny meeting report — we were gathering this at the Southwest Precinct when the Charlestown Cafe fire broke out, and from there, it was right off to the school meeting. Anyway, from the latest police reports — we start with a robbery involving teens: A local middle-schooler was at the bus stop by KeyBank at California/Alaska this morning, playing with his GameBoy, when another teen sat down next to him, said “Hey, that’s a cool game, I used to play that on Nintendo G4,” edged closer, then suddenly grabbed the boy’s game and ran. The victim chased him for a while; then the robber turned on him and pushed him into a fence before getting away. The victim wasn’t badly hurt; he continued on to school, where he told administrators, who called police. Next — the gas-pump hit & run:Read More
Quick update ahead of our police-report check at the Southwest Precinct later today — Lt. Steve Paulsen confirms the arrest of one juvenile in the Admiral rock-throwing incidents, as Meredith reported last night; he confirms they are still looking for the two other suspects but know who they are looking for.
We checked with Lt. Steve Paulsen @ the Southwest Precinct this morning regarding two things around midnight last night — one that we heard on the scanner, one that a reader asked about. First, a report of possible gunshots heard in the California/Stevens vicinity (map) — he says police got a couple calls, checked it out; couldn’t find any evidence of what it was (could have been fireworks, hard to tell). Second, police recovered a stolen car after an operation that was quite interesting to listen to on the scanner: a Mercedes originally stolen from Tukwila was spotted in High Point, then at the 7-11 at 35th/Avalon, then Lt. Paulsen himself — out on late-night patrol — spotted it on Sylvan Way — after setting up “containment,” officers caught one suspect near 42nd/Fauntleroy, then recovered the car near 36th/Graham.
From our latest review of reports at the Southwest Precinct (which, if you’re new here, is the “police station” for West Seattle, at Delridge/Webster by Home Depot): We start with a suspected drunk driver caught asleep at the wheel — in his Oldsmobile Cutlass, motor running, blocking an intersection. This happened after 3 am Saturday at 25th/Cloverdale. Officers woke the 26-year-old man up; one of his breath tests came in at two and a half times the level officially defined as DUI. Next — how a police car wound up with its back window smashed out:Read More
Just a few things to share from our latest review of reports at the Southwest Precinct, starting with an apparent flasher at Westcrest Park: This happened at 4:30 pm Wednesday, but wasn’t reported till a day later. Two girls, 12 and 13, told police they saw a man running up and down a hill (between the off-leash area and the rest of the park) with his private parts not-so-private. They left the area, then saw him again in another part of the park, “stretching and exercising,” and still exposed. No detailed description of the suspect was available. Next: The hit-and-run suspect who wasn’t hard to find:Read More
In addition to the call for witnesses that we posted this afternoon, we have one more bit of news tonight from the Southwest Precinct – this is directly from a detectives’ progress report forwarded to WSB:
For the first three weeks of 2008, (January 2, 2008 to January 23, 2008) Southwest Detectives were assigned 38 cases for investigations.
Detective have identified a few groups of individuals who they believe are responsible for a pattern of burglaries. Detectives have built cases on several of these individuals within these groups which has greatly interrupted these patterns.
21 of those cases have been cleared with arrests.
14 cases, detectives have developed leads and/or have identified the suspects (filing pending).
3 cases, no leads at this time.
Detectives have noticed a substantial decrease in residential and commercial burglaries.
Just anecdotal, but when we reviewed six days worth of police reports at the precinct yesterday (resulting in this writeup posted last night), we did indeed notice fewer break-in reports than we’d seen in recent weeks.
The West Seattle crimefighters at the Southwest Precinct are hoping you might be able to help with one of the cases we reported in last night’s West Seattle Crime Watch update — involving six young men/boys attacking and trying to rob two men on a Metro bus around 6:15 pm last Saturday as it headed across The Bridge, from downtown to West Seattle. Contrary to what we wrote last night, it seems there WERE other passengers on this bus when this happened, so police believe there are more witnesses. As reported, they arrested three teenage suspects shortly afterward, but now need to find the other three. If you were on that bus when this happened, or have any otherwise-obtained information about it, Detective Nick Bauer at the Southwest Precinct wants to hear from you at 206/233-7830.
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
Freedom Church (35th/Roxbury), midday today, the funeral of teenage shooting victim DeChe Morrison; photo e-mailed (thank you!) by Patrick:
As mentioned previously, police had a significant presence around the church, for reasons including the fact no one’s been arrested yet. The Southwest Precinct reports all was quiet; in the late morning, we noted groups of officers a close, but discreet, distance from the church, including these motorcycle officers at 35th/Barton:
Switching gears, we have two shots from this morning’s nearly simultaneous sunrise/moonset. The southeastward view is from Bill “at the top of Southern”:
And here’s the westward view, from Robert Stever:
Thanks to Bill and Robert for those photos … any time you have one to share, from the sunrise to the sunset to the fender-bender down the block, send it our way.
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?
Off the emergency-radio scanner (and please note, those radio transmissions just reflect what police get calls about and dispatch officers on — not all reports pan out, but once in a while we hear something you might need to know about fast): Police were just flagged down by several children reporting a man exposed himself to them in the 31st SW/SW Juneau vicinity. We didn’t catch the full description off the scanner but the few words we did hear (Hispanic, stubble) did NOT match the description of the indecent-exposure suspect we wrote about in last night’s roundup from police reports, in case you wondered.
