West Seattle, Washington
15 Saturday
(WSB photos by Tracy Record unless otherwise credited)
11:38 PM: Just back from North Admiral, where another hit-run crash has left three cars with major damage, and police searching for suspects. It’s also closed California SW near SW Atlantic (map). The car at right apparently smashed into the parked vehicles at left – pushing them into and onto the sidewalk, with a tree taken out and underneath the minivan at left:
Then two people inside the car that wound up totaled in the middle of the street got out of it and ran. Debris was strewn everywhere – hood, bumper, lights, more (and a beer can) – and an SDOT crew was standing by for cleanup after the vehicles are towed.
A K-9 team was helping in the search (as you can see in our Instagram video clip).
A bystander told us a witness saw people get out of the car and run, and tried to chase them. Meantime, one nearby resident told us this stretch is often used for racing.
(Photo by unidentified texter)
12:21 AM: Via Twitter, Philip says the road is open again, though debris remains, and that the car that caused the crash has been towed.
(Photo courtesy Andrew, who says skid marks suggest a 3rd vehicle narrowly missed)
2 AM: We haven’t been able to find out yet if the suspected driver was ever found; will update whenever we do get that information. We did want to thank everyone who texted, phoned, e-mailed, messaged, and shared photos.
(Photo courtesy Rhonda Porter)
5:32 PM: A police search right now in the heart of the Admiral District is reported to be related to a burglary, according to scanner traffic. After texts about the search, we’ve sent a crew that way to find out more in person. We’ll add info as we get it.
5:45 PM: Radio discussion indicates police are looking for a specific potential suspect who lives in the area they’ve been searching.
(This photo and next one by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
5:58 PM: Police have detained the person they were looking for.
6:13 PM: A witness has been brought to identify the suspect; police tell us they’ll be looking for the stolen items next. The burglary was reported to have happened just a few blocks away.
6:43 PM: Southwest Precinct Lt. Alan Williams confirms the suspect was arrested and that the investigation is “ongoing.”
ADDED WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON: More details from the police report, which we obtained via SPD media relations. It started with a woman calling police at about 5 pm to say a strange man was in her house and had just left headed southbound on 45th SW. She said he was standing in the kitchen when she came home and told her he had been passing by and had seen “three teenagers in her house and chased them off,” according to the report. He also gave the woman his first name, age, address, phone number, and allowed her to take a picture of him with her cell phone. Looking at that photo, an officer apparently familiar with the suspect zeroed in on his address and matched a prior mugshot to the cell-phone photo. They found him at his residence and arrested him; he gave them permission to search for stolen property and didn’t find any.
Returning to her residence with police, the victim pointed out “long-handled garden tools that had been laid out very neatly for unknown reasons” and then inside, “numerous shopping bags that had been filled with random items from different ares of her house.” She also thought a rifle belonging to her roommate was missing. The roommate later told police two rifles and his wallet were missing.
The mystery of the three possible teenage suspects wasn’t solved, but the man was booked into jail for criminal trespass and an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in connection with earlier theft charges.
Students car flipped at west Seattle high school. No one seriously hurt. @westseattleblog @westseattlenews pic.twitter.com/1bfNZK0nNl
— Jessi B (@Seattlesubcultr) April 28, 2014
(Thanks to Jessi for tweeting that photo)
12:15 PM: A police and fire response is en route to West Seattle High School for a reported vehicle rollover. We will be there shortly for updates.
12:22 PM: No serious injuries reported. Everyone got out of the car OK.
12:35 PM: Make that, truck. The rolled – more like, on its side – vehicle is a white Ford Ranger pickup.
17-year-old at the wheel, one passenger, both are unhurt, we were told at the scene – nobody else hurt either, which, observers say, is just sheer luck since this happened at lunchtime on a sunny day and many students were out and about.
(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
FIRST REPORT, 4:06 AM: Seattle Fire crews have just started arriving at Sylvan Way/SW Holly (map) after a “heavy rescue” dispatch. The first unit on the scene, Engine 11, reported via radio that there’s a rolled-over car at the scene. Three people were reported to have gotten out of the vehicle. More to come.
