West Seattle, Washington
18 Monday
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
This just in from the city press-releases page: 35th/Thistle and 35th/Avalon will get cameras this year to snap photos of red-light runners. If you get caught, it’s a $124 fine (up from $101 last year). Specifically, at those intersections, the cameras will watch drivers heading south on 35th @ Thistle (above photo, right) and west on Avalon @ 35th (above photo, left). Full citywide list of present and future cameras here; map of West Seattle locations here:
Two main headlines from the latest stack of reports at the Southwest Precinct: An alert neighbor helped police nab three burglary suspects, and somebody targeted two cars driving along Delridge. First, the cars: Both incidents happened Friday night while the drivers were heading northbound in the 4500 block of Delridge. First, a 34-year-old woman driving a Nissan Quest told police that around 7:25 pm that night, her passenger-side window suddenly shattered; then, a 43-year-old man driving a Mercedes heard something hit his passenger-side door around 7:30 pm, and when he stopped, he noticed a small hole made by what looked to have been a BB pellet. Nobody hurt in either case, and no arrests reported so far. (In case you were wondering, that is 3 miles north of where bicyclist Peter McKay was shot with pellets on Delridge last month.) Now, the rest of the reports, starting with the burglary arrests:Read More
Just back from checking the past week’s worth of reports at the Southwest Precinct (thanks again to the fine folks there for the access). We’ve got a variety of incidents to tell you about – starting with this eyebrow raiser (note that we have agreed, as is standard for police-blotter reporting, to omit specific addresses and victims’ names): Between 9 pm Christmas Eve and 5:30 am the morning after Christmas, somebody broke into a fast-food restaurant in the 3000 block of California through the drive-thru window. They stole just one item: The donation jar — which they had to pry off the front counter — full of bills and coins collected for a charity! No arrest reported so far. Here are more highlights/lowlights, in reverse chronological order (including the tale of the Christmas Canine Chase):Read More
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
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.
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
Big news just in from the latest edition of the Southwest Precinct Public Safety Newsletter sent by Crime Prevention Coordinator Benjamin Kinlow, with this excerpted section written up by Detective Bauer:
Southwest Precinct Officers and Detectives, within the last week and a half, have arrested, booked, and filed charges on nine (9) Burglary suspects. Detectives have cleared fifteen (15) burglary cases with the arrest of these suspects. Most of the stolen property has been returned to the owners.
Below are some recent cases that we have been working on. Please notice the incredible Police work along with calls from alert citizens:
12-03-07: Burglary incident: On the morning of 12-03-07, a neighbor was standing on her front porch, and noticed an unfamiliar vehicle pull up to a neighbor’s home. Two males got out of the vehicle and went to the back of the residence. The witness called police. Officers responded and arrived very soon after the call came out. Officers caught the two males after they had burglarized the home by way of forced entry. Both suspects were later booked.
Note that King County detectives have another burglary case in their jurisdiction in which these suspects have been identified. The King County Detectives are also looking at these suspects as good possibles on the series of BB gun shootings in the SW area. That investigation continues.
12-05-07: Burglary/Wanted fugitive arrest: Officers responded to a Burglary call in the 5800 block of 38th Ave SW. Detectives were aware of a wanted fugitive who possibly broke into a nearby residence and took a shotgun and ammunition a few days earlier. Through cooperation of the case detective and patrol officers, the fugitive was caught hiding in a limousine that was parked in front of the home of the burglary/shotgun theft victim.
12-06-07: Burglary incident, 4800 block of Colorado Ave S. Suspect enters fenced in property of metal recycling site. A night watchman sees the suspect and calls police. The suspect exited the property and got into a van before officers arrived. The responding officers located the suspect in the van, and had the watchman do a show up ID of the suspect, which was positive. The officers also arrested another male in the van, who had an outstanding warrant.
12-10-07: Theft/Trafficking stolen property investigation, 4800 block of 35th Ave SW: Detective Bauer investigated an on-going theft incident in which an employee was allegedly stealing property from vulnerable adult residents, and then selling the items on EBAY. Detectives arrested the suspect, and later booked her.
Please noted the following:* Outstanding work by the Patrol Officers!
* Outstanding follow-up by the Detectives!
* Outstanding work by the witnesses who had the presence of mind to call the Police or jot down the license plate number and other information!
Please read that last line again — it’s vital to call SPD as soon as possible when you see something suspicious, not just an emergency. (The non-emergency number is 206/625-5011.)
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