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
This just in from the Southwest Precinct, courtesy of Lt. Steve Paulsen: Officers arrested the Diva Espresso robbery suspect last night in the 3300 block of Charlestown. Lt. Paulsen says, “Great work by our night shift. The suspect tried to escape in his vehicle, but obviously failed.”
Quick Southwest Precinct update: Diva Espresso (on Fauntleroy west of Avalon) was robbed this morning; police say they know who they are looking for and hope to make an arrest soon.
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
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
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
Much going on this week – all listed on the WSB Events page – but here’s a small sampling we want to highlight:
TODAY/TONIGHT — Back-to-school day for everyone who wasn’t already back by the end of last week. School open house/tour season is revving up too, with Seattle Lutheran High School having one @ 6:30 tonight (more open houses & tours on the aforementioned Events page, including the West Seattle-wide Middle School Information Night on Thursday, and please send us your open house/tour schedule if it’s not there already).
TOMORROW — Next meeting of Junction Neighborhood Organization (JuNO), 6:30 pm at Ginomai (SW corner 42nd/Genesee), with topics including RapidRide and Adopt-A-Street. Read more on the new JuNO site. (Are you connected to your neighborhood organization? We’ve got a list on the right sidebar of this page.)
WEDNESDAY — Biggest event today involves the rest of the city as well: The Seattle Police Department will begin implementing geographic changes as laid out in the new Neighborhood Policing Plan. You can read it here; we are working on a standalone report about this, but among other things, it means the Southwest Precinct here in West Seattle no longer will handle Georgetown; its remaining turf remains split into two “sectors” but the layout of “beats” within those sectors will change (see page 15-16). Also Wednesday — At 4 pm, before their regular semiweekly meeting, Seattle School Board members hold a “work session” for updates on the controversial Chief Sealth High School/Denny Middle School shared-campus plan. (Recent WSB coverage: 12/19 school board meeting; 12/12 Westwood Neighborhood Council meeting.) Then at 7:30 pm, people interested in the environmental permits required for the Nucor steel mill’s crane-expansion project are invited to a public hearing at Alki Community Center.
THURSDAY — The Southwest Design Review Board is back in action, this time looking at the mixed-use “Spring Hill” project south of The Junction. (Latest WSB reports on that project: Neighbor concern here; meeting announcement here.)
FRIDAY — The West Seattle Kiwanis Club presents a free community concert by the Seattle Symphony, 8 pm @ West Seattle High School.
Again, those are just a few of this week’s events – listed here along with dozens of other West Seattle events planned all the way through October at this point — if yours isn’t there, e-mail us (or go here for our postal-mail address if you prefer to send announcements that way).
Toward our goal of continuously improving and expanding WSB, we’ve just added more new stuff and wanted to officially let you know:
“OTHER BLOGS IN WEST SEATTLE” HEADLINES: We’ve wanted for some time to make this page more than a static list of links, and finally found a service that will pull a frequently updated list of those sites’ newest entries (via RSS). Check the page out and see what you think. Per blog tradition, of course, the newest stuff is on top. Under the list of the latest entries, you’ll find the original list of static links for the 100-plus blogs that we have found West Seattleites producing so far (please let us know if we’re missing someone!).
WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH PAGE: Now that we are visiting the Southwest Precinct at least three times a week to scour police reports for cases you should know about, we have created the West Seattle Crime Watch page so you can easily find the latest information and other resources to help you keep your home and family safe. This page and its contents will be an ever-evolving work in progress but we’ve got enough of the basics on it now to launch it today (you can find it any time from the Crime Watch tab at the top of each WSB page).
“2008 ELECTIONS” FORUM: Today marks the start of the third week for the new WSB Forums, and so far it looks like they’re working for their initial purposes — to give you a place to post a Reader Recommendation Request (forum here) as soon as you have one, rather than waiting for us to find a home for it on the main WSB page, and to give you a place to launch an Open Discussion (forum here) about whatever’s on your mind, whenever you feel like it. We’ve also just added a 2008 Elections section (forum here) in case you want to talk politics — presidential, city, county, state, etc. — when there’s no related current news item on the main WSB page. One forum usage reminder: Anyone can read the posts, but to reply or start a topic, you have to register, and sign in. For as long as you remain signed in, the same user name you choose will also show as your user name for any comment you post elsewhere on WSB. If you don’t want that name to show on a comment, log out before you leave the forum area, or click the “log out” link you’ll see toward the bottom of the right sidebar on any page.
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
Just a few days ago, we published a WSB Reader Report about a car hit with eggs, and 2 other people added in the comments that they’d seen or experienced something similar. We’re listening to the police/fire scanner as usual during late-night watch right now, and just heard police responding to another report of “those eggers,” this time at California and Fauntleroy. If you see anything going on, remember, call 911. Vandalism is a crime.
Good news from our latest review of Seattle Police reports at the Southwest Precinct — no major crimes reported in West Seattle over the New Year’s holiday. Not to say things were completely quiet, of course – here are four incidents of note:Read More
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