4:29 AM: Our crew at the scene says this is just east of Forest Lawn Cemetery (WSB sponsor), near Sylvan Ridge Townhomes. The vehicle was believed to have been westbound. One person has been taken to the hospital by private ambulance. A tow truck is already on scene so while Sylvan is blocked now, probably won’t be closed much longer.
4:50 AM: Just added photos. The car took out a streetlight pole; police were notifying SDOT.
1:25 PM: One bit of followup information – police tell us there were actually two people in the car, not three, both in their 20s. Though only one went to the hospital, both reported minor injuries.
12:19 AM: Police and fire are rushing to the 9200 block of 20th SW (map), where a 35-year-old man is reported to have been stabbed in the abdomen. No other information about circumstances so far.
12:36 AM: Medic conversation over the radio indicates the man has multiple stab wounds to the upper abdomen and what were described as slash wounds to the arm(s) from defending himself, but has not lost consciousness.
7:15 AM: Police say via SPD Blotter that this happened during a home-invasion break-in, and they are looking for two people who knocked on the victim’s door, forced their way inside, tried to get him to go outside, and attacked him when he refused. His wounds are described as non-life-threatening. Here’s the full text of what Det. Jeff Kappel wrote on SPD Blotter:
(SCROLL DOWN for updates, including police joining investigation)
(Photos, video by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
FIRST REPORT, 4:34 AM: Big Seattle Fire response for an apartment fire in the 7500 block of 24th SW (map), just south of the Southwest Precinct/Home Depot area.
4:40 AM UPDATE: At least one person is reported to be hurt, and crews are calling for more medics.
4:47 AM UPDATE: It’s not a big fire – but especially for a multifamily building, it’s SOP to send a sizable response just in case. Per scanner, it’s tapped/under control. Our crew should be on scene shortly.
5:02 AM UPDATE: Our crew says the fire was in a top-floor apartment. Working to find out more about the person found, injured, in that apartment. (added) SFD spokesperson Kyle Moore will be briefing media at the scene shortly.
5:25 AM UPDATE: There’s a reason we hadn’t heard a condition for the person described as a “victim” – Moore says that person found in the burning apartment was dead. That’s the only apartment damaged by fire, but others were affected by smoke, and the Red Cross has been called in to help one person.
5:48 AM UPDATE: Moore describes the person found dead in the burning bedroom as an adult woman. As you’ll hear in the video of Moore’s briefing (above), SFD’s investigator is working to find out how and exactly where the fire started. The apartment had a sprinkler, Moore said, but it was in the hallway, not the bedroom. It will be up to the Medical Examiner to determine how the woman died – whether from the fire, or something else.
8:55 AM UPDATE: Police are now at the scene – including CSI investigators – and yellow crime-scene tape is up.
Seattle Police spokesperson Det. Renée Witt says SFD investigators asked SPD to check out the scene “out of an abundance of caution” just to make sure they weren’t missing anything.
So far, she says she doesn’t know what they have or have not found, but there has not yet been any ruling whether this was or wasn’t a homicide, and the cause of death has not yet been determined by the Medical Examiner.
4:33 PM UPDATE: We’ve been checking, but still no updated information from investigators in either department.
7:15 PM UPDATE: We’ve talked to SW Precinct Ops. Lt. Ron Smith at the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council. He says ATF went to the scene today as well but that there is still no official finding about whether this was a crime or not, but it is certainly “suspicious.”
8:36 PM: Police and fire are on the scene of a crash at 35th and Brandon. Someone texted us to report that “a car hit another that drove off the street and through a fence.” 35th is blocked at Dawson on the north and we’re not sure yet where on the south; buses will be allowed through, according to the scanner. More to come.
8:55 PM UPDATE: Traffic is getting through both ways, alternating one direction at a time, slowly.
9:09 PM UPDATE: Police at the scene tell us both vehicles were headed southbound; one clipped the other, which went into a yard on the east side of the street. One person was taken to the hospital.
