Home › Forums › Open Discussion › TOTEM POLE
- This topic is empty.
-
AuthorPosts
-
December 11, 2009 at 2:50 am #593265
RAKParticipantHow disgusting. I am so disappointed that I am still amazed at the depth of depravity and immorality that we witness. Good work to those who reported it missing and the private citizens who researched and of course, our police force.
It is hard to believe. Steal a public art intallation for a few bucks at the risk of going to jail. I mean, IT WAS A PUBLIC INSTALLATION, not someones jewell box hidden in a private home. Besides being immoral, these people are STUPID!
December 11, 2009 at 4:07 am #683818
CaitParticipantYes, all that, of course… and HOW THE HECK DID THEY DO IT?! It’s a HUGE totem pole on a very high-volume street.
December 11, 2009 at 4:22 am #683819
LeroniusmonkfishMemberI realize that this is a completely different spin on the other posts I’ve read but here it goes…
I’m assuming the website posted on the main page comments section is the guy that had the totem pole removed? If this is the case maybe he was hired by someone to restore it and he thought it was a legit request as did the crane company? It appears to me that it’s been stripped and sanded of the paint. Can’t wait to see what the outcome of this is.
Innocent until proven guilty…
December 11, 2009 at 5:22 am #683820
shihtzuParticipantI think the website is for an artist someone suggested might be able to restore the totem pole. NOT the suspect.
December 11, 2009 at 5:43 am #683821
LeroniusmonkfishMemberAhhh…there wasn’t any explanation? If he can restore the Totem Pole than more native power to him. The link should have had an explanation as to who, why and what they plan on doing to resolve this issue.
December 11, 2009 at 7:12 am #683822
WSBKeymasterThanks for noting that, I hadn’t noted the gap but have added an editor’s note. LMA talked about this possible restorer type in a comment late this morning, then came back seven hours later and mentioned his website.
.
Regarding “how did they do it.” We have kind of lived this story for the past week. So here to recap, the series of events as it seems to have transpired:
.
Crane hired late in day last Monday, says crane op. Suspect allegedly tells crane company he is authorized to do this on behalf of a city commission/board that restores art work. According to police, has believable paperwork. Guy even has the proper tools for removing this and knows just how to do it (apparently no small feat), says crane guy. Crane company hoists pole. Crane truck gets stuck in mud. Tow truck called. It’s now dark, a week ago Monday night (Nov. 30th). Tow truck pulls crane truck out.
Neighbor notices this is a traffic hazard, calls police, who come out and direct traffic. It all apparently appeared legit to them. Truck finally hauls totem pole away. Allegedly to house in Lake Sawyer, according to what the sleuthing Rotarians were told.
Seriously, if you passed by official looking trucks doing something like this, would YOU have said ‘hey, that looks fishy?’ Maybe now, yes. But as multiple commenters have said, who the hell STEALS A TOTEM POLE?
Meantime, I’m not sure what happened Tuesday, but Wednesday morning we get a note from a WSB’er who was driving by with her son, who said, hey mom, where’d the totem pole go ? She sends us a note asking if it’s been removed for maintenance. I send Parks a note asking that. Meantime, Patrick and I go over to see if it really is gone. We photograph pole-less pedestal and tracks in grass. Parks keeps investigating. I don’t hear back by day’s end.
I contact them first thing Thursday morning. We can’t find anyone who authorized it so we’re reporting it as stolen, they say – I talked not only to the PR contact I usually deal with in Parks, but also with the maintenance supervisor for this area whose responsibility includes that little park; he’s based at Lincoln Park. We publish the first story about the totem pole gone and believed to have been stolen. Meantime we hear from Rotarians that they too are trying to find out what happened – I wound up corresponding with one of them while covering the reservoir meeting in High Point Thursday night – he refers me to another one for whom I leave voice mail (but no callback till next day).
.
Fast forward to Saturday. We were hanging out with the Rotarians covering the Christmas Shopping Spree in the morning and they agreed to let one of us go along in the afternoon when the crane truck driver told them he could show them where he took the pole. (See photo in today’s story.)
.
No sign of pole from middle-of-nowhere street. Nobody home. Rotarians however have gotten a name for the suspect and that seems to be who neighbors say is moving out there from WS.