10:14 PM UPDATE: In comments, Erin reports the scene is clear.
(WSB photo by Patrick Sand)
4:49 PM: No serious injuries reported in a collision involving two cars at 37th and Thistle in Gatewood (map), with one car on its side, but westbound Thistle is blocked until a tow crew arrives.
5:05 PM: Added a photo. Our crew doublechecked at the scene and police confirmed, no one required medical attention at the scene. The road should be clear shortly. P.S. Thanks to the people who called and e-mailed to let us know about this.
12:23 PM: Police and fire are responding to a potential “heavy rescue” in the 5900 block of 44th SW in Seaview (map).
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
12:35 PM: Added a photo. No word yet on injuries – waiting to hear from our crew at the scene.
(Photo by Patrick Sand for WSB)
12:47 PM: Here’s what police tell us – the vehicle that’s on its side spun, flipped, and wound up sideways against the parked vehicle in our photo after colliding with a third car at 44th and Raymond. The sideways vehicle’s driver was headed north at the time but the vehicle ended up facing south. The driver went to the hospital by private ambulance to be checked out, but is not believed to have serious injuries. No one else needed to go to the hospital.
7:11 PM: The other vehicle involved is shown in this photo by Christopher – its driver had been heading westbound on Raymond, and was not hurt:
A friend of the driver of the vehicle that ended up sideways says she’s out of the hospital.
5:31 PM: Fire/police response at 42nd/Alaska in The Junction – Christopher Boffoli is there for WSB and says a vehicle and scooter collided (see his photo above). Thanks also to Mike and NLB for alerts via Twitter.
5:37 PM UPDATE: Christopher reports: “Victim appeared to be a man in his 30’s. He was transported via AMR with non-life threatening injuries. SFD has left the scene now. SPD is still mopping up. Traffic westbound on Alaska is not really affected.”
11:33 AM: A rescue offshore in Fauntleroy has delayed ferries to and from the terminal. Heidi, onboard one of the ferries, says “a sailboat went turtle” and tweeted photos including:
Coast guard and ferry crew sweep in! #rescue #sound #west seattle pic.twitter.com/q05EaySLPj
— Heidi W. Skrzypek (@heidiskrzypek) March 29, 2014
@wsferries awesome sailboat rescue this ride! Good eyes, first mate. pic.twitter.com/AXA5i4lqmE
— Heidi W. Skrzypek (@heidiskrzypek) March 29, 2014
Scanner traffic indicates a person has been rescued from the water.
11:43 AM: The Seattle Fire crews have just left the dock. The Klahowya, which was assisting, finally has made it to Fauntleroy. No information so far on the rescued person’s condition.
1:28 PM NOTE: Though the rescue is long over, the ferries on the route are still running behind – check here for updates.
8:14 PM: Thanks to Eric Bell for photos taken at the dock – first, as the vessel came in with the person who was rescued:
That’s the M/V Klahowya, which helped with the rescue, in the background. Next, the Medic 32 crew working to get ready for transport:
Still no official word on how the victim is doing and exactly what happened.
(1st photo from scene, by Patrick Sand for WSB)
9:36 PM: Seattle Fire is responding to a reported house fire in the 10000 block of 51st SW (map). It’s on a dead-end street in Brace Point. More to come.
(This photo & next 2, by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
9:45 PM UPDATE: Via scanner, firefighters report they have the fire “knocked down.” Our crew has just arrived and sees some flames from a corner of the roof on the 3-story house. Strong smell of smoke even here in upper Fauntleroy more than a mile north.
10:12 PM UPDATE: Nobody was home when this started, our crew at the scene has been told. Flames are out now. (Added: Video of firefighters on the roof – note the smoke and also the water rushing down the driveway:)
SFD’s investigator is there to try to figure out how it started.
11:53 PM UPDATE: No cause announced yet; the investigation is still under way, per SFD.
WEDNESDAY 10:06 AM: Police have announced they believe this was arson – finding a gas can inside the house – and a resident of the home has been arrested. Details on SPD Blotter.
10:23 AM UPDATE: We’ve checked the background of the 54-year-old woman who is in jail for investigation of arson; she does not appear to have a criminal record.
12:32 PM UPDATE: Since she wasn’t booked until this morning, her bail hearing won’t be until tomorrow, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
THURSDAY EVENING UPDATE: Her bail was set today at $100,000, according to the jail register. We won’t have other details from prosecutors until Friday.
3:28 PM: Big Seattle Fire callout to the 2900 block of SW Florida. 911 log calls it a haz-mat response. More to come.
3:31 PM: Scanner says an unknown substance sprayed on a worker at Terminal 5.
3:48 PM: “Cutting fluid” is what’s suspected to be involved. Via Twitter, SFD says the worker’s “symptoms are minor.”
5:07 PM: No additional official info, but after an hour and a half, the incident is now closed.
(Photo substituted 9:27 am for traffic-camera image that was here previously)
8:32 AM: Huge response, including units from across the bridge, rushing to 3922 SW Alaska – the Spruce construction site. The callout is for a “major natural-gas leak.” Updates shortly.
8:50 AM: Added the traffic camera showing emergency vehicles on the north side of Alaska.
8:58 AM: Our crew says Puget Sound Energy has just arrived, and workers from the site are across the street by Trader Joe’s until they get the all-clear:
Traffic IS getting by.
9:13 AM: Seattle Fire spokesperson Kyle Moore says crews shut off the gas before PSE arrived. No injuries reported.
1:08 PM: Thanks to Diane and Keith for the tip: Police and fire are blocking 37th in Admiral, near Hinds (map), in the aftermath of a crash. Diane reports a private ambulance has arrived – no medic unit was dispatched, indicating no life-threatening injuries – and that there’s debris in the street. So if you have to get around in that area, avoid 37th for a while.
2:16 PM UPDATE: The road’s open again, Diane reports. And Keith sent photos that we’re adding – in the one immediately above this paragraph, he says the car in the background by the ambulance also was damaged. Both mention one person transported by ambulance.
(Substituted for original “live” picture: Image captured when SFD was still on scene)
10:22 PM: As the “live” camera shows – there’s an emergency response near Walking On Logs alongside the west end of the West Seattle Bridge. It started as a heavy-rescue call, but that was reduced; one caller tells us it’s a rollover – we have a crew en route to check.
(Photos by Christopher Boffoli for WSB – note the vehicle on its side, at left)
10:35 PM: No injuries reported – the fire units have all been canceled, and a tow truck is being summoned. The scene is all but inaccessible from the West Seattle side but we note via the traffic camera’s live picture that the car is still visible, on its side. At the top of this story, we’re substituting a frame grab from about 15 minutes ago, when fire units were still on scene.
11:08 PM: Added photos by Christopher Boffoli, who said public-safety personnel at the scene mentioned the vehicle’s occupants had crawled out – which explains why the “heavy rescue” call was canceled. The vehicle’s been towed and traffic is again flowing normally in the area, described by Christopher as about 30 feet from Walking on Logs.
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
10:58 AM: Big fire callout to 4611 35th SW, which is the Emeritus Senior Living facility. Arriving units did not find any obvious sign of fire – sounds like they might have found a bit of smoke in a sixth-floor laundry room – possibly an electrical problem. We’re en route to check.
11:05 AM UPDATE: Most of the fire units have been dismissed (we’re heading north on 35th and have already passed Engines 11 and 37 heading back to their stations). We’re now arriving in the area just north of Alaska on 35th and two units are still visible outside the building. No traffic effects.
12:07 PM: Tim Clemans was at the open house at Station 32 nearby when they got the call for this – here’s what Tim recorded via Google Glass:
Since it initially went out as a “fire in building” call, that meant a huge response just in case – not just from the nearest station (this one) but from others in West Seattle as well as specialized equipment from across the bridge. Meantime, SFD wrapped up after clearing the smoke generated by the laundry-room problem
6:18 PM: Police and fire are at a crash on Harbor Avenue near the 7-11. A report from the scene says three vehicles are involved and “debris everywhere” – avoid the area TFN.