Neighbors say they didn’t see a pole, though. So how the pole got from being allegedly dropped in remote driveway, to trucked to Oregon, that’s not clear. We’ll await the charging papers to see the full narrative. Rotarians say they talked to the suspect more than a few times and he repeatedly denied knowing anything about any totem pole.
Police develop enough evidence to get an arrest warrant for the suspect on Wednesday. They reportedly found him at Hamilton Viewpoint, near his North Admiral home. They question him for hours. They told us he finally told them the pole’s in Oregon. They also find another mystery pole. They will be searching to see if anything else turns up at sites linked to the suspect.
Charges are not yet filed so we’re not publishing the guy’s name. How long it will take to file charges, not known – if someone is in custody, they need to be charged within 72 hours or they get to go free. He is not in custody. I’ll be checking with prosecutors daily, and with Parks regarding arrangements for getting pole home.
December 11, 2009 at 10:13 am #683823
JanSParticipantso….has anyone asked this guy about the second totem ple? Obviously, he’s the source of information. Waterboarding, anyone? j/k…but we all know that he knows even more than he’s sayin’
December 12, 2009 at 12:34 am #683824
WSMomParticipantI am so curious to find out who this guy is and what was his motivation. Good grief, if he lives in N. Admiral and owns a 2nd house, it doesn’t sound like he’s hurting for money…you’d think by age 69 a little wisdom would have sunk in.
December 12, 2009 at 2:32 am #683825
WSBKeymasterNo charges filed yet, I checked with prosecutors again late today. My main contacts weren’t in the office today but I will be checking Monday on such points as, is the pole still in Oregon and have they made progress on identifying the other one.
December 12, 2009 at 2:52 am #683826
JustSarahParticipantUmm to the people saying he apparently had plenty of money: first of all, owning homes and living in a certain neighborhood do not mean that he was well-off financially. There are so many people out there with multiple mortgages, HELs, HELOCs, credit card debt, car loans, no retirement savings, etc., who live in nice homes in good neighborhoods.
Secondly, since he apparently is so familiar with how to get around obstacles, I’m going to venture a guess that this was not his first time being involved in such a grand theft. He may have made what money he has by trafficking in stolen works.
December 13, 2009 at 5:13 am #683827
miwsParticipantWhere did you hear that, jschu?
The same place you got the advice to put anti-freeze in a birdbath?
Mike
December 13, 2009 at 5:33 am #683828
jschuMemberAnti-freeze works -I trust your car operates with a fair amount. Not everything is bad.
December 13, 2009 at 5:39 am #683829
pigeonmomParticipantMike ftw
December 13, 2009 at 5:45 am #683830
miwsParticipantYou trust wrong.
I don’t have a car, and the one and only I ever did own, from the mid ’80’s to the mid ’90’s was a ’67 VW Beetle.
Air cooled.
Mike
December 13, 2009 at 5:51 am #683831
pigeonmomParticipantSmack down! Mike ftw times two!
December 13, 2009 at 5:52 am #683832
jschuMemberyes the “peoples car.” an awesome legacy.
December 13, 2009 at 6:22 am #683833
MookieMemberIn Woody Allen’s 1973 movie “Sleeper,” it was an air-cooled Volkswagen that was still able to start after having been abandoned in a cave for 200 years. (“They really built these things, didn’t they?”)
Awesome indeed. :-)
December 13, 2009 at 7:41 pm #683834
JoBParticipantDecember 14, 2009 at 6:59 pm #683835
dawsonctParticipantCars and birds are designed somewhat differently, and anti-freeze is poisonous to animals. I REALLY hope you are joking, though it would be a pretty lousy joke.
December 14, 2009 at 7:53 pm #683836
WSBKeymasterI deleted the antifreeze comment after being flagged and appreciate being flagged to comments that would result in injury, death, arrest, etc. Believe it or not, even if you think it’s a joke, somebody somewhere could read it and not realize that. A whole lot of critters drink from bird baths. Wandering toddlers might even.
P.S. Added to this morning’s brief update and also working on a separate story – the pole is now back in Seattle, in Parks Department storage.
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.