6:25 PM UPDATE: Our tipster says traffic is getting through, one lane down the middle.
7:03 PM UPDATE: At the scene, police confirmed no injuries. Traffic indeed is getting by, with the damaged cars on the side.
(Photo courtesy Michael Riedel)
5:47 PM: Seattle Fire is on a “fire in single/family residence” call in the 9000 block of 16th SW. More to come.
6:18 PM UPDATE: Thanks to Mike for updates in comments while we were en route. 16th is blocked by the Salvation Army building. No reports of injuries; we are told it was a very small fire in a boarded-up structure on the alley. Some of the SFD units are now leaving.
6:39 PM UPDATE: Mike reports 16th SW reopened (shortly after we left).
(1st photo in, from Patricia – thanks!)
2:58 PM: Seattle Fire crews are responding to a report of a car hitting a building in the 9000 block of 25th SW, with a “heavy rescue” response.
(WSB photo by Patrick Sand)
3:02 PM: It’s a car into the front window of Pet Pros at Westwood Village, according to texters and address cross-reference. No injuries reported so far. Thanks to Patricia for the top photo.
3:12 PM: Our crew is there and confirms nobody hurt. The car has already been backed away, though the sidewalk there is blocked off for cleanup (thanks to the person who texted the photo above this line).
(Another photo added: Jessie shared the view from across 25th SW – thanks!)
Police are still talking with people to determine whether this was a case of hitting the wrong pedal, a medical problem, or something else.
(WSB photo by Patrick Sand)
3:33 PM: It’s now a cleanup scene – all that broken glass you see above, for examples. Also lots of onlookers, and at least one TV crew. We’re told the store is closed right now (we’ll check back later). In case you were trying to remember (we were), we looked up the date for a somewhat similar incident at the Westwood post office – May of last year.
12:52 PM: If you’ve seen/heard the big fire response, it’s for a house in the 2700 block of SW Kenyon (map), but most of the units have just been canceled. We’re checking it out.
12:58 PM UPDATE: Described on the scanner as a mattress fire.
1:16 PM UPDATE: Added photo. Fire’s out, no major damage, no injuries reported.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: See our Tuesday followup here)
(Photo courtesy Jason)
6:52 AM: Police and fire have responded to a crash at Olson/Roxbury (map), with a sizable “heavy rescue” dispatch. According to radio communications, three people are being taken to the hospital. More to come.
7:19 AM: Thanks to Jason for sending the top photo taken during the rescue. We are just back from the scene, where the wrecked Lexus is about to be pulled the rest of the way out of the off-the-road spot where it crashed among trees; police told us they expect to have the road reopened soon, but for now the Olson/1st hill down to/up from Highway 509 is blocked.
(This photo & next by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
This crash comes less than a week after SDOT officially launched the SW Roxbury safety project with a meeting a few blocks to the east.
7:29 AM: Police just announced “all lanes are open.” We don’t know the victims’ conditions but the crash did not trigger the type of major investigation that would usually follow if anyone had life-threatening injuries.
(Added: Reader video shared via e-mail – it rotates to correct angle quickly)
8:53 AM: Fire crews are rushing to the 1300 block of Alki Avenue SW (map), where a garage fire is reported. First crews on scene say it’s the garage for a home, and they’re seeing smoke. Note that the initial response is likely blocking traffic both ways – they’re calling for police to help with that – so you’ll want to avoid that stretch of the beachfront boulevard.
9 AM: Our crew is en route; via scanner, crews at the scene say the fire’s under control and they’re checking to be certain it didn’t spread.
9:10 AM: The fire is “tapped” – which basically means out. Our crew has arrived and is told nobody was home when it happened; we’ve confirmed, no injuries. Damage and cause are still being assessed. The 1300 block of Alki is still closed to traffic because of fire units.
9:31 AM: Fire crews say the garage contained “miscellaneous” items and that damage is estimated at $5,000.
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